Sleep Alzheimers Disease and Yoga

by Nina

Sun Behind Clouds by Melina Meza

One of the worst fears I think we all share about getting older is of developing dementia. Just recently I had a long phone conversation with a woman who is trying to deal with a mother in the early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease, and it was just so sad. I had some advice for her, but no solutions, of course. Then I heard a news piece on NPR “Brains Sweep Themselves Clean of Toxins During Sleep”  that gave me  glimmer of hope.

For a very long time, scientists have been trying to figure out the purpose of sleep. Now, a recent study “Sleep Drives Metabolite Clearance from the Adult Brain”  by University of Rochester researchers that was published in Science Magazine proposed a fascinating new theory about sleep. The researchers discovered that while you are asleep, your brain clears out harmful toxins! During sleep there is a dramatic increase in flow of cerebrospinal fluid in your brain, and this washes away the toxic waste proteins that built up in your brain when you were awake. Professor of Neurosurgery and an author of the study, Dr. Maiken Nedergaard, said in the NPR interview, "It's like a dishwasher."

The researchers said that this cleansing process may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's because the waste proteins being washed away are toxic to brain cells. This potentially explains why it is hard to think clearly after you've had a sleepless night and why prolonged lack of sleep can actually kill people and other animals. According to the researchers, this cleansing of waste products during sleep maybe be the very reason we need to sleep! 

“Thus, the restorative function of sleep may be a consequence of the enhanced removal of potentially neurotoxic waste products that accumulate in the awake central nervous system.” Lulu Xie, et al.

Alzheimer's Disease researchers say this research could help explain a number of recent findings on the relationship between sleep and Alzheimer's. Dr. Randall Bateman, Professor of Neurology  at Washington University, said the following about beta amyloid (the main component of certain deposits found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's Disease):

"Beta amyloid concentrations continue to increase while a person is awake. And then after people go to sleep that concentration of beta amyloid decreases. This report provides a beautiful mechanism by which this may be happening.”

The researchers discovered the cleaning process when they studied the brains of mice as they slept. Dr. Nedergaard said that during sleep the system that circulates cerebrospinal fluid through the brain and nervous system was "pumping fluid into the brain and removing fluid from the brain in a very rapid pace.” In addition, when the mice went to sleep, their brain cells shrank, which made it easier for the fluid to circulate. Then, when the mice woke up, their brain cells enlarged again and the circulation of fluid slowed dramatically.

The researchers speculated that the reason your brain doesn’t clean itself while you are awake is because this type of cleaning uses a lot of energy. So it's probably not possible for your brain to clean itself while at the same time it is keeping you aware of your surrounding and allowing you to move, talk, and so on. 

Now we already know that getting enough sleep is vital for our physical and mental health, but if the purpose of sleep is to wash our brains clean of toxins, getting enough sleep may also be a key to keeping your brain healthy and preventing Alzheimer’s Disease as you age.

But what does all this have to do with yoga? Well, if you’re having trouble sleeping, yoga can help with that. Because insomnia is so often related to stress, yoga’s stress management techniques can help you quiet your nervous system so you fall asleep more quickly and sleep more soundly. For  information on how yoga can help you sleep better, see Yoga for Insomnia, Part 1, Day to Night: Yoga for Better Sleep, and Five Tips for Better Sleep. The Supported Inverted poses I wrote about recently (see All About Supported Inversions) are poses that I've found particularly helpful.

We’re so careful here at YFHA not to make any false promises and of course as this research is new, we can’t promise that getting enough sleep will definitely make a difference for you. But encouraging you to get a good night’s sleep can’t be harmful in any way, and if this gives you more motivation to practice stress management techniques, which are helpful for preventing a whole host of health problems, we’re doing you a favor. And if you'd like to add an additional practices to encourage brain health, start meditating on a regular basis (see Meditation and Brain Strength) and keep practicing your yoga asanas (see Yoga for Brain Health?). 

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Practicing Yoga with a Friend

by Nina

Baxter Bell: One of My Yoga Friends

In Shari’s post for tomorrow about creating a practice for improving balance, she will recommend some partner work. Of course, many of us have done partner work in class, but have you ever practiced yoga at home with a friend?

When I first started practicing yoga at home, I always practiced alone. My very image of “home practice” was so inextricably tied to the idea of being alone that it never occurred to me to practice with someone else. In fact, it wasn’t until I worked on Moving Toward Balance with Rodney Yee that I started practicing once a week with a friend at Rod’s urging. He wanted me to learn first hand about the benefits you can obtain from practicing with someone else. You see, he himself felt that he wouldn't have much of a home practice if it were not for the friends he practiced with.

So what did I learn from my experiments? It became pretty clear almost immediately that benefits of practicing with a friend included much more than simply being able to do partner yoga. Briefly, I  learned through experience that practicing with a friend allows you to:

• inspire and support each other to practice regularly
• teach each other and learn from each other by taking turns leading the practice
• challenge each other (get each other out of ruts and/or encourage each other to practice poses you tend to avoid)
• observe and adjust each other
• talk to each other about yoga

Your practice partner can be anyone you know. He or she could be someone you know from the yoga world, who takes from the same teacher you do or who you met at a workshop or retreat. Or he or she could be someone in your outside life, whether family member, neighbor or friend. Just try asking!

I realized while reading through Shari’s upcoming post that she assumed you would know that you wouldn’t be breaking any rules if you decided to have someone help you with your balance practice. So it seemed like the perfect time to tell you that, no, practicing with a friend is not against the rules. In fact, you’re having trouble beginning a home practice, practicing with a friend is sometimes the very thing that will get you started down the path.

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Authentic Yoga

by Nina

On Friday evening, Brad and I went to the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art in New York City, an exquisite, small museum with a very impressive collection of Hindu and Buddhist art. Our primary reasons for being there were to take a break from our hectic, urban vacation in the peaceful oasis that the museum curators have created and to revisit the permanent collection, which we remembered loving from an earlier visit. And I highly recommend this special museum to anyone who is visiting the city. However, as I gazed at the life-sized facsimiles of an entire sequence of 18th century murals from the Lukhang, the Dalai Lamas’ Secret Temple near the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet, I was struck in particular by a section of one mural (shown above) that depicts meditation and yoga practices in vivid color and detail. Because they were: perfect, clear images of authentic yoga from the 18th century.

You see, by chance, I’m currently reading The Yoga Body: The Origins of the Modern Posture Practice by Mark Singleton, which traces the development of the asana practice that most of us currently consider “yoga” from its hatha yoga roots to the revolutionary work of the early twentieth-century yoga teachers, such as T. Krishnamacharya and Swami Kuvalayananda. I’ve already known for a number of years that, contrary to what is commonly claimed by some teachers and publications, the “yoga” we do these days is primarily a 20th century invention. But this mural from the 18th century (not so long ago, right?) really brought home the message. For what do we see here? Mostly versions of Lotus pose (some with interestingly asymmetrical spines), along with a few standing forward bends and a one-legged standing pose. And I know from my studies, that when the ancient scriptures, such as the Yoga Sutras, refer to “asana,” the poses pictured here are more likely to be what they referred to than the Downward-Facing Dogs, Triangle poses, and Sun Salutations that many of us now consider essential yoga poses. (For further information, see The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace by N.E. Sjoman.) I was quite excited to be able to view these images, which were in some ways what I imagined ancient yoga to be and in other ways completely different than what I’d imagined (such as the dancer-like positions of the torsos in some of the seated poses)

I may write about this more in the future, but for now I just wanted to share this dramatic illustration with you. For you can see at a glance how much yoga has changed in just a few hundred years.

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Why You Need More Of Yoga Classes Toronto Everyday

By Jeffrey Nelson

Yoga is really a lifestyle not only how about we do a hour here and there. Occupied People most likely need yoga more than others to de-stretch and get that sentiment all out unwinding. You need to practice yoga ordinary and have the advantages of doing general sessions however you are just excessively occupied. For this reason, this writing will focus on benefits you get by going to yoga classes Toronto regularly.

Adaptability made simple is the principle point of these activities. There are diverse sorts of extends and extending practices that can enhance the adaptability very quickly. These extends lead to enhanced vitality and less a throbbing painfulness. The absence of satisfactory vitality and constrained scope of movement and lower back solidness are the conditions that influence numerous individuals consistently.

As indicated by an overview, an expected twenty percent of the populace is experiencing back agony at any given time. Right extending and adaptability activities can take care of a large portion of the issues and adaptability is made simple. The general restraint towards extending exercise, lack of stretch related learning and incomplete adaptability are a portion of the reasons that lead to wellness issues and other weakening issue or torment in the lower back.

Recognize what is going on in your body and know about your mental state. Do you require some espresso with sugar to overcome your day then change your eating regimen or get more rest or both. Another yogic procedure to practice is relaxing. You cannot be ready when you are not breathing legitimately for the duration of the classes. Each cell in your body needs oxygen to work accurately and be in ideal wellbeing, do not deny yourself of this vitality source.

To play out this strategy, lie serenely and start with comparative moderate and long breaths. Here the most urgent thing is to concentrate on your midsection; fill it with natural air. While breathing out, gradually discharge the air from your stomach. In the meantime, extend your mid-section to permit the oxygen to get inside.

The right extending practices do not require costly wellness gear or complex hardware. This is adaptability made simple. In the event that you do not comprehend what to do, employ a wellness expert who is knowledgeable in adaptability molding or watch some great adaptability molding recordings that can control you into the right kind of adaptability molding. An appropriately arranged adaptability program, which is adaptability made simple, can create wellness and adaptability regardless of your age.

The Yoga breathing activities, are essentials for compelling reflection and unwinding. In this innovative period, the distressing life and seething rivalry is giving an extremely beneficial ground to the development and spread of yogic practice. Restorative professionals dependably questioned the proficiency of yoga; however as of now even specialists for anxiety alleviation, wellbeing illnesses, endorse it furthermore to compliment couple of different work out schedules.

Yoga can prompt an extraordinary change in adaptability and lead to the lightening of part of issues identified with absence of wellness. Really on the off chance that you enlist into a work out schedule, the adaptability activities are a vital piece of it. The adaptability activities are tender and they expand the adaptability and length of the muscles in your body.

About the Author:

When you are hunting for the facts about yoga classes Toronto locals can come to our web pages online here today. Additional details are available at http://createyourawesomeness.com now.

Take Your Time Results from Yoga Practice

by Nina

Unfurling Squash Blossom by Melina Meza

Because my post yesterday False Claims Harm Yoga discussed how misleading and/or false claims about yoga can cause serious harm, I decided to rerun an old article of mine about how results from yoga practice take time. In addition to making false claims about the power of certain yoga poses and practices, some of the articles we see out there imply that results are quick and easy (for example, the article about six poses to "heal" diabetes claimed that a month of practice might be all that was necessary). A couple of years ago I addressed this very issue after I read a New York Times article about how exercise can help us sleep better. My original post follows. —Nina

It's a running joke in our family that when Brad gets impatient with me—because I often do various household tasks a bit slower than he does—he says to me, "Take your time!" He swears that Bill Murray said this repeatedly in the movie "Caddy Shack," but when we watched it again recently, no one actually ever uttered that line. Regardless, I always reply, "You take your time." 

But many worthwhile things really do take time. For example, if you want to cook a really good meal instead of eating fast food, you need to shop for fresh ingredients and prepare everything from scratch. And if you want to turn a new acquaintance into a close friend, you need to spend a lot of time together, getting to know and trust each other. The same is true for seeing results from yoga practice. Obviously, one Downward-Facing Dog pose doesn't instantly make your arms stronger, though with regular practice, it definitely will increase your strength. And it also seems obvious that if you want to reduce your stress levels, you'll need to practice stress management regularly over a period of time.

So it was very interesting for me to hear about a recent study at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, that looked at the effect of exercise on insomnia. One of the findings as reported by Gretchen Reynolds in the New York Times post How Exercise Can Help Us Sleep Better was:

"After the first two months of their exercise program, the exercising volunteers (all of them women) were sleeping no better than at the start of the study. Only after four months of the program had their insomnia improved."

Yes, it took four whole months of regular exercising to bring improvements. That's quite a bit of time, don't you think? The women in this study were not practicing yoga for exercise, but it's likely that using yoga as a form of exercise to help with insomnia (something I definitely recommend) might take a similar amount of time. And it also makes sense to me that if you are practicing yoga for insomnia (see Yoga for Insomnia, Part 1) by using stress management techniques, you should also give that some time (though some people report that doing breath practices in the middle of the night produces immediate results). So be patient.

In general, the time you invest in your yoga practice—whether you are practicing for your physical, emotional, or spiritual wellbeing—is what brings the payoffs. After all, yoga sutra 1.14 tells us that equanimity is attained only through steady, dedicated, attentive practice:

Long, uninterrupted, alert practice is the firm foundation for restraining the fluctuations of the mind. —trans. by B.K.S. Iyengar 

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Yoga for Healthy Aging The Book!

by Nina

The positive “changes” that Baxter alluded to in his post Friday "The Times They Are A'Changing" are that he and I have agreed to write a book on Yoga for Healthy Aging for Shambhala Press. Yes! We’ve wanted to write a book on yoga for healthy aging for some time now (and a lot of our readers have been asking for one), but we needed to find the right publisher. And the way we found Shambhala is truly wonderful.

During our 2015 summer, one of our students was a tall quiet man named Dave. We didn’t know much about him except that we knew he wasn’t a yoga teacher and that he had come to the intensive with his husband all the way from Boston. At the end of the intensive, during our closing circle, one of the other attendees asked us when we were going to have a book. I made a somewhat flippant remark, “Someone’s going to have to pay me to do that!” Baxter calmly explained that what I meant by that was we had decided that self-publishing wasn’t right for us, so we needed to find a publisher for our book. It wasn’t about making money so much as we needed the production and marketing support of traditional publisher to create the type of book we wanted to put out in the world.

After the intensive we had a little party, where we could relax and socialize, and I was standing there eating some delicious vegetarian sushi when Dave walked up to me and said, “So you want someone to pay you to write a book?” I replied, “Yes, that’s right.” And he said, “I’ll do it,” and handed me his business card. I looked at the card, and learned only then that he was Dave O’Neal, Senior Editor for Shambhala Press! Frankly, I don’t remember exactly what I said after that I was so nonplussed. But clearly I said something positive because within a few days Dave and I were discussing the outline of the book, possible deadlines, etc. Baxter and I didn’t hesitate about this deal for even a moment because not only was Shambhala the publisher of some of our favorite, most used books, including The Woman's Book of Yoga and Health by Linda Sparrowe and Patricia Walden, and Richard Rosen’s books on pranayama and Original Yoga, but our acquiring editor was going to be someone who really understood and appreciated our work. 

Anyway, you can see why—with a whole book to write—it’s going to be a busy year for us! And while we’re both going to continue to write for (and, in my case, also continue as Editor-in-Chief for) the blog, there will be some changes so we can free up a bit more of our time for working on the book. That’s why Baxter is temporarily giving up the Friday Q&A feature. I, too, will be changing the focus of my blogging a bit—although that may not be as obvious to you because I tend to be a bit all over the place (for example, maybe not so much science from me). So that’s why even though the book won’t be published until 2017, we’re announcing it now.

Another reason we’re announcing the book project so early is that we need your help! Dave and I agreed our book would be more compelling if we included the stories of some real-life yoga practitioners whose physical, mental, or emotional health has been improved by yoga—or who has just found more peace of mind. So you are someone with a good story about how yoga has helped you with strength, flexibility, balance, agility, stress, medical problems or all-around health, or equanimity, please write me via the Contact Us Page page. 

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9 11 Anxiety and Yoga

by Baxter

The Amygdala

Some years ago, when Nina and I were working on a series of yoga classes for stress management, I read the book The Relaxation Response by Dr. Herbert Benson, and an interesting finding from the work he did has stuck with me. He noted that his blood pressure patients who meditated regularly not only saw improvements in their blood pressure readings, but they also had certain substances in the blood stream that increased or decreased. One of those substances was lactate, or lactic acid, which is a byproduct of cells using sugar or glucose for fuel. It had already been noted back in the 60s that folks with anxiety disorders often had elevated levels of lactate in their bloodstream compared to individuals without anxiety. Since meditation seemed to lower lactate levels, it seemed like a great potential treatment.

More recently, an article in Scientific American looked at lactate and other markers in the body that could account for why some folks develop panic disorders, an extreme form of anxiety. Studies done in the last two years point to the pH in the brain as a possible causative factor in the experience of fear, and by extension, anxiety. It seems a more acidic pH in the brain is associated with more active trigger of the fear centers in the brain. In fact, there are receptors at individual synapses, the spaces between to nerve cells, that respond to elevated levels of acid. In the area of the brain strongly associated with the emotion of fear, the amygdala, this increase in local pH can trigger fear responses.

They also noted that carbon dioxide levels, when increased in the blood stream and the brain, lead to greater acidity. And other studies have demonstrated that patients with panic disorders are more likely to have an event if they inhale a higher concentration of CO2, compared to non-anxious individuals. These researchers also addressed the lactic acid phenomena that Dr. Benson noted years before: patients with panic disorder tend to generate excess lactic acid in their brains. We all generate lactic acid in our brains as sugars are burned as fuel, but in people with panic attacks, even normal mental activity to lead to an accumulation of lactic acid in the brain.

So if a decrease in pH in the brain—whether due to CO2 build up or lactic acid build up in certain areas of the brain—could be a trigger for anxiety and panic attacks, how could yoga diffuse this situation? Well, way back in the 60s it was already observed that the “relaxation response” that arose from simple meditation practice could lower the pH in the blood stream. This might indicate that it could be lowered in the brain, too. So I’d give high marks to establishing a regular meditation practice, even if only for ten minutes at a time. Secondly, certain pranayama practices could theoretically lower blood CO2 levels slowly and gradually, but whether that would lower CO2 levels in the brain is uncertain. That sounds like it would be worth a trial, however. And finally, the authors of the study noted that “one of the many beneficial effects of aerobic exercise training (like running or cycling) is that metabolically active tissues (including the brain) become more efficient at consuming–removing—lactic acid.”  And although not all yoga asana practices are aerobic, some are to a certain degree. So, physiologically, your asana practice, especially if it is more vigorous, could be the third prong in your yoga tools approach to anxiety, panic attacks and fear.

Here is a link to the 2010 SA article here so you can get more details on the work I’ve alluded to: scientificamerican.com. And may you and yours be safe and anxiety free this 9/11 anniversary. 

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Cheating at Yoga

by Nina

Baxter protects his hamstrings from tearing by using a prop

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

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



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

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

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

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

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The Third Branch of Yoga Asana Being in the Flow

by Ram

The Japanese Bridge by Claude Monet

The underlying principles of the yoga philosophy are to foster the wellbeing of an individual at the level of body and mind and to help the individual re-connect to his/her true nature. One of the yogic methods or practices to achieve this is by adopting Ashtanga yoga, the eight-fold path of self-realization. The first two steps of the eight-fold path are yama and niyama, which serve as your Do and Don’t Lists. They are the GPS of our lives, guiding us to think about ourselves and our actions, and preparing us to act toward ourselves and toward the world. Each sub-limb/sub-step of the yama and niyama is additive as they prepare you for the next higher step. Putting these principles together in the form of a daily practice helps to bring peace, joy, and understanding. Compassion and awareness grows as you bring in more positive changes. Having established the practices of yama and niyama, the individual is now ready to incorporate the third limb/step, asana which means “seat,” “settle” and, in the yoga context, “posture.” 

In the early stages of our asana practice, when we hold a pose, we are simply mastering the skills to sustain the correct posture. As our practice deepens, we blend our asana technique with energy, passion and wisdom and find ourselves fully “in” the pose. When you are engaged in a posture where the asana challenge matches your skill, you have an undivided focus and get totally involved, forgetting everything else but the activity. You are in a state of “flow,” or as Desikachar puts it, “in the zone.” While this state may seem effortless it requires a whole lot of initial effort to make the state accessible (see Positive Psychology vs. Yoga Philosophy). A challenging pose offers you the opportunity to explore and control all mental aspects, including attitudes, emotions, concentration, intent, and faith. As BKS Iyengar explains:

“It must not be just your mind or even your body that is doing the asana. You must be in it. You must do the asana with your soul.

To be in it and do the asana with your soul requires that you let go of the ego, including your body image, and find your true self. It goes back to intention, rather than outcome. Thus, the goal of asana practice is not to assume a physically perfect posture but to fully come into your version of the pose, to feel open and grounded and calm, even if it is a challenging pose. So while practicing your asanas, focus less on a macho (male) or slim body (female), and instead aim your attention on achieving stability, mobility and encouraging integration—gently coaxing all the tight muscles to move and work together. Pay close attention to connections—between one part of the body and another, between thought and action, and between breath and movement. Do not try to think or struggle your way into an asana; instead, just flow into the posture through calmness, love and devotion.

Interestingly while I was writing this article, we received this query from one of our readers:

“To me these two aspects of yoga … achieving a desirable state of physical being through asana and cultivating spiritual growth through meditation, mindfulness and intentional study of yoga tradition appear to be at odds with each other. Does the tendency to ‘use’ yoga (physically) actually impede our ability to comprehend the less tangible, more subtle and deeper spiritual aspects of yoga”?

I myself don’t find these practices at odds with each other as I am aware that the original intention of hatha yoga was to fortify the body for spiritual practices. However, in today’s world, yoga is often thought of as “asanas only”—something like a stretching tool to keep the body limber and agile. People are drawn to yoga as a way to keep fit, even though the idea behind the physical practice of yoga is to help the mind to become clear or pure and develop deeper mind-body awareness. Obviously, the constant barrage of photographs of individuals doing acrobatic poses in precarious settings or skinny young women doing fancy poses in very skimpy outfits are undoubtedly at odds with the aim of the practice. Asanas were originally developed to enable practitioners to become more flexible, stable, and grounded in order to move easily into a regulated breath practice and to develop inner focus and concentration. They were created to prepare the body and mind for going into deeper meditative states. To sit for a lengthy time in a meditative state requires a stable body and a calm mind. So unless you are free of physical distractions and achieve stability in the body, you cannot achieve mastery of senses and mind.

Notice that as we do the asanas daily and regularly, the less mechanical they become. While this happens partly because we are more knowledgeable about the placement of arms, the positioning of the feet, or the rotation of the hips, it is also due to being in zone/flow—creating a balance between our material world and spiritual experience. The idea behind the asana practice is to help the mind to become clear or pure and develop deeper mind-body awareness. A clear mind is not affected by stress and a clear mind produces a healthy body thus creating a greater connection with one's own pure, essential nature. And any individual can achieve mind-body awareness and ultimately attain enlightenment.

As B.K.S. Iyengar aptly says, “the needs of the body are the needs of the divine spirit which lives through the body. The yogi does not look heaven-ward to find God for he knows that He is within.” Do you get the same feeling or experience when you are on the mat?

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First Ever Yoga for Healthy Aging Residental Retreat Teacher Training!

We are excited to share the news that the next Yoga for Healthy Aging Intensive, to be held on June 23rd-30th, 2017 and co-taught by Baxter Bell and Melina Meza, will be our first residential retreat. It will be held in Scotts Valley, California, at the new 1440 Multiversity. We believe this residential retreat in the beautiful Santa Cruz Mountains, where you will stay onsite, have meals provided, and can enjoy the peaceful and lovely campus in the redwood forest, will be the perfect place to enhance your learning of Yoga for Healthy Aging concepts and practices. Please direct all questions about that are not addressed on the 1440 Multiversity website directly to Baxter at baxterbell@mac.com. 

The course will provide instructions on maintaining your physical, mental, and emotional health as you age. The main focus of the course is on preventative strategies, covering:

• Strength
• Flexibility
• Agility
• Balance
• Stress Management
• Circulatory System and Heart Health
• Brain Health
• Medical Conditions (in general)
• Equanimity
  

Melina and Baxter will present the scientific background that explains how and why yoga works to foster healthy aging, so you’ll understand which techniques to use when. They will also teach you the essential yoga poses, yoga sequences, and other practices that will set you up for a lifetime of practice. 

This intensive is designed for relatively healthy, relatively physically able participants. Not included in workshop: 1) Instructions for seniors who cannot stand unaided and need to practice in chairs and 2) Information about yoga as therapy for specific medical conditions.

For certified yoga teachers, this course will provide supplemental, specialized training in yoga for healthy aging techniques, which you can then teach to your own students. For yoga students with one or more years of experience, this course will provide you with the tools to create a personalized yoga program that meets your particular needs and concerns. 

For teachers who want YHFA Certification, you will need to:

1. Attend all the sessions during the intensive.
2. Attend the extra session at the end of the intensive, where you’ll do a short teaching demonstration.
3. Pass the take-home final that Baxter provides.
4. Provide a copy of your basic yoga teacher certificate (minimum 200hr training required) (or resume reflecting equivalent experience)

PRICING: 

Training: $760
Training + Certification: $910 

Additional cost of lodging and meals as specified at 1440 Multiversity. 

Baxter Bell, MD, eRYT500 is a co-founder of and regular contributor to the Yoga for Healthy Aging blog, where he shares his knowledge of medical conditions, anatomy, and yoga with practitioners and teachers across the world. In addition to teaching classes, workshops, teacher trainings, and retreats internationally, Baxter is a presenter at Yoga Journal Conferences and the International Association of Yoga Therapy’s Sytar Conference, and teaches online courses at YogaUOnline. 

Melina Meza, eRYT500, BS Nutrition, is a certified YFHA teacher and Ayurvedic health educator, who has been sharing her knowledge of yoga for over 20 years . Since 1997, Melina has been teaching at 8 Limbs Yoga Center in Seattle, where she is co-director of their teacher training program. Meza is the author of the Art of Sequencing books and contributing photographer for YFHA Blog. Currently residing in Oakland California, Melina facilitates year-round yoga workshops and retreats.

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Benefits Associated With Yoga Classes Toronto

By Henry Stevens

One of the oldest, holistic approaches to the body physical, mental and spiritual health is yoga. This sort involves a variety of exercises and lifestyles that allow individuals understand things about their body, and then relate them to their daily activities. The lifestyle change brought by this sport is beneficial, and every person should think of joining a school. If you get the urge to join the yoga classes Toronto today, you change your life.

The exercises have become the leading means of mental and physical activities in the society. There are several classes combined with styles coming up every day for people to practice. The exercises start when a person starts the course taught by experienced tutors who ensure the learner knows of the various techniques. Every age group can start participating in the same.

The many benefits associated with these activities cannot be ignored. To get them, it makes sense to start the soonest. After enrolling, you undergo gentle and more advanced exercise. Because of the advancement in theories, some students find themselves in heated areas or lifting some weights. Before you enroll, set goals and know what you want to achieve. For those looking to be fit joining a fitness facility is all that they need.

A person interested in learning more about this science will have to undergo several training sessions, offered by someone who has mastered the art. If you want an in-depth training, then the local studio will do you good. Inside, you learn about various styles and needs. Every student gets a customized plan to suit their needs.

The beginners will undergo various training to know the styles. One of the popular styles taught is called the Hatha, and it is meant for beginners. This is for people who have never set foot in class. Their bodies have not become flexible or accustomed to the exercises. When you start here, the body gets gentle movement and postures.

Some people have more needs than others. They will be looking to undertake heavy exercises. If you have passed the first stage, then you will be taught the Vinyasa style. This technique includes a variety of movements. A person learns the breathing techniques. When undergoing the training here, they are fast-paced and vigorous.

As the person advances and gets the concept, they will be taken through to the next procedures. In most cases, an individual who has attended several sessions will start with Ashtanga. This technique is more advanced and is taught to people who have undertaken the exercise in the past. When given, a student gets to know more about the various postured done by following a laid down sequence. It remains challenging and demanding to individuals. You can also get the Bikra technique performed inside heated rooms. This Bikra cleanses the body.

Many people are searching for the best schools to learn the techniques because it comes with several health benefits. A person joining will get increased strength in their bodies and help in building more muscles. When you join the cases, you realize that your body becomes more flexible as you learn how to stretch and pose with several sequences to follow. It also allows you to increase body balance.

About the Author:

You can find a list of the benefits you get when you attend yoga classes Toronto area and more info about a knowledgeable yoga instructor at http://createyourawesomeness.com today.

Drawing a Line in the Sand Where Yoga Teachers Should Not Go

by Baxter and Nina

Silver Beach by Brad Gibson

Yesterday Baxter was interviewed by YogaU (we will announce when the interview is available online, sometime in April), and he was asked to discuss the concept of yoga as “Lifestyle Medicine” looking at its potential and its challenges. One of the challenges that came up during the discussion was something Nina mentioned to Baxter while he was preparing for the interview, and we both realized it was something so important that we decided to share our thoughts with you about it on the blog today.

The challenge is: Where do we draw the boundary between yoga therapy and practicing medicine, physical or other types of rehabilitation therapy, or psychotherapy?

One clear line in the sand we can draw is that yoga teachers should never try to diagnose a medical or psychological condition. This is because we are not trained to do so and, in fact, are not legally permitted to. This means if a student comes to you with a complaint that has not been formally diagnosed, you must refrain from offering an opinion as to what could possibly be wrong. However, as you are in an influential position, you can—and probably should—encourage your student to go and get a diagnosis.

Once you have the diagnosis, if you’ve had proper training in yoga therapeutics, you can then make suggestions for yoga tools that could help your student. This is where you come into your own! Yoga has an enormous repertoire of different physical movements—some not available through other forms of exercise—that can be of tremendous benefit to a large number of conditions. Teaching asana to release held tension, build strength, increase flexibility, and improve balance and mobility provides a powerful approach to healing that western medicine typically doesn’t include. And teaching stress reduction techniques can be tremendously helpful for a number of both physical and psychological problems.

If you don’t yet have a diagnosis but the student’s complaint seems like one of those problems whose symptoms can be relieved by yoga, such as back pain, muscle soreness or joint stiffness, you can suggest some possible poses without promising any particular result but being willing to stay open to see what happens. An undiagnosed back pain, for example, might be relieved by general low back practices but also might not be if there is a serious underlying condition. If the complaint seems like one that would be helped by stress management, such as anxiety or insomnia, you can always offer relaxation techniques, as these are safe for anyone. And, finally, as Nina wrote yesterday in Yoga to Reduce Suffering, we can always offer possible suggestions for reducing suffering. But this is all with the understanding that if the problem persists, the student should consult a professional.

Conversely, if you are a student hoping to get some help from a yoga teacher, you need to understand that your teacher is not licensed to diagnose your problem even if he or she is billed as a “yoga therapist." And if your teacher is offering you what seems to be diagnostic advice, you might want to check to see what their training is. If your teacher has additional training, such as Baxter (an MD) and Shari (a physical therapist) do, you might feel more comfortable taking his or her advice. But without a thorough physical examination, even a medical doctor or physical therapist can only make an educated guess, which you should take as a suggestion more than as a definitive diagnosis. (And if he or she does not have additional training, you should definitely be wary.)

And if you want to get the best out of your teacher, go see a professional first and find out exactly what is going on. Then share your diagnosis with your teacher. At that point, your teacher will be free to make suggestions and recommendations that might be very helpful for you, and he or she can also do a better job of keeping you safe in the classroom. Keep in mind that yoga therapists will often have areas of specialty, such as back care, cancer care, or depression, so you may need to find a different teacher or yoga therapist who has expertise your area. The good news is that yoga has been taught in the US for over 50 years, and there are experienced teachers now in almost every part of the country. So after you’ve been to the doctor or therapist and received your diagnosis, if you've taken the time to find a teacher with the right expertise, you’ll have someone with a powerful set of tools to help you on the road to healing.

How’s that for a line in the sand?

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The Psoas Muscle and Yoga Rerun

by Baxter

If you have been around the yoga classroom for any reasonable amount of time, you have likely heard of the psoas muscle. But you may not have a good idea of where it is or what it does! You should though, as your daily activities—or inactivity if you are sitting a lot during the day—can actually create a short, tight psoas muscle that could use a bit of lengthening. So today I’ll introduce you to your psoas muscle in a deeper way than can sometimes take place in the yoga classroom, inform you of some of its roles in posture and movement and suggest a few ways to lengthen it, if it is on the tighter side of life.

The only other time I could find on the blog that we had talked about the psoas muscle was way back in January of 2012 (I Think I Have Sciatica), where we first introduced this drawing of the lower torso and pelvis which shows nicely the psoas muscle seen here with everything except the skeleton and select muscle removed.

The psoas is said to originate from the sides of the lumber vertebrae, possibly even starting as high up as thoracic 12 (T12), so it has multiple spots on the side of the spine where it attaches. It then travels downward, close to the midline of the pelvis, just in front of the sacrum and ileum, until it heads slightly lateral and anterior, so it can leave the pelvis by sliding right over the lateral pubic bone and just behind the inguinal ligament in order to dive down and laterally attach to the upper inside of the femur bone (at a bony bump known as the lesser trochanter of the femur). Now we can actually feel the greater trochanter with our hands, just about six inches below the side of our pelvic rim, but the lesser bump is not accessible—due to lots of muscles which make touching it almost impossible. And due to the fact that the psoas lies deep within the pelvis, it can be challenging to feel it - both literally and perceptually.  

Hopefully, with the help of the picture and my written description, you are starting to get oriented to where the psoas is. But what does this muscle do when it contracts and shortens? It depends a bit on which part of the set-up is stabilized and which part is free to move. And it also depends on whether it is working in concert with other muscles to help you walk (for instance), or to help you maintain upright posture when you are standing still.

Let’s look at it working alone first. If the spinal origins of the psoas are stable and not moving, the psoas is said to have the following effect on the femur bone (to which it attaches): it flexes the femur toward the belly, pulling it slightly medially toward the pubic symphysis, and rolls the thigh bone externally on its axis. If we wanted to take the femur bone in the opposite direction as a way of stretching it, we’d need to take it backward towards the buttocks, swing it slightly out to the side and internally rotate it. Doing a modified Locust pose (Salabasana), with the legs apart a bit and an emphasis on rolling the thighbones in would be an example of a pose that could lengthen the psoas.

When we stabilize the femur, as when you are sitting in a chair, and contract the psoas, the origin gets pulled forward and down, encouraging the forward folding action known as flexion of the lumbar spine. We use this action whenever we bend over to pick something up off the floor. The psoas also works in concert with several other spinal muscles to encourage the upward lift of the spine that we cultivate in poses like Mountains pose. In that setting, it does not create excessive lumbar flexion, but does allow the natural curve in the lumber area to be present. So that is a bit about what the muscle does (realizing that the psoas works with other muscles that flex the femur bone, such as part of the quadriceps).

When the psoas is overly tight and short, it can affect the lower back in a negative way (contributing to back pain), influence the ease of a neutral pelvic tilt and affect gait. There are passive ways to release tension in the psoas and more active ways to lengthen and stretch the psoas.

In The Psoas Book, author Liz Koch recommends “releasing” tension in the psoas by lying in Constructive Rest position (on your back, with your knees bent and the soles of your feet on the floor), with your feet about 1-2 feet from your hips, and staying there for a while (maybe 5-10 minutes) with close attention to sensations in the area of the back belly and hip joints, as you attempt to sense the releasing of tension in those areas. Another version of Constructive Rest involves having your calves on a support, like our Easy Inverted pose (see Easy Inverted Pose). Once you get better at sensing release in tension in this area, slowly move one foot further away from the hips without letting the pelvis tip or tuck and stop when tension is encountered in the areas you are observing. Gradually moving that foot until the leg is straight, if you can do so without changing the pelvic alignment. A more advanced variation involves folding one leg into the chest (in an upside-down Pigeon pose), without tipping or tucking your pelvis, and then again slowly extending the other leg long on the floor (it’s the lengthening leg that will stretch that side's psoas).

In my regular classes, I often take advantage of the back leg position in Warrior 1 to bring attention to the psoas of the back leg, as it needs to lengthen in order to keep the pelvis neutral (not going into dramatic anteversion or forward tip).  From there, doing drop knee lunges, both with the hands on the floor next to the feet for an easier version, but gradually coming up higher, with hands on blocks, and finally with hands on the front thigh, while letting the hips and torso move a bit forward while keeping the pelvis stable, are great ways to lengthen the psoas. The back leg in upright Pigeon pose also gives a good stretch to the psoas.

This list of ways to work with your psoas is by no means complete. You might look at Mary Pullig Shaztz, MD’s book Back Care Basics for her approach to psoas stretching in the face of back pain. And Jean Couch’s classic The Runners Yoga Book is sure to have a few suggestions as well.  And if our readers have any favorites, please write a comment back to us! Happy stretching!

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Bowlegs Doctor Who and Yoga

by Nina

I see your bowlegs, Doctor!

When Matt Smith became the eleventh incarnation of Doctor Who, I had a surprising reaction. I didn’t think oh, he’s so cute or, oh, he’s way too young to play Doctor Who or, oh, when are they going to have a female Doctor Who (okay, I did think that). Mainly I thought, oh, my, what bowlegs you have, Doctor! That’s because since taking Donald Moyer’s course called "Seeing and Understanding Bodies," I notice a lot of interesting variations in human bodies, and I could see Matt Smith’s bowlegs even through his pants.

Bowlegs (Genum varum) is a condition in which when a person stands with his or her feet together, the knees remain wide apart (see Doctor Who above). Did you know that we all start out life bowlegged because of our folded position in our mother's wombs? By around age three, we can usually stand with our ankles apart and our knees just touching when our feet are together. Hyperextended knees resemble bowlegs in this way, however, so if you’re not sure which you have (or which your student has), see Hyperextension of the Knees and Yoga, which contains a simple test you can do.

I was going to go into a whole long thing about what causes bowlegs (diseases, such as rickets, some professions, like being a jockey—maybe the reason so many Japanese people are bowlegged is because of the way they sit—and possibly the natural anatomical structure of the hip joint and the position of the thighbone within it). But the real question is: why do we care if someone has bowlegs? The answer is that because people with bowlegs tend to bear weight unevenly on their hips, knees and feet (the outer sides of these joints bear more weight), uneven stress and wear on those joints could lead to the early onset of arthritis. 

By working with your alignment in your yoga poses, you can learn to bear your weight more even in your asanas and, with that new awareness, in your daily life as well. My teacher Donald has bowlegs himself, so I decided to chat with him about his ideas about working with this condition in yoga practice. And the result is this post.

Bowlegged people tend to stand on the outer edges of their feet with their feet slightly turned out and your feet are your foundation in your standing poses (and while you are walking!), so I’m going to begin with some suggestions about the feet. After that, I’ll make some suggestions for working with your legs.

Working with Your Feet

In Mountain pose (and variations of it), stand with your feet in line with the center of your hip joints, rather than touching each other. This way your legs will be less bowed and you’ll carry your weight a bit more evenly. Then, align your feet by making the second foot bones (the second metatarsal that connects to the second toe) rather than your toes parallel with each other. Once your feet are aligned, consciously bring some weight onto the ball of your big toes and roll your first foot bone (the first metatarsal that connects to your big toe) toward the midline of your body. 

In all your standing poses, align your front foot so your second foot bone is parallel with the edge of your mat using the same techniques described above. And for both feet, consciously bring more weight onto the inner edges of your feet, also as described above.

Because people with bowlegs tend to walk on their outer feet, use this new awareness of distributing your weight more evenly on your feet while you move through your day, so you walk on your inner as well as your outer feet.

Working with Your Legs

In your standing poses, after aligning your feet, you should focus on strengthening your inner legs, taking some of the weight off the outer legs. Using props can help you focus on the inner leg muscles.

In Downward-Facing Dog pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana) and Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana), you can put a block turned on its narrowest side between your upper thighs (and, if you wish, a strap around the thighs to help keep the block in place and give you awareness of your outer thighs). To use this propping in Downward-Facing Dog, you’ll need to place your feet closer together than usual. Then use the touch of the block against your thighs to activate your inner thigh muscles. Use the awareness you develop in these two poses to activate these same muscles in all your standing poses.

You can also use Tree pose (Vrksasana) to help activate your inner thigh muscles, as you press your inner thigh against your raised foot at the same time you press the foot against your thigh.

In standing poses in which you can’t place a block between your legs, such as Extended Side Angle pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana) and Triangle pose (Trikonasana), you can work with a partner. Have your partner stand behind your back foot, and then use a strap around the upper inner thigh of your back leg to gently pull back your inner thigh toward the thighbone.

Because your outer calves are also overdeveloped compared with your inner calves, you can also work on strengthening your inner calves. You can stand with a block between your calves to learn how to activate this area in the same way you did with your inner thighs.

In your everyday life, you can bring this your new awareness of your inner legs into your movements as you walk and go about your day.

In all standing poses, you can bring your legs into a straighter alignment by consciously moving your leg muscles so that the median line of your calves is aligned with the median line of your hamstrings. To do this, move your inner calves toward your inner leg and outer calves toward your outer leg, Likewise, move your inner hamstrings toward your inner legs and outer hamstrings toward your outer leg. How does that feel to you? Is your weight more evenly distributed? You can practice also these same techniques to align your straight leg or legs in seated poses, such as Seated Forward Bend (Paschimottanasana), when you can get a good look at your legs and how your movements affect the alignment.

In general, with all these suggestions, just experiment and see if any of the techniques feel good to you. For example, many people with bowlegs feel a burning sensation on their outer feet in Widespread Standing Forward Bend (Prasarita Padottanasana). Shifting some of your weight to your inner feet (as described above) may alleviate that pain, making you feel more comfortable in the pose. Sometimes the good feeling you have may be just a sensation of energy moving more freely through you. And if anything causes pain or serious discomfort, please come out of the pose or return to another way of practicing it.

If you have other suggestions for working with bowlegs, please let us know!

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