Cheryl Thomas, RYT
www.cherylthomas.com yoga@cherylthomas.com 415-308-3377 |
Really? Do we need another study to tell us that chocolate is good and coffee is bad? Or is it the reverse? Eggs today, gone tomorrow. We are bombarded with so many studies that are touted from Dr. Oz to the New York Times Well section. It is not surprising that people are genuinely and understandably confused.
What is a good diet? There's actually no concensus on what makes a diet healthy. Healthy for whom? There are just too many variables. Are you trying to lose weight or protect your bones from osteoporosis? Are you eating to prevent heart disease? A healthy diet for each of those would be different. What about the food choices in vegetarian, vegan or paleo diets?
Not only is it impossible to match particular diets to real people who have different goals and different needs, the studies themselves are spurious. Why, you ask? Isn't the research done by by doctors in white lab coats with a bunch of funding from the FDA? It turns out, food research is incredibly difficult and the studies are inherently flawed.
Most nutritional studies rely on subjects keeping track of what they eat with food logs. Called a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), subjects try to remember and record what they eat. Sounds pretty straight forward, but it's almost impossible to think that everyone is going to be able to recall what they ate and suss out the ingredients and portion sizes. According to this article, people classically underreport their what they ate and don't always list the bad stuff. No big surprise.
To counter this difficulty in logging food intake, food researchers collect shorter, seemingly more accurate, food diaries of 3 - 7 days. Then, they extrapolate the diaries to show larger eating patterns. It's like getting a snapshot of someone's diet. Right? People's diets change daily/weekly/monthly depending on whether they've been to a party, spent the weekend in Kauai or worked late and skipped dinner.I hope someone didn't take a snapshot of what I ate yesterday, as my dinner was lots of truffle salt popcorn, a few Redvines, a couple of homemade chocolate chip cookies and a vodka/ginger beer/champagne drink (it was girls' movie night at my house!).
It's a good idea to be a bit skeptical of articles reporting on dietary research. They're basically weak due to the difficulty in collecting accurate data, unless, of course, you're willing to lock subjects people in a room for 30 days and monitor each morsel. That, I doubt. You don't need a food study to tell you to (80% of the time) eat fresh, whole, locally sourced, seasonal foods with lots of fruits and veggies and good clean sources of protein. Oh, and lots of movement, laughter, friends and quiet time.
Want to read some of my past articles?. They're archived right here. Enjoy.
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 Hump Day Hour Yoga: Starting next Wednesday I'm offering a one hour class on Wednesdays at Yoga Studio Ganesha from 5:30 - 6:30. Hooray for those of you who work and need to get your yoga on then head home for dinner. Qs? cheryl@cherylthomas.com.
I will be teaching Senior/Chair yoga this Thursday at the Sebastopol Senior Center. If you are or know a senior that wants to do gentle movement to keep limber and stay strong, come and join us. It's from 11:15 - Noon.
Let's wish Iris Lambert a safe journey as she travels to India for the first time Feb. 23 - Mar. 15. It's a devotional journey for Iris with er yoga friend Prema Mayi. Enjoy, Iris!!
Get Upside Down with Barbara at Yoga on Center on Saturday, February 27th, 2:00-5:00pm. She'll explain proper technique and alignment in inversions, so that you may approach them in your practice in a safe, intelligent and constructive way.
Tony Briggs and Liz Levy will pair up and offer Anatomy & Yoga Therapeutics starting in February. These two topics from these seasoned and brilliant teachers are a must for not just teachers, but students alike. Go to Westside's site for info.
We're lucky to have Judith Lasater in Northern California. She's offering a small group, Advanced Restorative Yoga series on 4 Wednesdays in March in Marin. I'm signed up!! Go here for more info.
Know about Yoga in Graton? It's hopping! Find 5 classes a week ranging from Gentle to Slow Flow to All Levels, featuring me, Corina Stoicescu and Denise Hammond. Time and places at YogaInGraton.com.
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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Is Gentle the New Advanced Yoga?
Very interesting....... Thought you'd enjoy this article from YogaUonline.com. From the article:
"Now that yoga class attendees who were never really into the yoga have largely migrated to Crossfit, and the once freely-given pass on safety has expired, grassroots practitioners are reclaiming the terms of their trade. The old school of yoga is resurgent, offering an antidote to a cultural infatuation with youth and body image."
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 Yoga for Depression and Anxiety
"Now that yoga is an established part of mainstream culture, there is an increased interest in using yoga as therapy for psychological problems such as depression, anxiety and PTSD. A new meta-review of all published studies on yoga for trauma, anxiety and depression in the journal, Trauma, Violence and Abuse, suggests that yoga can be beneficial as an adjunct therapy, but those delivering services need sufficient training and expertise to be effective."
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Modifications for a Cranky Lotus
David Keil offers some help for knee pain in lotus pose. This pose is one of those that comes easy for some and not so much for others. Just because your 5 year old nephew and some Indian guru can wrap their legs into their lap, doesn't mean you must do it. If you've experimented with this pose and find some distraction in your knee, check out this video. There's a lotus prep video with Mr. Keil here. |
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Leslie Kaminoff offers advice on moving into postures. We're often corrected about alignment once we have arrived in a posture. He suggests we need to pay attention to how we got there. Enjoy.
"What does the journey have to do with the destination? The way you get into a pose can often reveal the corrections you'll hear once you arrive."
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 Exercise and Bigger Brains
Wow, this is good news. I exercise, so...... I'm hoping, maybe. Here's a tad from the article. I always like to remind you whenever you read reported research, to pay attention to the words "may", "might", "could". Thanks, Pat, for sharing!
"From other studies, we know that exercise training programs that improve fitness may increase blood flow and oxygen to the brain over the short term," Spartano said. "Over the course of a lifetime, improved blood flow may have an impact on brain aging and prevent cognitive decline in older age."
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Schedule of Upcoming Classes
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Class Schedule - Week of February 21, 2016
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Tuesday
5:00 - 6:00
Private, Healdsburg
Wednesday
Yoga Studio Ganesha, Sebastopol
Restorative Yoga
Thursday
8:45 - 9:45
Graton Community Club
All Levels
11:15 - Noon Sebastopol Senior Center
Senior Yoga 5:00 - 6:00
Private, Healdsburg
Saturday
All Levels Flow
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Wednesday
5:15 - 6:45
Yoga Studio Ganesha, Sebastopol
Restorative Yoga
5:00 - 6:00
Healdsburg, Private
Thursday 8:45 - 9:45
All Levels, Graton
11:15 - 12;00 Senior Yoga Seb Senior Center
Saturday 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.
Quotes I Like
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
"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."
Dalai Lama
"Everything will be alright in the end. And if it is not alright, it's not yet the end!" The Magnolia Hotel movie
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