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The Inner Voice
A weekly newsletter from Debbie Jensen-Grubb, RYT500
March 11, 2013 - Issue 28
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New Item! Free!!
The Daily Yoga Poses Poster |  FREE!!! For all who receive this newsletter my first ever poster to download and print out! Thank you for joining The Inner Voice newsletter! (You need to open it in another window and print it from there.) |
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Quick Links
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This weeks reading can be seen here at The Daily OM.
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To access past issues click here:
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****Announcement****
Beginning in April
(due to popular demand ~ yea and thank you!)
I will be adding a new class to my schedule: Wednesdays at 11:00 a.m.
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| Greetings! |
 Whew! Last week was a rough week with being sick. Now this week we lose an hour with daylight savings time so it is even more imperative to incorporate some downtime into your days.
What I realized after being sick was that I had not rested enough in the weeks prior to getting ill. So this week is all about being more aware of how much rest my body really needs.
Sleeping is just as much a part of staying healthy as anything else. Even though I knew better, I didn't give it much importance or felt like I was a slacker if I took a break. We all know how important resting is, there are enough reports all over the web that tell us so, yet we never make the time. Not so any longer!
From now on, I'm resting everyday. It is going to be a part of my schedule in the middle of the day to take a break. When can you incorporate a few minutes each day to rest? There is no time like the present, begin now to take care of yourself, to find some contentment in your day, and rest. |
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Constructive Rest Pose - revisited
|  Well, my videographer (aka my husband) now has the illness that I had last week. (He wasn't resting enough either and is now passed out on the couch!)
So in honor of getting everyone to rest a bit more I am re-posting my video on the Constructive Rest Pose. This is my go-to pose whenever I am tired but still have things to accomplish for the day.
Just lie down for 5 minutes on your back (on the floor is the best but the couch or bed will do too) with your knees bent. If you are at work make some time to go out to the car and recline in your seat for a while. Focus on your breathing, watching the inhale and exhale separately, noticing how the breath moves the body naturally, and feel for it in the spine.
You will feel refreshed, just as if you had taken a nap, because the spinal cord that houses the nervous system (think energy system) will have had gotten a break and relaxed.
Click on the video above to take a break with me.
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| Rib-Tickler of the Week - hee hee |
These days I spend a lot of time thinking
about the hereafter...
I go somewhere to get something,
and then wonder -
"What am I here after?"
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Nutrition Prescription - Calming Foods (BRAT Diet)
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 The Brat Diet consists of calming, non-fibrous foods to assist in calming the digestive system when it is upset with diarrhea or vomiting. It is what is often prescribed by doctors for children with these symptoms, hence the name. BRAT is an acronym for Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast. There are other BRAT diets that include Tea (BRATT) and Yogurt (BRATTY). If you are following a non-carbohydrate diet then you can substitute mashed sweet potatoes for the toast. What all of these have in common is the calming, easily digestibility of these foods which the body likes. The brain (mind) likes the complex carbohydrates because it increases the blood sugar which the brain needs. It was exactly what I needed when I was sick last week (along with plenty of fluids). It really helped me to stay relaxed, enabled me to rest, and was easy to eat when I didn't really feel like eating. There are many other calming foods such as chamomile tea, papaya, honey, and black strap molasses (high in relaxing magnesium) that are all good to add to the diet when you need to relax, renew, and heal.
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| Mantra | |
A mantra is a sound or phrase that aids in the concentration of meditation. It is a Sanskrit term and literally means 'instrument of thought'. Here you will find a suggested mantra to use during the week (from Louise Hay's 'Heal Your Body'). Just repeat it whenever you need a lift.
I relax completely for I know I am safe.
I trust Life and I trust myself.
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Ponderings - Resting
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 It has now been proven by sleep researchers that we, as part of the human species, are meant to have a mid-afternoon nap or resting break. It's built into our genetic makeup! Yippee! Proof! And a good excuse to rest! Through a wide range of studies from monitoring brain waves to keeping sleep diaries, all came to the same conclusion: there is a strong biological propensity to sleep in the middle of the afternoon, even if the person had a full nights rest. You can read the full New York Times article here. Dr. Matthew Edlund, a sleep specialist, suggests if you can't sleep just resting can be just as curative. The key is how you rest. It's not just plopping yourself down in front of the TV set. In fact he mentions four different kinds of rest: social, mental, physical, and spiritual. Resting socially is when you get together with family and friends for a visit. More recent studies have confirmed this link, proving that social support helps you survive a cancer diagnosis, fight off infectious illness and ease depression as well as reducing your risk of dying from heart attack.
The idea behind mental rest is to get so engrossed in something simple that the big stuff no longer bothers you. It seems that the brain needs to focus on just one thing to unwind. Doing this for even a short period has been shown to affect the nervous system, change blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature.
Physical resting is about actively using the body's processes, such as breathing, to calm body and mind. Another excellent form of physical rest is to nap (for 15 to 30 minutes) if you're feeling tired. A Greek study showed that a 30-minute nap at least three times a week cuts your risk of heart attack by 37 per cent, and a Nasa study found a nap of 26 minutes could improve work performance on some tasks by 38 per cent! Spiritual resting is meditating or praying. Brain scans have shown that people who meditate are able physically to expand parts of their brains, growing bigger frontal lobes - the part that controls concentration, attention, focus and where we do much of our analysis of problems.
Did you know there is even a National Napping Day? It's tomorrow, March 12th! What a great time to start incorporating a rest / break / nap into your daily routine. From now on I am giving resting a higher priority in my life. I'm scheduling time into my day - each day - to rest, whether it is watching nature out my window, lying on the floor for 5 minutes, taking a nap, sitting in meditation, visiting friends, or listening to a yoga nidra. I will pause in my day and rest. I hope I've convinced you to unwind for some downtime too. Here's some music to listen to while you are resting: The Most Relaxing Song Ever. The Boston Globe: How To Nap
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Take the time to relax, nap, and take a siesta. There are so many options of how to rest to not do so. It will enable you to keep yourself as healthy as you possibly can be! You'll also get more done with less stress when you are rested. Besides who doesn't want to have a justification to relax?
Thank you and Namaste,
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The two workshops for April are:
Yoga Nidra
Sunday, April 7th
1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
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Healthy Joints Workshop: Shoulders
Saturday, April 13th
1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
You can register at 410-720-4340 or online at www.columbiayoga.com
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