Cheryl Thomas, RYT
www.cherylthomas.com yoga@cherylthomas.com 415-308-3377 |
High Blood Pressure
(Pt 2)
Adding to last week's posting, high blood pressure is not something to mess around with. Even though you have no symptoms, damage to the blood vessels is happening. The higher the pressure and the longer untreated, the higher the damage. Severe high blood pressure needs to be treated with drugs. However, there are many lifestyle changes that can be made to either supplement the medication, reverse the trend of rising blood pressure or add as a prevention.
The recent rise in the rates of hbp have been linked to lifestyle factors such as obesity, poor diet and sedentary lifestyle (or sitting too much). The good news is that along with scribbling on a prescription pad, doctors are recommending the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension or DASH which emphasizes healthy eating to treat hypertension. A group of Israeli researchers took it a bit further by seeing if adding stress management skills, regular exercise and a wholesome diet could further reduce blood pressure. They developed a program Comprehensive Approach to Lowering Measured Blood Pressure (CALM-BP) which added lifestyle education including exercise, stress management and a wholesome diet. For 16 weeks, 113 adults were either assigned the standard DASH treatment or CALM-BP program. Both groups were assigned a moderately aerobic 45 minute walk 4 times a week (one with the group and 3 times a home) and nutritional training that included a rice-based, predominately vegetarian diet. In addition, the CALM-BP group received instructions on stress management which included classes on yoga, qigong, breathing and meditation and a 10-minute qigong CD to practice daily. After measuring changes in blood pressure and biochemical and metabolic changes and self-reported quality of life, the researchers found: 1. CALM-BP Group - Those in the CALM-BP group were found to have statistically significant reductions in weight, body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol and total fasting blood glucose as well as systolic and diastolic blood pressure. They also reported significant improvements in perceived physical and mental quality of life. Participants in the CALM-BP group were also found to require less medication at the conclusion of the study compared to those in the DASH group.
2. DASH Group - DASH group demonstrated notable reductions in only systolic and diastolic blood pressure and fasting blood glucose, as well as improved physical quality of life. These results highlighted that other lifestyle factors like diet, exercise and stress management were more beneficial that just dietary changes alone. Those in the CALM-PB group had not just significantly lower blood pressure but all improved other markers which can indicate heart disease such as cholesterol and glucose profiles. As with all research study groups, it's important to measure how long participants were able to continue the results of the study. Many individuals revert to old habits, undoing the benefits of the study. CALM-BP group participants showed an impressive 100% participation rate at four months, and 70% at 10 months. This study dealt with high blood pressure and the results are important. But these lifestyle changes, such as exercise, diet and stress management can help all conditions. Yes, I used the word "all", whether it be Lupus, Crohns, diabetes, IBS, or asthma, the lifestyle changes do help. *Cartoon caption: "What fits your busy schedule better, exercising one hour a day or being dead 24 hours a day?"
Want to read some of my past articles?. They're archived right here. Enjoy.
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Iris Lambert the queen of Irie Yoga has a new website: irieyoga.com. Find out about all of her new offerings and workshops! It's beautiful, Iris!
Awesome Ayurvedic practitioner, Deacon Carpenter, has partnered with Western doctor, Ginger Schechter, to form Parallel Practice. They'll be seeing clients at their office at YogaOne's locale in Santa Rosa. And, along with Yoga One's Shy Sayer, their offering a 50 Hour Ayurveda Certification for Yoga Teachers in India.
Hey, Santa Rosans.....Sarah Domke's news studio, One Tree, is open and rockin'. Right in Railroad Square. "Pay What Feels Good" is the class rate from $8-$21. Check it out here. After, there's Flying Goat Coffee or Aroma's Roastery. Lululemon, too.
Cindy Sims is taking over the Friday 4:30 class at Westside Yoga Studio. Congratulations, Cindy! It's an awesome group of students, which I will definitely miss. The class will be Ashtanga Level 1/2. One of my respected teachers, Geoffrey Roniger, just created My YogaToGo, an on-line series of yoga classes. Skip MyYogaOnline and YogaGlo and go directly to Geoffrey's site http://www.myyogatogo.com.
October 18 is the date for Anne O'Brien's next offering at YogaOne in Petaluma. It happens from 3-5. Get it on your calendar.
Sonoma Yoga Fest! in Sonoma is happening late October 31 - Nov 2. http://www.sonomayogafest.com/. Lots to yoga and music. Check it out.
My weekly schedule is below (scroll down or click here!). Or, you can always go to my website and click on the always up-to-date calendar to find where I might be.
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The Connection Official Trailer
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The Connection
The Connection, a new feature documentary, explores how science is showing a direct connection between your mind and your body when it comes to your health.
Featuring world leading experts including: Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. Andrew Weil, meet people with remarkable stories of recovery from severe back pain, heart disease, infertility, cancer and multiple sclerosis as this documentary delves further into the link between our mind and body.
Good stuff.
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 The Marketing of Prozac
The NYT's RetroNews offering about the marketing of Prozac. Interesting. How might Prozac change us in ways that are unexpected? Is it synthetic pharmacology?
It's here. Click on the video in this link.
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Hand Drawn Map of San Francisco
"London-based illustrator Jenni Sparks spent a month living in the Mission District combing the city to collect information for her artistic specialty: hand-drawn maps" according to 7x7 magazine. It's amazing. OK, incredible...there, I've said it. But, don't take my word for it. Jenni Sparks, I hope you make lots of dough. There are other cities at evermade.com.
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 Looking for Your Shadow
Gary and Jim have been fostering this cutie. According to Gary:
Shadow is 1 yr. old, 9 pounds (soaking wet), loves other dogs but is briefly fearful of new people - once he's met you, he remembers and is your pal for life. A tireless but not at all mean player with other dogs. Truly hilarious and a MAJOR cuddler. Smart and attentive - a great agility candidate."
Shadow's at the Sonoma County Humane Society on Highway 10 near Sebastopol.
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 BrogaWho knew? From Lululemon's Palm Springs Website:
Join us for in store BROGA with Matt Miller. BROGA is yoga for men and is smashing the idea "yoga is for girls". Our in store BROGA class is for both men and women at all levels. Matt Miller is a former college football player and heavyweight bodybuilding champ who will be visiting our desert from the UK. So grab a dude and bring him to BROGA!
Whatever it takes, I guess. Thanks Jayne Robertson for the link. |
 Microwave Ovens. Good/Bad?
I thought the argument was over, whether microwave ovens were OK to use. They are so damn convenient it's had to justify not using one. Me? I don't own one. Here's a bit from an recent article entitled "12 Facts About Microwaves That Should Forever Terminate Their Use". "Are microwaves a benign bastion of convenience or a sinister contributor to biological and nutritional damage? A growing percentage of people are now heeding the advice of holistic health experts and disposing of their microwaves due to the dangers of microwaved food. Regardless of where you stand, humans are the only animals on the planet who destroy the nutritional value of their food before eating it, and the use of microwaves is no exception."
Thanks, Deacon Carpenter, for the link.
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 On Faith and Religion
I'm loving these Zen stories. I found a site that list 10 of them and I'll share another one I found inspiring:
Several citizens ran into a hot argument about God and different religions, and each one could not agree to a common answer.
So they came to the Lord Buddha to find out what exactly God looks like.
The Buddha asked his disciples to get a large magnificent elephant and four blind men. He then brought the four blind to the elephant and told them to find out what the elephant would "look" like. The first blind man touched the elephant leg and reported that it "looked" like a pillar. The second blind man touched the elephant tummy and said that an elephant was a wall. The third blind man touched the elephant ear and said that it was a piece of cloth. The fourth blind man held the elephant by the tail and described the elephant as a piece of rope. And all of them ran into a hot argument about the "appearance" of an elephant. The Buddha asked the citizens: "Each blind man had touched the elephant but each of them gives a different description of the animal. Which answer is right?" |
Daily Dharma - Tricycle Magazine
September 16, 2014
Opening to Vulnerability
Relationships work to open us up to ourselves. But first we have to admit how much we don't want that to happen, because that means opening ourselves to vulnerability. Only then will we begin the true practice of letting ourselves experience all those feelings of vulnerability that we first came to practice to escape.
- Barry Magid, "No Gain"
Read it here.
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Schedule of Upcoming Classes
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Week of September 28, 2014
Monday
8:30 - 9:30
Sebastopol, Private
Tuesday
4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Healdsburg, Private
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Thursday
8:45 - 9:45,
Graton Community Club, Graton
Gentle Flow - All Levels
4:00 - 5:00
Healdsburg, Private Friday
4:30 - 5:30 Glen Ellen, Private
Saturday
9:00 - 10:30
YogaOne, Petaluma
All Levels Flow
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Week of October 5, 2014
Monday
4:00 - 5:00
Glen Ellen, Private
Tuesday
4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Healdsburg, Private
Wednesday
4:00 - 5:300
Windsor, Private
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Thursday
8:45 - 9:45
Graton Community Club, Graton
Gentle Flow - All Levels
4:00 - 5:00
Healdsburg,Private
Friday
4:30 - 5:30
Glen Ellen, Private
Saturday
9:00 - 10:30
YogaOne, Petaluma
All Levels Flow
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Graton Yogis Info:
Did you know your class pass (get these from your instructor) are accepted by all yoga teachers at Yoga in Graton?
We Gratonite Yogis have a place to call our own. It's www.
yogaingraton.com. There is information about current and new yoga classes offered in Graton.
Don't live in Graton? No problem. We want you to come anyway.
You cannot be lost if you don't care where you are.
Judith Lasater
When people ask me what equipment I use, I tell them my eyes.
Ansel Adams
"Not to have what we want is stressful; to have what we do not want is stressful." Buddha
Dalai Lama: "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."
"Everything will be alright in the end. And if it is not alright, it's not yet the end!" The Magnolia Hotel movie
If your Food can go bad, it's good for you. If it can't go bad, it's bad for you. Originally pinned by Michael Leaming, Ed.D. onto Fitness, Nutrition & Wellness
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