I can’t believe it’s been more than a month since my visit to India. I visited after 10 years with much anxiety regarding all the modern changes I was expecting to find. It was unnecessary – I found additions, but few changes. Change is not possible in a country weary with tradition – and I mean that as complement- no one there really feels the need to truly change- for they are a content people … Open to new things, open to variety, open to learning and exploring, but always settling back into their comfortable ways.
The country in which this invaluable practice started is a paradox of innumerable sorts. Alongside the vegetable vendor that brings the produce to your front door is a modern bar which serves drinks to people on a counter made of ice. The shopping mall which boasts a Gucci and Ferragamo store is right next to the tin roofed slums with no running water.

Needless to say – I loved it there- just like every other time I’ve ever visited and felt the deepest parts of me respond to the genetic pull that country has over me. As I practiced yoga, however, safe in my grandma’s living room, clean and airy, I realized I could never practice the way the native population does- amongst the dirt and grime that coats the country. Does that make me a fake yogi? Or a really lucky one?

Photo by Jim Jacobs

Yoga is an ageless, timeless, holistic health system that teaches that the years after midlife are a time of greater perspective and illumination rather than deterioration.

The word yoga comes from a Sanskrit root that means yoke, unite, or make whole. A yoga pose or posture is known by the Sanskrit term asana. When we practice yoga asanas, we position the body in various standing, lying-down, upside-down, or seated postures. Yoga postures are one of yoga’s most significant and practical tools for integrating all aspects of a human being body, mind, and spirit.

Even though yoga has entered the fitness mainstream, its full potential as a preventive and rehabilitative component in holistic, cutting-edge gerontology is just beginning to be explored. Medical research on aging has clearly shown that without proper exercise the body contracts and we lose height, strength, and flexibility. Movement lubricates our muscles, ligaments, and joints.

Stretching daily prevents stiffening, the first visible sign of premature aging. Yoga postures promote healthy aging by lengthening the spine, opening our posture and moving each joint in the body through its full range of movement.

Inverted Poses, The Elixir of Life
Due to cardiovascular problems such as arteriosclerosis, blood flow to the brain gradually decreases as we age. The ravages of senility are apparent in every nursing home in the country. Western medicine accepts the fact that this is a degenerative disease usually associated with inadequate circulation to the brain, but it has found few ways of preventing or treating it.

Yoga teaches that the most effective way of increasing blood to the brain is to allow gravity to do the work for you. Inverted positions, which bring the brain below the level of the heart, permit circulation to the upper body to increase without putting strain on the heart. In effect, inverted yoga positions turn gravity itself upside down and are thus among the best means of slowing down and even reversing the aging process.

Inverted poses are the heart of a yoga practice for people over fifty. They bring emotional balance and mental clarity; by improving the flow of blood to and from the heart, they refresh and rejuvenate the entire body. The older I get, the more I appreciate the feeling of increased energy and revitalization that occurs after practicing inverted poses.

Good circulation and good health are intimately connected. When the circulation of blood is restricted, the cells of our bodies do not get the oxygen and nutrients needed to function effectively. When our circulation is sluggish, our vital energy drops and our whole physical, emotional, and mental response to daily life tends to take a negative turn.

Turning the body halfway or completely upside down increases the circulation to the upper body, including the brain. Blood circulates around the neck, chest, and head, helping the lungs, throat, and sinuses to become resistant to infection.

The endocrine glands in the throat and head (thyroid and parathyroid glands) also benefit from improved circulation. Upside-down poses control the metabolism of the body and regulate blood pressure, glucose levels, and chemical balance.

During the course of a typical day, most people spend 16 hours with the head above the heart and the legs and pelvic area below the heart. Because
of this, one of the first poses I teach to students of all ages, including those who start in their eighties and older, is Legs Up the Wall Pose.

Yoga’s Great Rejuvenator
Supported Legs Up the Wall Pose (Viparita Karani in Sanskrit), known as Yoga’s Great Rejuvenator, is a gentle, inverted pose that can be practiced by almost everyone. It is a safe position that most people can hold long enough so that gravity can return the blood from the extremities to the vital organs.

How to Practice Supported Leg Up the Wall Pose
If you are new to yoga, you may find it helpful to first be familiar with simply relaxing with your legs on the wall. If you have difficulty lowering yourself to the floor, you can practice this in bed by positioning one side of your bed right against a bare wall.

1. Sit sideways on the floor beside a wall, knees bent, with one shoulder and hip touching the wall.

2. Lower your back to the floor, with your legs bent, keeping your bottom close to
the wall.

3. Swing around to bring your legs up the wall, supporting yourself on your elbows and forearms.

4. Place a folded blanket under your head if necessary, to keep the forehead and chin level. Your neck must feel comfortable, without any tightness or pinching at the nape. If blood flow to the head is obstructed, the brain cannot relax.

The next step is to practice with one or two folded blankets within easy reach.

5. Bend your knees, press your feet into the wall, lift your lower back off the floor and place the blanket under your bottom, with your lower back supported.

With practice, you can increase the height under your bottom with additional blankets or a yoga bolster.

Note: Placing folded blankets under your bottom repositions the head and you may no longer need the blanket under your head. People with a very rounded upper back (kyphosis) may still need a folded blanket under the head even when the bottom is supported.

Close your eyes. Observe the rise and fall of your breath. Stay in the pose ten minutes or longer.

When you are ready to come out of the pose, bend your knees, press your feet into the wall, lift your hips and move away from the wall until your whole back rests on the floor.

When you feel ready, turn to your right side and sit up. If you are tired, it is natural to fall asleep in this pose. This pose can be a lifesaver and is well worth learning under the guidance of a knowledgeable teacher.

An eye bag over the eyes and a sandbag on the feet increase the feeling of relaxation.

Note how the position of the bolster causes the rib cage to open and spread. The width of the blanket depends somewhat on your height and flexibility. For most people, the edge of the blanket can be placed at the waist. This placement allows the back to curve in such a way that the chest opens and the lower back feels comfortable.

Part of the soothing effect derived from Supported Legs Up the Wall Pose is due to the angle of the torso.

Note in the photo how the bolster positioned under the pelvis brings the torso into a gentle supported backbend, while the wall supports the legs. As you lie in the pose, you can imagine that its shape creates an internal waterfall, as the fluid in the legs cascades down to the abdomen and spills over into the chest, toward the heart. This waterfall effect creates a peaceful, soothing sensation.

Practice this daily if your legs and feet swell easily or if you have varicose veins. When you are tired, get in the habit of napping with your legs up the wall to replenish your energy reserves.

–Suza Francina, RYT, is a certified iyengar yoga instructor and has taught yoga since 1972. She teaches yoga internationally and is the author of The New Yoga for People Over 50 and The New Yoga for Healthy Aging: Living Longer, Living Stronger and Loving Every Day. To learn more, visit her website.

The Ronald McDonald House Global Mala Event in Kennett Square!

What? Come challenge yourself with 108 sun salutations! No yoga experience necessary…and you don’t even have to do 108 sun salutations, but you sure can try )

When? September 25th 2011 1pm – 4pm

Where? Anson B Nixon Park (in Kennett Square)

Why? For Ronald McDonald house! Any donations will be given to Unionville High School Ronald McDonald Club.

(Donations accepted, not expected)

There will be drinks and healthy snacks available…any money collected will be donated 100% to Ronald McDonald House! Come one, come all…tell everyone you know and you can always just come to show your support!

This is Yoga Month! Celebrate with the rest of the country….Global Mala Event!

I avoid it, because I’m scared of it.  I’ll be the one snoring on my mat, head lopped to one side, and with one loud zzzzkrkrkrkrzzzz I’ll wake myself to a room full of yogis and yoginis staring at my limp supine body.  “And that is how you do savasana, my friends.” NOT

Savasana is that deep place of relaxation where only utter peace and deep  silence can take you…remove the clutter from your mind and if those nasty little thoughts creep in anyway…watch them like a movie preview, or maybe a rerun.  Depends on the thoughts I guess. Don’t get involved with them, don’t judge them, don’t analyze them, don’t agree with them, don’t disagree with them. Don’t do anything with them. Don’t ignore them either, but do watch them. Usher them through the minds eye, quickly or slowly, and invite another thought in. Let that thought be your breath.  …and yes, you may end up in that comfortable repose that we all know as sleep.  If you need it that bad, maybe it’s okay. I think I’ll stay away though, and hold on to my dignity, at least while I instruct the class!

copied and pasted – from http://www.amsa.org/healingthehealer/breathing.cfm - good stuff!

Breathing as a bridge

It is thought by many cultures that the process of breathing is the essence of being. A rhythmic process of expansion and contraction, breathing is one example of the consistent polarity we see in nature such as night and day, wake and sleep, seasonal growth and decay and ultimately life and death. In yoga, the breath is known as prana or a universal energy that can be used to find a balance between the body-mind, the conscoius-unconscoius, and the sympathetic-parasympathetic nervous system. Unlike other bodily functions, the breath is easily used to communicate between these systems, which gives us an excellent tool to help facilitate positive change. It is the only bodily function that we do both voluntarily and involuntarily. We can consciously use breathing to influence the involuntary (sympathetic nervous system) that regulates blood pressure, heart rate, circulation, digestion and many other bodily functions. Pranayama is a yoga practice that literally means the control of life or energy. It uses breathing techniques to change subtle energies within the body for health and well being. Breathing exercises can act as a bridge into those functions of the body of which we generally do not have conscious control.

An example of how life effects physiology

During times of emotional stress our sympathetic nervous system is stimulated and effects a number of physical responses. Our heart rate rises, we perspire, our muscles tense and our breathing becomes rapid and shallow. If this process happens over a long period of time, the sympathic nervous system becomes over stimulated leading to an imbalance that can effect our physical health resulting in inflammation, high blood pressure and muscle pain to name a few. Consciously slowing our heart rate, decreasing perspiration and relaxing muscles is more difficult than simply slowing and deepening breathing. The breath can be used to directly influence these stressful changes causing a direct stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system resulting in relaxation and a reversal of the changes seen with the stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system. We can see how our bodies know to do this naturally when we take a deep breath or sigh when a stress is relieved.

The breathing process can be trained

Breathing can be trained for both positive and negative influences on health. Chronic stress can lead to a restriction of the connective and muscular tissue in the chest resulting in a decrease range of motion of the chest wall. Due to rapid more shallow breathing, the chest does not expand as much as it would with slower deeper breaths and much of the air exchange occurs at the top of the lung tissue towards the head. This results in “chest” breathing. You can see if you are a chest breather by placing your right hand on your chest and your left hand on your abdomen. As you breathe, see which hand rises more. If your right hand rises more, you are a chest breather. If your left hand rises more, you are an abdomen breather.

Chest breathing is inefficient because the greatest amount of blood flow occurs in the lower lobes of the lungs, areas that have limited air expansion in chest breathers. Rapid, shallow, chest breathing results in less oxygen transfer to the blood and subsequent poor delivery of nutrients to the tissues. The good news is that similar to learning to play an instrument or riding a bike, you can train the body to improve its breathing technique. With regular practice you will breathe from the abdomen most of the time, even while asleep.

The benefits of abdominal breathing

Abdominal breathing is also known as diaphragmatic breathing. The diaphragm is a large muscle located between the chest and the abdomen. When it contracts it is forced downward causing the abdomen to expand. This causes a negative pressure within the chest forcing air into the lungs. The negative pressure also pulls blood into the chest improving the venous return to the heart. This leads to improved stamina in both disease and athletic activity. Like blood, the flow of lymph, which is rich in immune cells, is also improved. By expanding the lung’s air pockets and improving the flow of blood and lymph, abdominal breathing also helps prevent infection of the lung and other tissues. But most of all it is an excellent tool to stimulate the relaxation response that results in less tension and an overall sense of well being.

Abdominal Breathing Technique

Breathing exercises such as this one should be done twice a day or whenever you find your mind dwelling on upsetting thoughts or when you are experiencing pain.

• Place one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen. When you take a deep breath in, the hand on the abdomen should rise higher than the one on the chest. This insures that the diaphragm is pulling air into the bases of the lungs.
• After exhaling through the mouth, take a slow deep breath in through your nose imagining that you are sucking in all the air in the room and hold it for a count of 7 (or as long as you are able, not exceeding 7)
• Slowly exhale through your mouth for a count of 8. As all the air is released with relaxation, gently contract your abdominal muscles to completely evacuate the remaining air from the lungs. It is important to remember that we deepen respirations not by inhaling more air but through completely exhaling it.
• Repeat the cycle four more times for a total of 5 deep breaths and try to breathe at a rate of one breath every 10 seconds (or 6 breaths per minute). At this rate our heart rate variability increases which has a positive effect on cardiac health.

Once you feel comfortable with the above technique, you may want to incorporate words that can enhance the exercise. Examples would be to say to yourself the word, relaxation (with inhalation) and stress or anger (with exhalation). The idea being to bring in the feeling/emotion you want with inhalation and release those you don’t want with exhalation.

In general, exhalation should be twice as long as inhalation. The use of the hands on the chest and abdomen are only needed to help you train your breathing. Once you feel comfortable with your ability to breathe into the abdomen, they are no longer needed.

Abdominal breathing is just one of many breathing exercises. But it is the most important one to learn before exploring other techniques. The more it is practiced, the more natural it will become improving the body’s internal rhythm.

Using breathing exercises to increase energy

If practiced over time, the abdominal breathing exercise can result in improved energy throughout the day, but sometimes we are in need of a quick “pick-up.” The Bellows breathing exercise (also called, the stimulating breath) can be used during times of fatigue that may result from driving over distances or when you need to be revitalized at work. It should not be used in place of abdominal breathing but in addition as a tool to increase energy when needed. This breathing exercise is opposite that of abdominal breathing. Short, fast rhythmic breaths are used to increase energy, which are similar to the “chest” breathing we do when under stress. The bellows breath recreates the adrenal stimulation that occurs with stress and results in the release of energizing chemicals such as epinephrine. Like most bodily functions this serves an active purpose, but overuse results in adverse effects as discussed above.

The Bellows Breathing Technique (The Stimulating Breath)

This yogic technique can be used to help stimulate energy when needed. It is a good thing to use before reaching for a cup of coffee.

• Sit in a comfortable up-right position with your spine straight.
• With your mouth gently closed, breath in and out of your nose as fast as possible. To give an idea of how this is done, think of someone using a bicycle pump (a bellows) to quickly pump up a tire. The upstroke is inspiration and the downstroke is exhalation and both are equal in length.
• The rate of breathing is rapid with as many as 2-3 cycles of inspiration/expiration per second.
• While doing the exercise, you should feel effort at the base of the neck, chest and abdomen. The muscles in these areas will increase in strength the more this technique is practiced. This is truly an exercise.
• Do this for no longer than 15 seconds when first starting. With practice, slowly increase the length of the exercise by 5 seconds each time. Do it as long as you are comfortably able, not exceeding one full minute.
• There is a risk for hyperventilation that can result in loss of consciousness if this exercise is done too much in the beginning. For this reason, it should be practiced in a safe place such as a bed or chair.

This exercise can be used each morning upon awakening or when needed for an energy boost.

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Further Resources

• An excellent book to help explore more advanced breathing techniques is Conscious Breathing by Gay Hendricks. (Bantam, 1995. ISBN#: 0553374435)
• An excellent audio called, Breathing: The Master Key to Self Healing by Andrew Weil discusses the health benefits of breathing and directs the listener through 8 breathing exercises. (Sounds True, 1999. ISBN#: 156455726X)
• We encouraged enrollment in a yoga class through a local community or fitness center. Most well trained instructors will educate how the breath is used to enhance well-being with yoga practice.

Adapted from Integrative Medicine, D. Rakel, WB. Saunders, Philadelphia, PA. 2003.

What are hormones?

Hormones are chemical substances created by the body that control numerous body functions. They actually act as “messengers” to coordinate functions of various body parts. Most hormones are proteins consisting of amino acid chains. Some hormones are steroids, fatty cholesterol-produced substances. Functions controlled by hormones include:

• activities of entire organs

• growth and development

• reproduction

• sexual characteristics

• usage and storage of energy

• levels of fluid, salt and sugar in the blood

Hypothalmus

The hypothalamus is located in the brain, at the base of the optic chiasm. It secretes hormones that stimulate or suppress the release of hormones in the pituitary gland, in addition to controlling water balance, sleep, temperature, appetite, and blood pressure.

pineal body

The pineal body is located below the corpus callosum, a part of the brain. It produces the hormone melatonin.

pituitary

The pituitary gland is located at the base of the brain. No larger than a pea, the gland controls many functions of the other endocrine glands.

thyroid and parathyroids

The thyroid gland and parathyroid glands are located in front of the neck, below the larynx (voice box). The thyroid plays an important role in the body’s metabolism. Both the thyroid and parathyroid glands also play a role in the regulation of the body’s calcium balance.

http://www.umm.edu/endocrin/anatomy.htm