The Death of a Friend: Karma Yoga, Non-Attachment, and Truthfulness

by Nina

At Home with Buster

I had sad news on Friday, January 9: Tama Blough, the woman with terminal cancer for whom I was fund raising—and who happened to be one of our readers—died that morning. Although the news was sad, I was comforted by the thought that Tama died at home, in the company of her beloved cat, Buster, and tended to by the caregiver we had hired with money that I help to raise. (And thank you so much to everyone who donated. It has been a profoundly moving experience to see so many people rally around a friend in need.)

You might recall that I wrote a post Karma Yoga Opportunities about why I decided to take on the task of raising money for this woman who learned she had terminal, non-treatable bile duct cancer and who was also destitute. It was her wish that she be able to die at home rather than in a hospital, and I decided to try to make that wish come true. Because there was no one to take care of her when she needed 24/7 care and also because she was no longer able to work to pay her living expenses, the thing I needed to do was raise enough money to pay for all of that. But the question was: exactly how much money would be enough?

It was actually stressful to try to estimate the total amount of money that would be needed. While I could look at predictable expenses such as her rent, utilities, food, and so on, as well as the typical hourly rate for a caregiver, I had no reliable estimate for how long she might live and for how long she might need paid caregivers. 

Obviously just thinking about how long someone might or might not live is stressful in and of itself, but trying to make impossible estimates for how much money might actually be needed for various scenarios was even worse. What if we used up all the money we’d raised (over $20,000) and she was still alive and needing care? Or, conversely, what if she died more quickly than expected and we had a lot of money left over? I had some private conversations with her elderly mother and the friends who were helping me raise the money about these possibilities and we made some contingency plans. And I had to face the fact that if we ran out of money, she would have to go to a hospital, where her health insurance would cover the final costs. 

I’m bringing this all up because when you’re helping someone who is dying, obviously you don’t get all wrapped out in hopes for another possible outcome. But you can get wrapped out in your hopes and expectations for how the whole process unfolds. And in this particular case, I obviously had a strong attachment to making Tama’s wish to die at home come true. However, as you can see, I really had no guarantee that things would work out as I hoped. So I often reminded myself that I was doing my best, and because I had no control over the outcome, doing my best was all I could do. So when Ram wrote his post about karma yoga last Monday (see Altruism (Karma Yoga)), it struck me that my situation was a perfect example of what he meant by saying: 

"Selfless service requires an individual to perform any service without attachment or expectation, and remain unaffected by the results of such service." 

Of course, I didn’t do the “without attachment” thing perfectly, either. But, again, even with our efforts at being without "expectation" or "attachment," all any of us can do is our best.

I’d also like to say that Tama bravely faced her death with truthfulness (satya). As I wrote in Meeting Death at the Front Door, I feel that being honest about death and dying is the only way for us to die the way we say we want to. You have to face the truth yourself. You have to tell your family the truth. And you have to insist your doctors—and your loved ones—tell you the truth. And Tama did all those things, sometimes even with humor. So I thought I’d end with this story about her that her friend Joe Allegretti shared on Facebook:

My last conversation with Tama was in early November, I think, when she told me about the diagnosis. At one point, she was talking about how she had been hoping for months that she'd be able to get out of SF, move to another city, figure out a way to reinvent herself. The employment situation and everything else was really hard on her and I totally understood her wish for something new. Finally, she summed it up by saying, "I wanted a reboot."

Then she said, "Well I guess now I'm gonna get the BIIIIIIIG reboot." We both immediately laughed a lot.

And Joe's sharing of his story led to this beautiful one from her friend Drew Zeigler:

One of the last interactions she and I had was when my dog had gone missing and she kept popping in and making lovely hopeful comments to me, so I reached out to her. Her response was, "Well, just because I'm dying, that doesn't mean I can't still have compassion for others." 
 
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How To Get Ripped - 7 Foods For Flat Abs

The key to having flat abs lies in your ability to keep fat from forming. So, watching what you eat is definitely a step towards the right direction. Couple that with the right exercise and soon enough your midsection will be as flat as a washboard (or at least very close to it).
Following are the foods that have a reputation for flattening bellies










 Avocado

A study in the journal Diabetes Care have found that people who consume monosaturated fat have less stomach bulge than those who consume the same amount of calories with minimal fats. Additionally, a study in the journal Obesity indicates that monkeys that ate trans fats have waistlines 30 percent bigger than those that ate monosaturated fats. What causes this is that monosaturated fats prevent blood sugar levels from spiking which in turn prevents your body from storing fat around your midsection.
The great thing with avocados is that they contain high amounts of monosaturated fats. To be more precise, half an avocado contains 10 grams of healthy monosaturated fats.

Green Tea

Green tea has been known to boost metabolism rate. According to studies, drinking three cups of green tea every day could boost your metabolism rate, enough to burn 30 calories (each day) or 3 pounds a year just from sipping your tea. This metabolism boosting power lies in the compound ECGC (epigallocatechin-3-gallate) that green tea contains. Additionally, the ECGC is also found to be capable of preventing the death of heart muscle cells following ischemia/reperfusion (restriction in blood supply) injury.

Yogurt

Even if you're technically fat free around your midsection, it is still possible that your belly will still look puffy. In addition to fat, abdominal bloating can also be caused by the excessive production of gas by bad bacteria residing in your belly. The good news is a cup of plain yogurt can promote the growth of good bacteria in your stomach which, in turn, could prevent the accumulation of those nasty gas producing bacteria in your tummy.

Blueberries/Blackberries
Blueberries and blackberries are a very good source of antioxidants. As a matter of fact, they top the antioxidant chart. In addition to preventing cancer, antioxidants also improve blood flow which delivers more oxygen to your muscles. Having a good supply of oxygen in your muscles makes exercise easier, thus allowing you to work out harder, longer, and more frequently.

Bulgur
A study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition indicates that people who consume whole grains lost more belly fat than calorie cutters who fed on refined grains. The thing is, bulgur has more fiber and fewer calories than other grains. And speaking of fiber, fiber keeps your body's insulin levels low which, according to researchers, could shrink fat cells.

Chocolate Milk
According to the findings presented at the American College of Sports Medicine meeting in Seattle, athletes who consumed chocolate milk had lower levels of muscle damage than those who drank sports drinks (after four days of intense training). It has been found that chocolate milk makes carbs and proteins work better together thus promoting muscle building.

If you began reading this wondering how to get ripped, well, these foods can help you. But, of course, you need to do weight training, too.

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Friday Q&A: After A Partial Hysterectomy

Q: I have a student who's had a partial hysterectomy. As she described it, to prevent the organs from pressing on her perineum the surgeon used a mesh "ligament" to attach the top of the cervix to a ligament in her back. She says that it feels "weird" and sometimes uncomfortable when we work on deep inner bodywork, such as Agni Sara (or various preparations) or ways to access Uddiyana Bandha. She feels it most when we do breath retention on the out breath and create an inner vacuum as you elongate the torso. Have you come across this before? Is there any risk for her to work on this? Any modifications you'd suggest?

A: In fact, I have not come across this particular complaint from any yoga students who have had hysterectomies of any kind. However, I have personal experience with the presence of mesh used in abdominal surgery and its effect on yoga practice. Over 10 years ago, I developed a hernia in the groin area on my left side. Upon further evaluation by a surgeon, it was discovered I had an even bigger potential opening on my right groin area, and surgery was recommended to repair and seal off these openings. This was accomplished using the kind of mesh I suspect your student had placed during her surgery. I was told that I might expect some unusual sensations in the area of the groin creases after my surgery, but that it usually would disappear after an uncertain amount of time. And, indeed, following my hernia repair, I initially felt soreness, and eventually after that disappeared, I was left with a kind of tightness, especially on my right side, that I had not had prior to surgery. As I returned to my normal practice routine I noticed it in certain yoga poses, most notably in High Lunge when the right leg was back. This persisted for some time, certainly for months, but then gradually began to fade. And at this time, I no longer notice any unusual tugging or weird sensations in the area where the mesh is still certainly located. 

But back to the student in question. So, what is a “partial hysterectomy”? Hysterectomies, in general, are the second most common surgery performed in the US each year. A partial hysterectomy refers to a procedure where only the uterus is removed, not the cervix or the ovaries. This type of operation involves a shorter recovery time, and is commonly used in the treatment of fibroids and severe and uncontrollable vaginal bleeding. Mesh is often used to hold the cervix in place, since the structures that would normally do that are gone with the uterus, and the vagina could prolapse, or fall, toward the pelvic floor. Unfortunately, there can be complications with the use of mesh, such as mesh shrinkage, which can cause such serious complications as intense pain, scarring, vaginal shortening, and sexual dysfunction. Although this does not sound like the case here, it is worth being aware of these potential complications.

In the case presented here, I would be less concerned about a student who was only having “weird” sensations at certain times in the practice. However, if there is outright discomfort, it might be important for her to check back in with her surgeon and make sure there is nothing more worrisome going on. For instance, it is not uncommon for patients to develop scar tissue around the sites of abdominal surgeries. If that scar tissue, or “adhesions” as they are also sometimes referred to, is causing enough problems, pain or otherwise, it is sometimes recommended to do a follow-up look via endoscopy and possibly release the scarred areas, which in many cases will result in reduced or resolved pain and improved overall abdominal function. The first step is simply to have a follow-up with her doc.

If the student is mildly uncomfortable only when doing certain things, there might be some ways to approach her yoga practice to her benefit. Since we are not diagnosticians as yoga teachers, we would focus on trying to modify the practice so as to avoid stimulating pain. The most obvious thing to try is to do less Uddiyana Banda and Agni Sara, both reducing the depth of contraction of the abdominal muscles and the amount of time spent in either state. The student can then participate to the appropriate degree for her unique situation without going to the point of triggering the discomfort. This could hold true for other poses or practices that she discovers also create the undesired discomfort. Periodically, she could try the full poses or practices to see if her body has adjusted to the mesh, and take things from there. While it is entirely possible that with time, these sensations will subside, keep in mind that pain is the body’s way of telling us to look a little further. Please let us know how things proceed.

—Baxter

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Featured Sequence: Easy Supported Inverted Poses

by Nina

In my post yesterday Depression May Be Caused by Inflammation, I extolled the value of supported inverted poses for reducing stress, especially for people with depression or others who find it difficult to focus internally. I’ve been writing about this special group of poses since the early days of the blog because I’ve found that using supported inverted poses for stress management is one of easiest ways to calm yourself down because all you have to do is set yourself in the pose and stay there for a while. The shape of the pose itself causes the baroreceptors to work their magic (see Why You Should Love Your Baroreceptors). I even wrote a post that described all the supported inverted poses (see All About Supported Inverted Poses).

I realized yesterday that it was was about time I provided you with a simple, accessible sequence that warms you up for doing these poses and moves you gradually into a gentle, full inversion. So here it is! This sequence is suitable for almost everyone, but if you have high blood pressure, back problems, eye problems, or are pregnant, please see Cautions for Inversions. 

Easy Supported Inversion Sequence  

1. Reclined Leg Stretch Series (Supta Padangusthasana). This series of reclined stretches opens your hips and stretches the backs of your legs. These are perfect starting poses for just about any practice, but are especially good for preparing you for the partial inversions, which are different types of standing forward bends. See http://yogaforhealthyaging.blogspot.com/2012/01/reclined-leg-stretch-sequence.html for full instructions. Stay in the pose for 30 seconds to 1.5 minutes per side.   

2. Reclined Arms Overhead pose (Supta Urdva Hastasana). This pose is an excellent shoulder opener (see Opening Tight Shoulders http://yogaforhealthyaging.blogspot.com/2013/06/featured-sequence-opening-tight.htmlfor other ideas), preparing you for the Downward-Facing Dog poses that come next.

Start by taking your strap and making a loop that is about the same width as your shoulders and placing a block on the floor next to you. Then lie down on your back, with bent knees and soles of the feet on the floor. Place the strap over your arms just beyond your elbow joints towards your hands. Then press out against the strap as you pick up the block between your hands and firm your hands against the ends of the block. You may have to make the loop bigger or smaller to keep your arms straight as you press on the block. Then, slowly take your arms up and overhead, heading towards the wall behind you. If your thumbs don’t touch the floor without bending your elbows, put a lift of some sort, such as a folded blanket, under your hands. At this point, you can straighten your legs into Mountain pose position, keeping them active and strong. Stay in the pose for 1 to 3 minutes.

To come out of the pose, bend your knees and place the soles of your feet on the floor, and then bring your arms (and the block) back to your starting position.  

3. Half Downward-Facing Dog Pose at the Wall (Arda Adho Mukha Svanasana). This pose continues opening your shoulders, and stretches your arms, backs, hips and legs, preparing you for the full Downward-Facing Dog and standing forward bends to come.

Start by standing about 1 foot away from a wall, facing toward it. Place your hands on the wall so they are at either at shoulder height for less flexible people or anywhere below shoulder height down to elbow height for more flexible people. Then, bend your knees a bit, press your hands firmly into the wall, and slowly walk your feet away from the wall. Keeping your hips positioned over your feet, gradually walk out until your arms are straight and form a long line with your torso and belly. Push your arms strongly towards the wall, while creating an upward lift from your knees to your hips. You can gradually straighten your knees as long as it doesn't cause pain in your lower back. See Half-Dog Pose at the Wall for more info. Stay for about 1 minutes. 

4. Supported Downward-Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana). This is a surprisingly soothing pose when you use support for your head. But you must use a prop that is high enough (try a bolster) and be careful to place the prop in the right position (below where your head naturally falls in the pose, and not so you need to move forward—or bend your arms—to rest your forehead on the prop). If your shoulders and/or hamstrings are very tight, this pose can be physically demanding and not quieting. However, it’s still a great warm up pose for other inversions, as it opens your hips, legs, and shoulders while getting you used to being partly upside down.

Before going into the pose, place the prop on your mat several inches behind your hands, not between your hands. Then, when you come into Downward-Facing Dog, allow your head to relax down toward the ground. If your head touches the prop, that’s great. If it doesn’t, move the prop, not your head! And if moving the prop doesn’t work, come out of the pose and find a higher prop (or stack a couple of blocks). When you get set up, if you can rest your forehead on the prop, try to gently tug your forehead skin down toward your eyebrows. Stay for 1 to 3 minutes. 

5. Supported Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana).  This pose is surprisingly quieting if you find a prop that is high enough so you can do the pose without feeling an uncomfortable stretch in your hamstrings. Very flexible people can rest the crown of the head on a single block set up on its tallest side. Moderately flexible people will have to stack two blocks, one flat and the other on its narrow end. Less flexible people should use a chair (which is actually lower that two blocks stacked end to end, not to mention more stable). Be honest with yourself and use a chair if necessary (or even if it's not). However, if you are very tight and can’t bend your body to 90 degrees in a seated forward bend, you may not be able to get comfortable in this pose, so feel free to skip the pose.

As you come into the forward bend, keep your legs strong and focus on moving from your hip joints, not rounding your back. If you are using a chair, have the chair far enough away from you so you can keep your back as straight as possible and, as you rest your forehead on your folded arms, try gently tugging your forehead skin down toward your eyebrows. Stay in the pose 1 to 3 minutes. 

6. Supported Wide-Legged Standing Forward Bend (Prasarita Padottanasana). This pose feels more grounding than quieting to me because it’s so demanding on the hips and legs. But for people whose hips are more open than their hamstrings, this may be more accessible than Standing Forward Bend. Very flexible people who can get the crown of the head to the floor can simply practice this pose as usual. Less flexible people will need to use a block or even a chair to support their heads. As you come into the pose, focus on moving from your hip joints rather than rounding your back. And, as in Supported Downward-Facing Dog, make sure you move the prop to support your head where it naturally falls in the pose (don’t move your head reach the prop). Be honest with yourself and use a chair if necessary (or even if it's not). Stay in the pose 1 to 3 minutes. 

7. Easy Inverted Pose. Because your legs are inverted as well as your heart in this pose, the pose is very quieting. And I’ve never been unable to help a student be comfortable in this pose! If two folded blankets is irritating to your lower back, try just one and make sure your tailbone and buttocks are fully supported by the blanket (and are not tilting into a backbend). Having the support under your pelvis is what makes your heart slightly higher than your head, so see if you can find a way to make it work. See Easy Inverted Pose for information. Stay in the pose 5 to 15 minutes.

By the way, if you are comfortable practicing Headstand, Shoulderstand, and Plow pose, you could at this point, skip Easy Inverted pose and practice Headstand at the wall, Shoulderstand on a Chair, and Plow pose on a Chair. See All About Supported Inverted Poses for info on these poses.

8. Supported Bridge Pose with Straight Legs (Setubandha Sarvangasana). This pose is special because (if this pose is comfortable for you) you can stay in this pose for a very long period of time. People with lower back problems sometimes have a hard time getting comfortable in the pose, but lowering the propping (by using two folded blankets instead of a bolster under your torso) can help.

Before going into the pose, set up a prop up (bolster, folded blankets or blocks) at the base of a wall to support your feet and another second prop (bolster or folded blankets) perpendicular to the wall to support your torso. Make sure the prop at the wall is at least as high as the prop for your torso (you don’t want your feet dropping lower than your hips). You’ll have to estimate based on your height how far the second prop is from the first one. 

Then, as you move from sitting on the second prop to a reclined position with straight legs, make sure that while the tips of your shoulder blades are supported by the prop, both the back of your head AND your shoulders are off the prop and are firmly touching the floor (place a think blanket or mat there for your head if you like). This is very important because you don’t want your shoulders and/or head hanging in mid-air, causing you to back-bend your neck. If this is happening to you, grit your teeth and come out of the pose and move the prop supporting your torso closer to the wall. Stay in the pose at least 5 minutes or as long as you like. 

9. Legs Up the Wall pose (Viparita Karani). This pose has a very dramatic quieting effect because your legs are inverted in this pose as well as your head and heart. I notice the relaxation response kicking in after about seven or eight minutes. However, I’ve observed that people with very tight hamstrings have trouble getting comfortable in Legs Up the Wall pose. If you have this problem, experiment by doing the pose slightly further from the wall, with a bolster in a vertical position supporting your legs. See Legs Up the Wall Pose for instructions. Stay in the pose for 5 to 20 minutes.

If you are pressed for time, you could always skip some of the poses, but do the remaining poses in the same order as they are in this sequence. And if you try this sequence at home or teach it to your students, I'd love to hear back from you.

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Depression May Be Caused by Inflammation

by Nina

Burning House by Marc Chagall*

“Inflammation is our immune system’s natural response to injuries, infections, or foreign compounds. When triggered, the body pumps various cells and proteins to the site through the blood stream, including cytokines, a class of proteins that facilitate intercellular communication. It also happens that people suffering from depression are loaded with cytokines.” —Tim De Chant

The first thing I did after I read a short article Depression May Be Caused by Inflammation was write to Ram. After all, Ram has written more than once about the dangers of chronic inflammation (see Chronic Inflammation and Yoga: Combating the Fiery Killer and Yoga’s Healing Powers), but he never mentioned depression as a problem that could be caused by inflammation. Here is his reply:

"Yes, I saw this item this morning and it does not surprise me. Inflammation is now thought to be the underlying event for a number of health issues including Alzheimer's, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, thyroid issues, arthritis, etc. What was once thought of as a novel and protective mechanism for the hunter-gatherers has now gone haywire thanks to modern interventions/lifestyle that has extended the median life span.”

So with that nod of approval, I decided to look more into the matter. After all, if yoga can help with chronic inflammation and depression is caused by chronic inflammation, then practicing yoga for chronic inflammation could be helpful to people suffering from depression. So, what are scientists saying about how is depression connected to chronic inflammation? An article in the Guardian Is depression a kind of allergic reaction? put it this way:  

“Both cytokines and inflammation have been shown to rocket during depressive episodes, and – in people with bipolar – to drop off in periods of remission. Healthy people can also be temporarily put into a depressed, anxious state when given a vaccine that causes a spike in inflammation. Brain imaging studies of people injected with a typhoid vaccine found that this might be down to changes in the parts of the brain that process reward and punishment. Depression may be triggered by an immune response.” 

And because these scientists are now thinking that depression may be a side effect of inflammation, they are exploring new treatments that address the inflammatory symptoms of depression with positive results. For example, a study The cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor celecoxib has therapeutic effects in major depression: results of a double-blind, randomized, placebo controlled, add-on pilot study to reboxetine in Molecular Psychiatry concluded that an anti-inflammatory medication had therapeutic effects for depression.

But as Ram wrote in Yoga’s Healing Powers, a regular yoga practice is also effective for reducing chronic inflammation. He said that yoga:

1. Brings down the levels of stress hormones that promote inflammation
2. Lowers the levels of a number of pro-inflammatory molecules in the body
3. Reduces a subset of pro-inflammatory molecules called cytokines

Yes! Yoga helps reduce those pesky cytokines, which are exactly what the scientists are thinking may be responsible for triggering depression, as well as reducing inflammation in general. And, stress, which promotes inflammation, has also been long thought to be a factor in depression, as Timothy McCall wrote in Stress, Your Health, and Yoga.

So I’m going to make the leap and say if you want to reduce chronic inflammation and lower your levels of cytokines to help depression: focus at least some of your practice on stress management (see The Relaxation Response and Yoga). In general, supported inversions (see All About Supported Inversions) are particularly good for people with depression because you can keep your eyes open while practicing and don’t need to focus internally, which can lead to brooding. 

But, as always, you should experiment to find out what works for you, and if you enjoy restorative yoga or guided relaxation or breath work, go for it. In general, the way you practice yoga should probably depend on the type of depression you have, rajasic or tamasic. See Tamasic and Rajasic Depression for further information.

I came to the conclusion that yoga for depression should include stress management practices a long time ago because I had two bouts of agitated depression that both followed periods of sustained stress. And since I’ve learned to manage my stress levels with yoga, I’ve managed to avoid any more episodes (going on 20 years now!). Of course, until recently, I only had what scientists call “anecdotal evidence” and the wisdom of my yoga teachers to back me up. Now it’s great to have a possible scientific explanation as well!

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Yoga for Foot Pain

by Baxter

Study of Hands and Feet for the Golden Age by Ingres

As I was preparing for an upcoming workshop on Yoga for Healthy Feet at Mountain Yoga in Oakland, California, I happened to review our recent communications from you, our readers (thanks for all of these questions, by the way, and keep them coming!), and came across this timely inquiry:

I am a 67-year-old female in good physical condition. About 10 years ago, I slipped down a steep hill and came to a stop half way down the hill, using my foot to stop. I immediately had severe pain in the arch of my foot to which I applied ice. Every since then, I have had pain in the arch of my foot, to varying degrees. I now have that pain wrapping around from the arch to the top of my foot and pain that wraps around my ankle. Even the bone on the medial side of my foot, above the arch, becomes sore at times. I frequently wake up in the middle of the night with arch pain. When I walk fast at all, I get shooting pain in my arch. I have been to the orthopedic doctor and they have injected steroids into the tendon sheath in the bottom of my foot and also by the ankle. These injections have helped for a short time. I don’t want any more steroids. Are there any yoga exercises that I could be doing to strengthen this area and to decrease the inflammation that is there? Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

I’d like to start by acknowledging how challenging traumatic injuries can be to our bodies, and how they sometimes don’t easily heal and allow us to feel like our old selves again, at least not on the timetable we would prefer! Our reader’s situation appears complicated in the sense that the pain she experiences moves around, is aggravated by certain activities, has been around a long time, and even wakes her up at night. And despite seeing an orthopedic specialist and getting some steroid injections to decrease inflammation in the tissues of her foot, her pain persists. Although I cannot make specific recommendations for this person without a more thorough history and physical, I can provide some general recommendations on approaching foot pain and working toward stronger and more supple feet and greater pain-free movement.

Non-Weight Bearing Mobilization

It turns out the feet are quite complex parts of the body. There are 52 bones in the feet, and each foot has approximately 33 joints, each of which can move in multiple directions. The possible number of distortions of the foot is a huge number, something on the order of 8x10 to the 36th power. In contrast to the foot’s huge variety of possible shapes and movements, we usually wake up, are in bare feet for just a few minutes in the morning and then jam our feet into shoes all day, which protect the feet for sure, but limit movement dramatically. So the first wonderful thing about practicing yoga is that you liberate your feet from shoes for however long your home practice is each day. In the context of painful feet, it may be a great starting place to do yoga practices that are non-weight bearing, since things like brisk walking, as in our reader’s case, might be influencing the persistence of pain.

A good place to start would be with any “warm-up” practices that involve lying on your back or belly and moving your limbs and feet around. An example would be Legs up the Wall pose (Viparita Karani), in which you could add in movements of your feet and ankles to promote mobility of the joints and soft tissues of your feet. Other examples of poses where there is no or very little pressure on your feet include Thread the Needle pose, Locust pose (Salabasana), and Reclining Twist pose (Jathara Parivartanasana). In all these poses, you can deliberately choose how you want to position your feet and ankles—whether you want to spread or curl your toes or vary other foot movements and positions—to bring greater awareness to how your feet are doing moment to moment. Once you are comfortable in these poses and your foot pain doesn’t flare, you are ready to move on.

Locust with One Leg Up

Mild Weight-Bearing Poses

There are several basic yoga poses that begin to require more of your feet in terms of dealing with forces to the soles, the tops, and the edges of your feet. As you introduce this new group of poses, you will again be monitoring how your feet respond during the practice, as well as after the practice, such as overnight. Some of my initial choices include:

1. Reclined Leg Stretch pose (Supta Padangustasana)
2. Bridge Pose (Setubanda Sarvangasana)
3. Seated Crossed-Legs Pose (Sukasana)
4. Cobblers Pose (Baddha Konasana)

With Reclined Leg Stretch, you are still not bearing weight but you are bringing pressure onto the sole of your foot with the strap. You can vary the location of the strap; I like the heel pad, the mid-foot, or the ball of the foot. And you can vary the intensity of the pull of the strap to gauge how much your foot can handle.

Reclined Leg Stretch Pose

With Bridge Pose, you are beginning to bear weight on your feet, but not your entire body weight, so this pose provides is good way to test the waters to see what your feet are ready to handle. The other seated poses put a bit of pressure on different parts of your feet and can help reveal areas of ongoing tenderness that might need a slower approach towards full function.

Full Weight-Bearing Poses

When you are feeling ready to stand up and see how your feet handle more challenging situations, you can begin to explore the basic two-legged standing poses. Mountain pose and all of its variations—arms overhead, side bending, and so on—are the starting place and a good home base to return to for this group of poses. 

Arms Overhead Pose

From there, move on to the classic two-legged standing poses, such as Triangle pose (Trikonasana), Warrior 1 and 2 (Virabrdrasana 1 and 2), Extended Side Angle pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana), Pyramid pose (Parsvottansanas), and Widespread Standing Forward Bend (Prasarita Padottanasana). Each of these poses will bring slightly different challenges and forces to your feet and ankles. You might add them gradually over time and assess how each one affects the feet.

Triangle Pose

Once poses on two feet are becoming easier, add more challenge by working on one-legged poses, such as Tree pose (Vrksasana), Half Moon pose (Arda Chandrasana), Eagle pose (Garudasana), Warrior 3 (Virabradrasana 3), and Dancer pose (Natarajasana). Be willing to go more slowly with these pose, however, as they will focus more force and pressure onto your feet and ankles, and may require more time and attention to get better at. 

Warrior 3 Pose

Dynamic Movements

In real life, we are moving around on our feet quite a bit, walking, occasionally squatting, and periodically dancing, cycling, or running. You can ready and train your feet for these variable movements by practicing dynamic yoga sequences. The most obvious choices are Sun Salutations and Moon Salutations, but I suggest that you can also allow yourself some creative license to invent your own dynamic movement using yoga poses. Keep a playful, yet focused attention as you move in and out of various yoga poses with clear awareness of your feet. 

See Agility Practice and  Want to Improve Your Balance? Take Off Your Shoes! for more ideas.


Finally…

Hopefully these suggestions can assist in the healing process from a variety of painful foot issues. There are certainly many other non-yoga practices and therapies we cannot cover here, but you have a starting place with yoga to begin your healing journey.

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Altruism (Karma Yoga), a Wonderful Way to Start the New Year!

by Ram

The Rescue by Pablo Picasso*

The underlying principle of the Yoga philosophy is the well-being of an individual at the level of body and mind and helping an individual re-connect to his/her true nature through direct and personal experience. One of the methods by which Yoga prepares the body and mind of the individual for the eventual liberation and enlightenment is through Karma Yoga, which is the yoga of selfless-action. Altruism aka Karma Yoga aka seva in Sanskrit translates as a selfless service without expectations for service provided. Any individual can achieve mind-body awareness and ultimately attain enlightenment by practicing seva/Karma yoga without any personal expectation. A Karma Yogi—an individual rendering selfless service—gets rid of all egoistic tendencies while offering such a service and puts the well-being of others as a top priority ahead of his/her personal gain or achievement.

Selfless service requires an individual to perform any service without attachment or expectation, and remain unaffected by the results of such service. At the same time such an individual needs to cultivate a loving attitude towards the selfless task, without developing any stress from it, no matter what the outcome is. Performing a task without any expectation, letting go of all results, whether good or bad, and focusing on the selfless action alone is the essence of Karma Yoga. In the light of non-attachment, the selfless doer attains freedom from emotional disturbances, including but not limited to desires, ambitions, fear, worry, anxiety, judgment, and rage. This leads to true happiness.

In one of my older posts Caregivers: The True Karma Yogis I extolled the selfless service of caregivers. In my opinion, caregivers are true Karma Yogis since they perform their duties selflessly as a service without looking to reap any benefits. Caregivers provide a wide variety of selfless services to a recipient, including assisting with daily tasks like personal care, providing meals, helping the recipient with their daily physical activities, administering medications, meeting with healthcare providers, coordinating treatment regimens, managing the recipient’s medical care and health insurance among other duties. Mother Teresa also comes to my mind as a true Karma Yogi, who declared that, “As to my calling, I belong to the world”. Mother Teresa kept reiterating the inner joy and well-being that she experienced through her selfless service.

A recent research study Motives for volunteering are associated with mortality risk in older adults  on selfless service and its effects on longevity confirm the importance of these acts. People who volunteer, and whose reasons for volunteering are to help others rather than themselves, may live longer than those who volunteer for selfish gains. The reasons why volunteering with an altruistic attitude helps an individual to live longer are manifold including among others:

1. When helping others, the body releases an important hormone called oxytocin which assists in buffering out stressful thought.
2. Merely thinking of a selfless service releases certain “feel-good” chemicals that reduces stress providing stability to the min.
3. The feel-good chemicals in turn also improves cardiovascular health.
4. Self-esteem builds and confidence levels grow when you are passionate about helping others in need, resulting in a stronger mind.

Yoga philosophy describes in detail how altruism is one of the many qualities needed to reverse pain and overcome mental afflictions (vrittis). BKS Iyengar alludes to altruism when he elaborates on karuna (compassion). Karuna is not just displaying pity or shedding tears over a miserable situation. True compassion is when you couple it with a selfless action that relieves the misery or suffering. A true karma yogi is one who without any expectation or reward:

• uses all the available resources to mitigate pain, misery and suffering
• provides courage and strength to the weak
• provides shelter to all

Providing selfless help without attaching any benefits provide Karma Yogis the greatest joy and a sense of fulfillment. It is of no surprise that the authors of a recent research study Volunteerism, health, and civic engagement among older adults compiled empirical evidence on the benefits of selfless service, concluding that adult volunteers may enjoy good health and longevity because being useful to others instills a sense of being needed and valued.

With several research studies to back the philosophy of Karma Yoga, how about committing to selfless acts on a regular basis to achieve a longer health span and using this extended life to foster sincere relationships and bring greater fulfillment to your life? I cannot think of a better resolution for Y2015!

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