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Take some time to enjoy the beautiful change of
season. It’s fall! It’s my favorite time of year. The
days are full of sun and the nights are crisp. The
change of seasons also brings a change in the way
the body reacts and feels. Sometimes one may feel
lethargic and tired, your allergies may flare up and
you may even come down with the flu. This is the
time of year that everyone is waiting in line for his or
her flu shot. Well, I am here to tell you, if you listen
to your body and use yoga as a survival tool, you
can make it through the change of each season with
flying and healthy colors!
There are many healthy ways to help your body stay strong and happy through the change of seasons as well as just the general stress of life. Externally, you can do what your mom always told you to do when you were little, “bundle up before you go outside.” Your muscles get cold and tight with change and stress, it’s better to have more layers on than less when you leave the house, for your muscles’ sake. A good yoga example of this is Bikram Yoga Style. In Bikram Yoga the heat is raised to about 95-105 degrees and you practice a sequence of postures (or asanas) very slowly to maintain control of your energy while keeping your muscles warm in the heat. During the period of time when the season is changing there is so much readjustment in the body that you need to make slow and deliberate moves. The way to achieve this is by using the core of your body to keep you strong and centered. In your yoga practice, working on your core should be one of the most important aspects of asana study. The core of your body; the abdominal muscles, the back and the butt are there to create a strong structure and center for the rest of the body to work from. It is the center for energy storage in the body as well. It is from these areas of the body that you take the energy and expend it to the limbs. Therefore, the strength that you need for anything should come from the core of the body which in turn will help keep up your stamina. The way to keep your energy in the core of the
body, so that you can maintain your strength and
stamina, is through your diaphragmatic breathing.
Use this very strong circular breathing technique to
keep your energy centered and maintainable. The
diaphragmatic breathing technique will be discussed
in detail in the November issue of Yoga Bean E-
Newsletter. Look for that important article next
month.
“Breathing control gives man strength, vitality, inspiration, and magic powers.” -Chuang Tzu |
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There are many postures that can help work on
keeping your energy centered in the core of the body
as well as a technique that can help warm up the
muscles and make them more flexible. Some
examples are discussed below.
Centering & Strengthening the core: Pelvic Tilt and Abdominal tightening: When you are in most any posture this is an essential element of control that will help tighten your core and keep your energy centered. All you need to do is tuck your butt under by doing a pelvic tilt while you are tightening your abdominal muscles. When you are just beginning yoga, this is a difficult and taxing move. It will become easier to hold the pelvic tilt when your abs become stronger. The reason why these two controlled moves are essential to any posture is because not only is it strengthening the core but it is also supporting the back. Abdominal muscles are very lazy. They will try and get any other muscles to do the work for them. It is our job, in the beginning, to train the abs to work for you and that means continually training those muscles in every posture. There is a statistic that 80% of individuals over 40 years old complain of back pain on some level. One of the main reasons for this back pain is that the abs are not strong enough to help support the back. Therefore, the back takes the brunt of the movement. I cannot stress how important it is to remember to do a pelvic tilt and tighten up your abs when you are in postures, for this very reason. Once your core is stronger, your entire body will feel stronger! Muscle Training and Flexibility:
Lack of Flexibility or increased tension- < Nerves are the communicators between the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body. The muscles rely on the nerve sensors, deep within the muscles, to tell them such things as how much to contract or relax that muscle. In your yoga postures, if you move in or out of a posture too quickly, the sensors will not understand that it is only a stretch and they will make the muscles contract forcefully. This will prevent the stretch or posture from happening or make it much harder to move into that posture. To avoid this, move slowly in and out of postures and use your breath to guide you. A technique that you can use in your postures that can help extend your flexibility is called ‘contract- relax stretching.’ When you are in a posture, contract the major muscle that is being stretched in that posture. Keep that muscle contracted for approximately 10 seconds and then release it. After you release the muscle the nerve sensors will discharge and allow you to stretch further into the posture. Another way of creating the same effect in a posture is by holding it for a longer period of time then normal. When you hold the posture longer the muscles will automatically begin to release and allow you to stretch further. Be sure to use your breath when trying either of these techniques. Aldous, S.H. (2006). Anatomy and Asana. Seattle, WA: Eastland Press |
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Just recently, while leaving the house of a private
yoga student, I smelled the loveliest aroma of freshly
cleaned laundry. I asked where that smell was
coming from (as no one was doing laundry at the
time). She told me that it was from an air freshener
that she purchased at Yankee Candle. The scent
was called “Clean Cotton.” If you love the smell of
clean laundry then you will love this fragrance. I
went out and bought it immediately for my house. I
now enjoy that wonderful aroma in my home. The air
freshener itself has a dispensing gage so you can let
out a little to a lot of the scent. In this way it wont
be overwhelming when you plug it in.
But what’s really in air fresheners and are they good for us to inhale? Commercial air fresheners can contain several chemicals, such as naphthalene, formaldehyde, ethanol and other alcohols, assorted propellants, and synthetic fragrances. These chemicals can be very hazardous to breath. Allergic reactions to air fresheners, such as teary eyes and stuffy noses to asthma attacks can affect not only you but also your pets. Some experts say it is not wise to inhale any of these scents and others say that the chemicals you are inhaling will not do any harm to you because they are very minimal. I have checked for the ingredients on many websites that sell Yankee Candle, including their official site, and also on my air freshener box at home. Nowhere does it state the ingredients of these air fresheners. I have an email into Yankee Candle to get some information about their ingredients. I will get back to you next month on my findings. In the mean time, there are many “greener” ways to
freshen your air naturally. Some of these healthy
choices are listed below.
PLANTS According to a 2-year NASA study, ordinary indoor plants can be very effective at absorbing toxic indoor chemicals in the air. Some plants are better than others for different cleansing of air particles. · English Ivy- will offset the benzene from your gas stove when you are cooking. · Chrysanthemum flowers – will help clean the air of new paint, benzene from new plastics and most new product odors. · Corn plants- are great in the office to help absorb the odor of books, paper and cardboard. · Other powerful air-filtering plants are: Chinese evergreens, golden pothos, Gerbera daisies, bamboo plants, dieffenbachia, and peace lilies. HOME-MADE SPRAY AIR FRESHENER Ingredients: White distilled vinegar Essential oil frangrance (a good example is peppermint). Fine-mist spray bottle To Make: Fill the spray-bottle with while distilled vinegar. Add 20-30 drops of your favorite oil. Shake well before each use. ** Do not spray at anything with eyes as vinegar is an irritant as most sprays would be. HOME-MADE SOLID AIR FRESHENER Ingredients: Baking soda A pretty box Essential oil for fragrance To Make: Put some baking soda in your pretty box. Add 5-10 drops of the essential oil and mix. Keep the box uncovered or half covered in the area that you want to freshen. **This is great as a hand cleaner too. HOME_MADE CLOSET FRESHENER Ingredients: An orange A bottle of whole cloves Ribbon To Make: Get out a fresh orange and a bottle of whole cloves. Poke the cloves into the orange until the entire surface is covered. Tie a ribbon around it and hand it in your closet. Recipes from: “Clean House, Clean Planet” by Karen Logan |
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Just starting a yoga practice or restarting one? Bring
a friend. One of the best ways to get motivated is
to bring a friend to yoga class with you. If you are
not the type to go to class, how about trying private
yoga with a friend. It will cut the price of the
session in half and, in some cases, you wont even
have to leave your house.
Exercise research proves we are not moving around
enough.
· Heart disease is the leading cause of death among men and women in the United States. Physically inactive people are twice as likely to develop coronary heart disease as regularly active people. · 37% of adults report they are not physically active. Only 3 in 10 adults get the recommended amount of physical activity. · Poor diet and inactivity can lead to overweight/obesity. Persons who are overweight or obese are at increased risk for high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, respiratory problems and some types of cancer. · 41 million Americans are estimated to have pre-diabetes. Most people with pre-diabetes develop type 2 diabetes within 10 years, unless they make changes to their diet and physical activity that results in a loss of about 5-7 percent of their body weight. · Obesity continues to climb among American adults. Nearly 60 million Americans are obese. More than 108 million adults are either obese or overweight. That means roughly 3 out of 5 Americans carry an unhealthy amount of excess weight. · The percentage of adults in the United States who were overweight or obese (body mass index greater than or equal to 25) in 1999-2002 was 65 percent. Overweight and obesity cuts across all ages, racial and ethnic groups, and both genders. A new study in the Netherlands found that excess weight cuts years off your life. · 16 percent of children and teens aged 6 to 19 were overweight in 1999-2002, triple the proportion in 1980. Fifteen-percent of children in the same age group are considered at-risk for overweight. The percentage of overweight African American, Hispanic, and Native American children is about 20%. · More than 10 percent of children between the ages of 2 and 5 are overweight, double the proportion since 1980. 2006, The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports You can do something about this by getting out to a yoga class or having private family yoga so everyone can benefit. It is a great way to keep the entire family fit and have some togetherness time. A good instructor will be able to work individually with each member of the family as well as a group class. Yoga not only creates limber and strong muscles but it also helps you lose weight and become more self- confident. Yoga is a mind/body exercise, second to known. Some people say, “a family that prays together stays together” and I also say, “a family that practiced yoga together stays healthy and happy together.” |
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Waste not, want not.
This Halloween don’t go out and buy a new costume that you will throw away the day after the holiday, make one! Or even better, to help the environment, go to a thrift store and put one together yourself. It will save you money and help cut down on waste. When I was younger I would remember my mom taking the Styrofoam tray from meat she purchased at the store, washing it very well, and reusing it for cat food trays. She would also reuse the water that she boiled a veggie in to cook pasta. That way the nutrients from the vegetable that were lost in the water were now going into the pasta. If you have any creative ways to reuse items so that you are not filling up two large garbage cans twice a week let me know. I would love to post your ideas. |
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Don't forget, please send this to your friends and family so that everyone can be a part of the Yoga Bean family. Talk to you next month!
Sincerely,
Tina LeMar
Yoga Bean
email:
tina@yogabean.net
phone:
610.805.6724
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