In case you haven’t discovered all the witty and insightful posts from Elephant Journal yet, here is another one that makes me simultaneously smile and also breath a sigh of relief. Make Room For the Luscious Yogi so bravely written by Anne Falkowski. Why do images of yoga always seem to feature incredibly lithe, tiny and ridiculously limber bodies contorting themselves in strange ways.
Yoga when you are Overweight
When you go to an average hatha yoga class, you see a few toned bodies, you see average bodies and you see some bodies with more meat and flesh in certain parts. Does being bony and muscular seem to be the ideal in the yoga world? Does that make your claim to the sacred tenants of yoga of non-violence, non-attachment (detatchment) , compassion, non-stealing (generosity) more authentic? It doesn’t make their shoulder-stand or up-dog any more enviable.
As most serious practioners know, yoga was not originally an physical practice. It was primarily a meditation and breathing practice meant to help you reach higher states of enlightenment and consciousness for the betterment of humankind. It was also primarily taught by men. The poses actually got added later since it if the body had some conditioning it made it easier to sit for long periods in meditation.
Yoga for All Bodies
When yoga got introduced to the West, the emphasis on the poses and alignment became the focus. People started to want to get in better shape, more limber, let go of stiffness and tightness and leave the class more calm and peaceful. Then came hot yoga which packed room of sweaty stinky people in a mirror so you could see how well ( or not well) you were doing the poses and have all kinds of judgement about how your tree pose wasn’t as balanced as the little person next to you. At many hot yoga studios, there are open showers like a gym so there is more bodily comparison.
Yoga advertisements and magazines are filled with more images of toned tightness in $80 Lululemon pants and crop bra tops.
I think one major institution in the yoga world which has done a great job of including all bodies, shapes and colors is Kripalu. I get there catalog and I frequently see images of large and older bodies not only in the brochure but also sometimes on the cover. Kripalu is the top yoga educational institution in the world.. it has an array of classes on all kinds on all kind of spiritual growth and wellness topics that range from drumming, sushi making to horse riding.
Sometimes, I don’t feel like I have the right to be a yoga teacher because I don’t have a perfectly cut and toned six pack like a la Taylor Lautner. I avoid dairy, rarely drink, have a fairly clean diet and exercise with both yoga and riding a stationary bike almost every day as well as strength training. I have so many cute tight yoga tops that lay in my drawer in the hopes one day my tummy will be small enough to wear them.
Then I remind myself that yoga is not a gym workout with oooomming. It’s a practice that helps you to become more self-aware so you can choose to reach to things differently. with less anger and fear and more calm and trust.
Don’t you just love seeing more scientific evidence from the medical establishment about how yoga makes your heartbeats healthier?
Yoga reduced the need for surgery, medicine with side effects for Atrial Fibrillation
Yoga, which we already know and have experience is proven to lower high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, can cut in half the risk of a common and potentially dangerous irregular heartbeat, according to a U.S. study released last week by Dr. Dhanunjaya Lakkireddy, an associate professor with the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kansas, who led the study.
The study was the first to examine the benefits of yoga on atrial fibrillation – that is a leading cause of stroke and is most common in the elderly.
“These findings are important because many of the current treatment strategies for atrial fibrillation include invasive expensive procedures or medications with undesirable side effects,” said Lakkireddy.
He presented his research at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology being held in New Orleans.
On average, yoga halved episodes of the irregular heartbeat, while also dramatically reducing depression and anxiety and improving in flexibility, physical functioning, vitality, social functioning and mental health, the research found.
How has your health, mood or functioning improved since you started a regular practice?
Now that the temperatures are heating up just wanted to let you get a virtual taste of my favorite drink to make in the summer. I don’t know why but mint grows like a weed at our house during the summer, the more mint I pull out, the more mint seems to sprout up.
Healthy Summer Drink of mint, cucumber and lime - refreshingly zesty!
Just take 2 cucumbers, peel and seed.
Grab some mint leaves.
Squeeze lime juice in and puree all together now.
Zoom, zoom, zoom!
Voila. You have a refreshing and alkalizing drink when the thermometer reaches into the 80s.
You can throw a few big ice cubes in if you want.
Give this to your carnivore friends and even they will be yum-yum-ing!
Garnish with a few mint leaves on top.
You can also throw in a few kale or spinach leaves if you are so included, although it you are making this for a friend it will be more attractive without the dark green.
If you don’t want to waste the cucumber seeds then you can take them and lay on the floor with a towel underneath your head. Put the seeds on your eyes and hang out for 10 minutes. The big dark circle under your eyes will have evaporated. Great to do before a big event where you have to look good. If you want a bonus to this eye bag tightening treatment then have your legs up on a chair or up on a wall and you’ll feel tensions start to melt away. It’s like a mini restorative spa yoga treatment for a recession wallet.
It’s fun to do this with a friend or family member. I’ve done treatment with my dad (we had to hide from my step-mom since we didn’t want her to see us getting cucumber juice on the floor and freak out) and also with a guy friend. Both of them felt and looked so refreshed afterwards.
Another Healthy Summer Drink.
Do you have a ton of mint that grows around your property? Then take some leaves and just boil with water. Let it steep a few hours. Now you have your own mint tea. Throw in your ice cubes and you have another refreshing summer drink. Squeeze some lemon in if you are so inclined.
What are your favorite healthy non-alcoholic drinks? Post your answer on our Facebook page or in the comments section below….
Occasionally we have the opportunity to interview contributors from websites that share our goals of educating people with cancer about the benefits of holistic lifestyles and wellness. I recently had the opportunity to interview Libby Lowe, Social Media Manager of Yogabear.org.
Yoga Bear is a national 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to promoting more opportunities for wellness and healing to the cancer community through the practice of yoga. They have all kinds of resources on the site for patients, yoga teachers and health care providers that are dealing with cancer such as videos as yoga for pain relief.
Jasmine: Tell us about your background?
Libby: I got involved with Yoga Bear in 2010. I had recently lost my mother-in-law to ovarian cancer and I was looking for a way to give back. I’ve been doing yoga for about eight years and volunteering with Yoga Bear seemed like a great way to honor her memory in a very personal way. Professionally, I have been writing and editing for more than 10 years. I work on a mix of projects including editorial, corporate communications and social media management. I live in Chicago.
Jasmine: What do you think your mission in life is?
Yoga on the Steps: Living Beyond Breast Cancer
Libby: When I think about what I truly love doing, it makes tons of sense that I work on building community within Yoga Bear. I love making connections and helping people.
Jasmine: How has your spiritual practice transformed you?
Libby: Yoga taught me patience. Because of yoga, I understand that being good at something isn’t the goal, being present is. I’m not 100% there, but before yoga I wouldn’t have even recognized those moments of disconnect.
Jasmine: What daily spiritual practices do you do every day?
Libby: I don’t have a formal spiritual practice. In some ways I see emailing friends and connecting our community members as a spiritual practice—and it’s one I find great joy in.
Jasmine: What is the most surprising thing about you?
Libby: I absolutely love feel good sports movies. Remember the Titans, We Are Marshall—if I’m desperate, even Wildcats.
Jasmine: What do you think the government can do to aid in health and wellness?
Libby: This is a huge question, but the short answer is: Make sure that everyone has access to preventive care, insurance, and understandable information about the system—as well information about how to take care of themselves. I also feel very strongly that Planned Parenthood is an essential resource for women. More than 1.5 women received cancer screenings at a Planned Parenthood in 2010, and I believe the government needs to support women by supporting the organization.
Jasmine: What have been some of the most transformation events or milestones that led you to be the person you are?
Libby: In terms of the work I am doing now, my mother-in-law was very inspirational. The determination with which she took on cancer–and won for more than seven years–is truly inspiring. She advocated for herself, educated herself and fought like hell. And while she was living with cancer, she truly lived. I didn’t meet her until after she was diagnosed, and I wasn’t sure how much time we would have together. I’m extremely lucky to have had the time with her that I had–knowing her made me a better person.
Jasmine: Any exciting projects you want to share?
Libby: Keep an eye on Yoga Bear! We have an awesome library of free yoga videos–and we’re always looking for more. I’d like to invite all of the teachers out there to submit.
Neck Pain & Tight Shoulders – Yoga Poses that Help Relieve Pain
Unfortunately, neck pain & tight shoulders seem to always come together. Often in my yoga classes, I will ask students what body parts are not feeling good and what they want to work on. The number one answer is always low back pain and the next body parts are usually tight shoulder, neck pain and also hip tightness.
I think every single yoga class I have ever done helps with low back pain, as long as the student does not get too aggressive and try to go farther in the pose than is appropriate, which is very common for very new students. For new yoga students I am alw Pays reminding them to let go of striving and competition and if they are wincing or grimacing or worst, grunting in a pose (yes, that happens) then they needs to stop, modify so it is more comfortable or get my attention in a big class so I can give them an alternate pose.
Neck Pain & Tight Shoulders Poses
Here is my youtube video on using tennis balls and laying on top of them to give yourself a neck and shoulder massage.
Often it is so relaxing and since I am releasing such deep tightness with the tennis balls from neck pain and tight shoulders that I fall asleep in when I am doing this. I drop down into a deep place of relaxation that I tell my husband not to talk to me when I am doing this. The dog also knows to give me some space when I am working with my tennis balls.
I won’t travel anywhere without my tennis balls. I put the balls in a sock so that they can work on each side of my vertebrae evenly. I probably have at least 4 pairs of tennis balls wrapped in a sock in my house, maybe even one in my car and I never travel anywhere without my tennis balls.
Another technique that works well is a very hot bath. Sort of cliche but it is quite therapeutic. Best to add a few drops of essential oil such as lavender and also Epsom salts which lets you relax further. If you don’t have any essential oils, then you can also throw a few bags of herbal tea such as chamomile into your bath water to make it smell all spa-like.
Since I have been having some inflammation in my knees lately, I can’t soak in a hot tub or else my knees will start screaming at me at the top of their knee-lungs so another way to heat up this part of the body without inflaming another is I have a herbal collar that I heat up in the microwave. I actually have my lavender, rosemary and some other yummy smelling herbs collar on right now as I am writing this. Awesome to wear on a chilly night as well. You have to be careful heating up an herbal collar since I actually burnt the last one in the microwave by trying to heat it up too fast.
Jill Miller Yoga TuneUp DVDs – Knee Hab
I was reading a review about Jill Miller’s Kneehab video in a recent YogaJournal magazine and decided to go ahead and order it but didn’t give much hope to this.
A month later, after doing the Kneehab video for almost every day and feeling a LOT of relief, I figured I should also buy her DVD for upper body pain . When you are in pain, you often are open to trying lots of different things without having much expectation to them actually helping. Her DVD for upper body pain is divided into parts that give exercises, poses and moves for people that are just recovering from surgery to seasoned athletes.
Not all of the poses will be accessible if you have a lot of neck pain & tight shoulders . This DVD is divided into 5 segments specifically for pain in different parts of your body such as your neck, shoulders, The segments range from 5-10 minutes …. easy to fit into your day. I actually do some of the moves when I am watching tv or on the toilet (am I sharing too much again?)
Jill Miller Yoga TuneUp DVDs for Neck Pain and Tight Shoulders
Even though it is called Yoga Tune Up it actually feels more like a yoga-flavored physical therapy session. If your primary purpose is to find a very-low cost way to find your own relief from neck, shoulder, hand, wrist or knee pain, you are going to have to carve out time to do these moves on a regular basis.
It’s not a tape to do once and then have you neck pain and tight shoulders be magically healed. It is an on-going routine that will have to become part of your life. It’s less time to do this tape then to have to see a acupuncturist, chiropractor or physical therapist though a few times a week.
I was reading a review about Jill Miller’s Kneehab video in a recent YogaJournal magazine and decided to go ahead and order it but didn’t give much hope to this.
A month later, after doing the Kneehab video for almost every day and feeling a LOT of relief, I figured I should also buy her DVD for upper body pain . When you are in pain, you often are open to trying lots of different things without having much expectation to them actually helping. Her DVD for upper body pain is divided into parts that give exercises, poses and moves for people that are just recovering from surgery to seasoned athletes.
Even though it is called Yoga Tune Up it actually feels more like a yoga-flavored physical therapy session. If your primary purpose is to find a very-low cost way to find your own relief from neck, shoulder, hand, wrist or knee pain, you are going to have to carve out time to do these moves on a regular basis.
Some people may look at the rows of people jogging on treadmills at the gym and wonder how they can do it. There are many reasons why spending an hour or so on a treadmill may not appeal to someone. It can be very boring, for one thing. Others simply find the whole atmosphere of a large commercial gym objectionable. So what is this person to do when they decide they want yoga poses & weight loss?
If the gym just isn’t your thing, consider some alternative weight loss methods. Yoga in particular can be a great way for a person to tone their body without requiring them to spend hours on the treadmill.
Furthermore, its focus on developing the mind at the same time as the body may make it more interesting for some people. If you’re tired of running place, consider joining a yoga class.
Yoga offers a great alternative to traditional workout routines. It is much more laid back and relaxing than the fast-paced nature of the average gym exercise regimen. Furthermore, it has a stronger focus on developing the whole of the individual, rather than simply toning the exterior. This may make the yoga studio a supportive atmosphere for those who are trying to lose weight.
Some individuals may be skeptical about yoga’s ability to help them slim down. It may seem hard to believe that simply sitting in specialized stretching positions can get the heart rate up enough to burn any calories. However, the Mayo Clinic reports that a 150-pound person will burn around 240 calories per
hour doing yoga. This is less than jogging or other types of physical activity. But it is significantly more than simply doing nothing.
Furthermore, yoga helps a person tone their muscles. This may not necessarily help when it comes to watching the pounds tick off on the scale, but it does help individuals look leaner and healthier.
No matter how heavy or svelte a person is, loose muscles can make them look unattractive. Yoga solves this problem. The exercises involve holding poses for extended periods of time. These positions tighten up the muscle groups and help make a person look less flabby.
Yoga’s greatest benefits may come when it is practiced as a complementary exercise. Other types of aerobic exercises are better for burning calories and shedding pounds, but they are less effective at keeping the mind fresh and the body energized. The most important effects of yoga may be that it encourages a greater sense of spirituality and mental clarity. This can help a person stick to their broader weight loss goals.
So if running on the treadmill isn’t for you, give yoga a try. You may be surprised at the effect it has on your life and the degree to which it enables you to slim down.
Guest Post By Dahn Yoga– Dahn Yoga is one of the largest yoga and tai chi companies in the world with its own unique style and brand of yoga. Dahn
Yoga is rooted in the rich history of an ancient Asian mind-body practice, Sun Do, and in the wisdom of the Chun Bu Kyung.
