health

by Nina Reclining Nude, back by Henri Matisse A recent New Times article Scoliosis Can Hit Well Past Adolescence by Jane Brody confirmed something I have been observing in the yoga community: late-onset scoliosis is quite common in older people. I developed the problem myself in my fifties, so I�m quite aware of the condition, and I�ve noticed a large number of other older yoga practitioners with the same problem. Here�s what Jane Brody said about this: "Although scoliosis is generally thought of as a problem of adolescents, who often require bracing or surgery to correct the curvature, the condition is actually far more prevalent in older adults. In a study by orthopedists at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn of 75 healthy volunteers older than age 60, fully 68 percent had spinal deformities that met the definition of scoliosis: a curvature deviating from the vertical by more than 10 degrees. " Even a mild version of scoliosis can result in chronic pain of different typ...

by Nina Sun Behind Clouds by Melina Meza One of the worst fears I think we all share about getting older is of developing dementia. Just recently I had a long phone conversation with a woman who is trying to deal with a mother in the early stages of Alzheimer�s Disease, and it was just so sad. I had some advice for her, but no solutions, of course. Then I heard a news piece on NPR �Brains Sweep Themselves Clean of Toxins During Sleep�   that gave me  glimmer of hope. For a very long time, scientists have been trying to figure out the purpose of sleep. Now, a recent study � Sleep Drives Metabolite Clearance from the Adult Brain �  by University of Rochester researchers that was published in Science Magazine proposed a fascinating new theory about sleep. The researchers discovered that while you are asleep, your brain clears out harmful toxins! During sleep there is a dramatic increase in  flow of cerebrospinal fluid in your brain, and this washes away the toxic waste ...

by Baxter Hours of Operation by Melina Meza This past August I was back in Ocean Springs, Mississippi at River Rock Yoga , leading a weekend workshop. One of the students, who has been a regular in class with me there over the years, brought in a few pointed questions for me that he hoped I could address on YFHA. He has been a regular reader since we started, and practices yoga on his own as well as attending classes regularly. In his search for the perfect home practice, he was very curious if I thought that there was a recommended minimum time for a home practice, realizing that some yoga is better than none! In his own attempt to answer the question, he cited an April, 2013 article in an issue of Prevention Magazine which claimed, referring to a study done in postmenopausal women, that 42 minutes of vigorous exercise over 3 days (that means 14 minutes a day) maintains telomeres. As regular readers of this blog will know, telomeres are little �caps� or tails on the end of DNA stands...

by Ram   In a Tunnel by Melina Meza "Deafness separates us from people" �Helen Keller In my last post Pratyahara and Healthy Aging , I introduced the topic of pratyahara and defined the term as �Using our our senses with total/complete awareness.� It is through the five senses that we bring in impressions into our mind and body thereby absorbing the world around us. Thus, we are what we eat, smell, see, hear and touch. Since our five senses serve as portals or gateways into our body, mind and consciousness, it becomes very important to be aware of what we are drawing in through the five senses. If we absorb harmonious impressions, we will in turn be healthier. If we take in that which is unhealthy, the mind and body suffer. Thus, physical and mental instability can arise if we bring on low-quality sensory impressions. The sense of sound is perceived by the ears and through these sense organs we bring in the sounds of the environment. Sounds can have profound effects on our ph...

Q: Nina�how bout yoga for a sprained ankle...got some ideas? A: Why, yes, thank you so much for asking! Last year Baxter did a three-part series on the ankle that is worth revisiting or visiting for the first time if you�ve never read these posts. So check out Getting to Know Your Ankles , Ankle Sprains , and Recovering from Ankle Injuries . In part 2, Baxter says that a typical recommendation from your doc is to elevate your foot and leg above the level of your heart, and because there are lots of yoga poses that are done lying on your back with the legs elevated, these poses could assist in the healing process. So in the acute phase of injury, try supported inverted poses such as Legs Up the Wall pose , Chair Shoulderstand , and Easy Inverted pose . See All About Supported Inversions for some other possibilities, and links to instructions for them. Naturally, while you are recovering and need to keep the weight off your ankle, you will need to avoid standing poses. But there are...

by Nina Just a quick announcement today about some research findings I think you�ll all enjoy learning about. Baxter and I read about a recent study , designed by Maria G. Araneta, PhD, MPH, of the University of California, San Diego, to determine whether obese women lose fat from less intense exercise instead of aerobic activity. Although not a huge study, the groups were larger than most of those we see in recent studies, with the yoga group of 88 having a mean age of 55 years with an average BMI of 36 kg/m2 and the stretch group of 83 having a mean age of 54 years with an average BMI of 32.5 kg/m2. Along with her co-authors Matthew A. Allison, MD, MPH, Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, MD, and Alka M. Kanaya, MD, Dr. Araneta presented the results at the 73rd Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in Chicago (June 21-25). And the results showed that the practitioners of restorative yoga lost significantly more subcutaneous fat over the initial six months of the study. They ...

by Timothy Mountain, Sky, Clouds by Melina Meza In my last post Pranayama for Everyone: Bhramari Breath I wrote about the importance of pranayama (yogic breathing practices) and introduced one of my favorites, Bhramari, the buzzing bee breath. Today, I'm going to tackle the pranayama I consider the most important: alternate nostril breathing (Nadi Shodhana or Anuloma Viloma). It turns out that almost all of us breathe primarily through one nostril for parts of the day, and then switch to breathing primarily through the other nostril at other times. The ancient yogis knew wrote about this and modern science has confirmed it (see p. 62 of my book Yoga as Medicine for details). Research has confirmed that breathing through the right nostril is linked to the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), whereas left nostril breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system. This is pretty much exactly what's described in ancient yogic texts, albeit using metaphoric language. The left cha...

by Baxter Ball and Wire, by Melina Meza I got this inquiry recently, and again was surprised to find that I have not written about asthma in any detail, as it is a very common condition and one that many of my students present to class with. Here�s what one of our readers asked: �What advice do you have for those with mild asthma that does not interfere with daily activities? Do you have any suggestions on what to do to strengthen the lungs/ bronchial/breath? Any warnings?� As always, it�s good to start off with defining what asthma is, so we are all on the same page. According to the folks at the Mayo Clinic website, asthma is � a condition in which your airways narrow and swell and produce extra mucus. This can make breathing difficult and trigger coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath.� There are different degrees to which people will experience bouts of asthma flares or �attacks�, from very mild asthma, which our reader is interested in, to those with frequent bouts of asth...

by Nina Trees in the Ocean by Brad Gibson Today in my weekly yoga class, my teacher asked me to demonstrate a pose�Marichyasana 2�that I used to be able to do. But because the arthritis in my right hip prevents me from taking Half Lotus position (which I used to do with ease), I had to turn him down. It got me thinking. Naturally, not being able to get into Half Lotus on one side also means that Full Lotus is also unavailable to me. Even if one day I get a hip replacement (I�m hoping that won�t be necessary because so far I�m not getting any worse, thanks in part to yoga), I still won�t be able to do Lotus. So, well, that�s it for me, folks!  As some of you may know by now, I�ve been working on non-holding (see Non-Holdiing (Aparigrapha) ) by getting rid of objects that I have no use for but to which I have an emotional attachment. So I decided today that I should just let go of Lotus pose (and all its variations, such as, Arda Padma Paschimottansana) in the same spirit. And I said...

Lady Bug and Flower by Melina Meza Q: I started taking yoga classes 6 months ago at my gym, and no longer work out with weights (after 10 years!). I feel the instructor has a spiritual side but also leaves me feeling, dare I say, like I've had a workout. I would like to transition to a regular yoga studio, but how to choose the one that would work for me? I'm strong, but I have to consider that I'm 61 years old. I used to like vigorous exercise but it leaves me feeling wiped out instead of invigorated. A: Unfortunately there is no easy answer to this question. In a way, finding the right yoga class might be like finding a house to buy. You can do all the research you like, looking at photos and inspection reports, but in the end, you need to go see it (maybe even more than once) to determine whether it is the right house for you. But it really is worth taking your time to find the right yoga class for you. Not only will you have a better experience with the right class, the...

by Nina It�s no secret that I�m a huge fan of supported inverted yoga poses. I starting raving about them in the early days of Yoga for Healthy Aging in my post Just In Time for the Holidays: Inverted Poses , going on and on about how these poses are so beneficial for stress management (and also for circulation). Later on, I wrote in detail about why�from a scientific perspective�these posts are so effective at reducing stress in my post Why You Should Love Your Baroreceptors . But if you�re newer to yoga or can�t do the classic inverted poses, Headstand and Shoulderstand (or just can�t get comfortable in them), you might be wondering: how does all this apply to you? Well, I�m here today to assure you that with certain exceptions due to medical conditions (see Cautions for Inversions ), everyone can do at least some of the supported inverted yoga poses. That�s because in yoga an inverted pose is any pose where your heart is higher than your head. So in addition to �full� inversions suc...