Alberto Giacometti's sculpture Three Men Walking reflects on the nature of the human condition - imperfection, loss, and individual search.

The Three Men Walking are patina bronze figures, yet they give an impression of just emerging from mother Earth. Their naked bodies are obscured by dripping mud and their feet are pulling the mud as if oversized boots. Their hands, a major element of our humanness, are not clear or well defined. If not for the position of their whole bodies, one could not guess where the face of each man is, as their heads seems not to be differentiated into front and back, or left and right. The men seem not even to be aware of each other, as they have no eyes, no vision, and are dragged forward by the mere strength of their shoulders. E

ach man emerges from the Earth to follow a different direction. Although the three men are not defined well as human by the details of their bodies, their humanity is defined in their wholeness: their loneliness, search, and struggle.

What is the impact of the Three Men Walking on our recognition and acknowledgement of the human condition of in-ability? Does our in-ability to be healthy, clear, and responsive diminish our humanness, or it is the essence of it? Maybe our healing and healing others starts from here: from seeing our wholeness even if the hands are not "human," or the eyes are not seeing, the face is disfigured, and we are lost in our loneness, unaware of others, dragging our feet forward in confusion. If Three Men Walking in dirt and disfigured can touch my heart, can the next patient in my office too? Looking at Giacometti's figures, I ponder the humanity in each of us, in any condition, and the healing we can bring by just recognizing that.

Three Men Walking II, 1949

Artist Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966)

Sculpture, Bronze, 30 1/8 x 13 x 12 3/4 in. (76.5 x 33 x 32.4 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, LineJacques and Natasha Gelman Collection, 1998

Yoga is an ancient physical and spiritual discipline and philosophy that originated in India. The word yoga come from the Sanskrit root "Yuj" which means to yoke, join or unite. The integration of all aspects of an individual holistically can result in therapeutic benefits. Yoga therapy helps patients to connect movement, breath and a positive intention. It has been proven that this mind-body integration can be vital to the healing process.

Take a break from or begin your workday with a strengthening and focusing journey. Enhance clarity and creative thinking, increase productivity and maximize the quality of your health.

Programs are customized to meet specific needs and include:

• Private sessions at all levels including basics
• Prenatal
• Therapeutic / Restorative Yoga to target relief of pain, anxiety, circulatory and metabolic challenges
• Breath Awareness
• Meditation

Jillian Friedman, RYT is Supervisor of the Yoga Therapy program at Beth Israel Medical Center. She is an Advance Board Certified Jivamukti Yoga teacher with additional certifications in prenatal yoga and Urban Zen's Integrative Yoga Therapy. Her training includes yoga, Reiki, aromatherapy and meditation/breath awareness techniques. Jillian incorporates an intuitive and holistic approach and deepening awareness of the senses into her work with patients to inspire and create balance from within.

Jillian was born in New York City. She holds a B.A. in French and Business from the University of Vermont and has worked for twenty years in fragrance development.

To schedule an appointment please contact Jillian at jillian@jillianfriedman.com or 917 482 9611.

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If you suffer with hip or knee pain, there may be a solution.  Research has shown that by strengthening the muscles around the knee and hip joint, pressure on your knee and hip may be decreased. This can provide you with less pain and better mobility.  So, don't just sit there and suffer, let's get up and strengthen those muscles and move along into better health.

Robert Gotlin, DO is Director of Orthopaedic and Sports Rehabilitation and the Coordinator of the Musculoskeletal and Sports Rehabilitation Fellowship training program in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Beth Israel Medical Center.  

Health "Apps" are special applications designed for smartphones like Apple's iPhone, BlackBerry and Google's Android. These pocket size computers allow you to personalize your health care and track your progress.

Apps run the gamut in quality, usefulness, and design. This section will review a number of quality Apps that provide information, health strategies and tracking capabilities to help you manage your health and adopt effective approaches to wellness.

Today's list covers mind-body approaches to help you reduce stress and support personal change.

Awareness                           

Discover Yourself Inc.                                                                                                                                       

iOS, $3.99                                                                                                                                                          

Developed by a psychotherapist, this tool randomly intercepts your daily routines and prompts you to get in touch with what you are feeling in the present moment. This helps break patterns of emotions, attitudes and behavior through awareness and inspirational practice.

iSamahdi - Meditation Timer                                                                                                                    

Samadhi Games                 

iOS.  $0.99                                                                                                                                                        

Creates customized meditation sessions. Meditate in silence or to music, chimes or guided teaching.  Features a personal meditation journal, session timer that can be paused and resumed, and multiple chime choices developed by Buddhist monks.

Relax Melodies      

Logiciel iLB (SENC)                                                                                                                                                                iOS, Free                                                                                                                                                            

Professionally designed and developed, this app offers 70 high quality ambient sounds and binaural beats for brainwave synchronization to help induce relaxation, meditation, and sleep.   

Sleep Better with the White Noise Mobile App

Android, Apple iOS, Blackberry

A free version and full version for $1.99                                                                                               

Both the free version of 10 sample sounds and the full version of 30 sounds  include timers so the app will turn itself off after a specified period of time. A playlist can be created so you can fall asleep to one sound and then change over to another soothing sound during the night. 

Simply Being - Guided Meditation for Relaxation and Presence               

Meditation Oasis                                                                                                                                                

iOS, $0.99                                                                                                                                                         

Developed by Richard and Mary Maddux, creators of the Meditation Oasis podcasts, these voice-guided meditations vary in length (5, 10, 15 or 20 minutes) and can be listened to with or without music or nature sounds.  

Is sugar our enemy?

The answer is YES!  Especially if not used in moderation.  The most recent statistics indicate that the average American consumes 2- 3 pounds of sugar each week.

The American Heart Association suggests the following daily intakes:

• Women - Less then 6 teaspoons
• Men -  Less then 9 teaspoons
• Teens - Less then 13 teaspoons
• Children - Less then 12 teaspoons

Think about this- if a 20 ounce bottle of a sugary soft drink contains 17 teaspoons of sugar, how much sugar are you consuming on a daily basis?

Unfortunately the more sugar we consume, the more the body will begin to crave it. Many of the foods we eat and drink have been cleverly camouflaged to make them taste better, which is a growing concern.

Why is sugar so bad for us?

Consuming excess sugar affects our nutritional intake since it depletes nutrients while trying to metabolize it in our bodies.  It doesn't contain vitamins, minerals or nutrients and so can lead to compromised immune functions and even malnutrition.

Recent studies have shown that the consumption of excess sugar has a direct correlation to the following conditions in children and adults.

• Diabetes
• Heart disease
• Obesity
• Increased fat in the blood
• Contributes to fatty liver
• Increase the risk of gout
• Dental Cavities
• And many, many more!!!

Tips to help decrease sugar:

• Use natural sweeteners ( in moderation)
• Try low sugar fruits like strawberries, blueberries, watermelon instead of dried fruits and fruit juices
• Sweeten pancakes with honey instead of imitation syrup
• Choose breakfast cereals with fiber and 6 grams of sugar or less
• Try to cut the amount of sugar you use in recipes, foods, coffee or tea in half.  Gradually over time you will get used to the taste - in fact things may start to taste too sweet to you
•  

Most important tip- LESS IS BEST!!!

Natural sweeteners

So what's the 'skinny' on natural sweeteners? They all contain calories and carbohydrates at approximately 20 calories and 5 grams of carbohydrates per teaspoon. As all sugars are considered a source of 'discretionary calories'- natural sweeteners should be used with discretion- sparingly- and limited to 8% or less of total daily caloric intake. An example: 30 grams of sugars daily = 120 calories from sugar in a 1500 calorie daily diet, or 40 grams of sugars daily = 160 calories from sugars in a 2,000 calorie daily diet. A great resource to use to assess daily sugar intake is an online dietary tracker such as www.sparkpeople.com  or the mobile app Calorie Tracker for Blackberry, iPhone and iPad.

Blackstrap molasses: Sugarcane juice is boiled three times, cooled, and removed of its crystals to form blackstrap molasses. Blackstrap molasses contains calcium, magnesium, potassium, and iron.

Sucanat is short for sugar-cane-natural. Sucanat is made by mechanically extracting sugarcane juice, which is then heated and cooled until tiny brown crystals form.

Turbinado is sugarcane that is pressed to extract the juice. The juice is then boiled and cooled, and allowed to crystallize into granules. The granules are further refined to remove impurities and surface molasses.

Evaporated cane juice is a finer and lighter-colored version of turbinado sugar. It is less refined than table sugar but contains little nutrients.

Agave syrup is produced from the juice of the agave plant. The juice is extracted, filtered, heated and hydrolyzed into agave syrup.  Agave syrup contains trace amounts of iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium. The fructose content of agave syrup is high (almost 90% vs. high fructose corn syrup which is 55% fructose), but the glucose content is low which gives agave syrup a low glycemic index (the measure of how quickly a food raises a person's blood sugar).

Brown rice syrup is made when cooked rice is cultured with enzymes which break down the starch in the rice. The liquid is cooked down to a thick syrup.

Honey is produced by bees from the nectar of flowers. Flavors of honey vary based on the nectar source. Honey contains traces of B2, iron, zinc and B6.

Maple syrup comes from the sap of maple trees, which is collected, filtered, and boiled down to syrup.

CP: Where did you receive your training?

JF: I began my yoga practice at the gym in 1990 where I met my Jivamukti teacher Sharon Gannon who had brought Jivamukti yoga classes to this gym. When I began to practice with her, I became aware of a feeling when I left class that was more than physical.  It was a sense of ease and calm as well as an increased awareness of myself and others.  The more I practiced, the more I became inspired to study more and to learn about yoga. My yoga teacher training involved 800 hours followed by an Advanced Certification exam which allows me to be a mentor to other graduates.  I have also completed trainings which focus on the spirals in the body that can be crucial to proper alignment as well as safe and effective yoga for pregnant women.

In 2009 I added to my training by entering the first class of Urban Zen Integrative Therapy training program.  This training incorporates the modalities of Aromatherapy, Reiki, Yoga therapy, breath awareness and meditation specifically focusing on the hospital environment.  Beth Israel was the first training site for this program.  The learning experience enhanced my yoga in-patient skills.

Now as the Department of Integrative Medicine's Supervisor of in-patient yoga programs, I will develop new areas for the incoming Urban Zen yoga students and work with other faculty on bringing yoga into other multidisciplinary projects such as the Wellness and Stress Reduction programs we recently initiated.  Two of these new programs are the Evans Wellness program teaching nursing staff a variety of stress reduction techniques and the Rubin Foundation Resident Wellness Program where I will provide simple yoga poses for medical residents at BIMC.

CP: What do you think yoga brings in terms of health benefits?

JF: Yoga can be extremely beneficial to health on all levels as it is an integration of the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of being.  Yoga is a holistic practice that can help enhance physical resilience and is efficient in calming the mind.  Yoga connects our awareness to our breath, triggering a transformation from the inside out towards vitality, focus, balance and serenity. 

CP: What should people watch out for if they are trying yoga for the first time?

JF: Many people jump into fast paced athletic yoga classes without establishing a basic foundation for their practice first.  In this case, they are practicing too vigorously and can become injured through misalignment over time.  Establishing the basics first can go a long way in being able to express a yoga posture fully and to enjoy it.   One of the oldest books on yoga philosophy is Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.  Sutra in Sanskrit means thread.  The second sutra in this book, "Stirah Sukham Asanam", illustrates this idea.   Stirah in Sanskrit means effort, Sukham means joy or sweetness, and Asanam is the connection to the earth or the pose itself.   This sutra illustrates the idea that a great yoga practice is one that is steady, flowing and enjoyable and therefore restorative!

CP: Are you working on any new yoga programs at Beth Israel?                              

JF: I am working with Dr. Asma Sadiq in the BIMC  Developmental Pediatrics department.  We are putting together a yoga program for children between the ages of 4 and 12.  The yoga practice can bring focus and spatial awareness as well as a sense of calm to children with developmental issues.  In addition, we will be working closely with Orthopedics to complement their rehabilitation services after surgery.  The expansion of the yoga therapy program at BIMC is extremely exciting.