KonaYoga.com

Make It Easy on Yourself

Here are just a few suggestions to start clearing the air around you. We can start with what we have control over, our homes.

1. Survey Your Indoor Air Quality - at home.

2. Green Basics: Indoor Air Pollution.

3. Consider the food you eat and possible allergans.

4. Say "NO" to stress. Aside from physical stress, such as those mentioned above, emotional stress is toxic too.

5. Finally, from Abraham-Hicks: "DEEP BREATHING IS A BIG PART OF YOUR WELL-BEING, It is the current that carries the vitality to the cells. And so, the more you are breathing, the more you are thriving. Fortunately, it’s not left to your conscious mind to prompt you to breathe. It just happens. But you can prompt yourself to breathe more."

Cartoon: Savage Chickens

How to Breathe Efficiently

  If you've been attending yoga classes for a while, you're quite accustomed to hearing the instructions to breathe through your nose as you inhale and exhale.

Aside from the obvious reasons of allowing the nasal hairs to filter out particles in the air and to regulate air temperature before it enters your lungs, it appears that our bodies produce a gas in the sinus cavities that increases our breathing efficiency. The gas, Nitric Oxide (NO) is drawn into our lungs when we inhale and it relaxes the blood vessels in our lungs. The blood vessels in the alveoli are expanded and more oxygen is absorbed by the blood.

There's a 10-15% greater volume of NO absorbed by the lungs when we breathe through our noses. That's it, just breathe through your nose as you inhale and exhale.

It helps to be in a comfortable position,  laying on your back with your arms out to the side to expand your chest. Raise your upper body slightly by lying on a folded blanket or bolster so that your belly is slightly lower than your diaphragm, and your chin a little lower than your forehead. Close your eyes and start by simply noticing the air as it passes through your nose when you inhale and exhale. As you being to relax, allow your breaths to lengthen, just a little with each breath.

If you're not able to find a yoga class that teaches the basics of breathing in a comfortable and relaxed manner, you might be interested in a simple device called the Resperate, which will teach you to breathe slower and deeper. There is a side effect though, it has been proven to lower blood pressure.

Illustration: Adam.com

Resources: (1)Eddie Weitzberg, M.D., Ph.D., Breathe Through the Nose, Bindu Magazine, Number 13.

The Benefits of Deep Breathing

Let's start this with a bit of introduction to the way I try to present health related information. Years of surfing (the web) have helped to develop my trust in certain sources. I agree with this CNN health article offering "Tips for Savvy Medical Web Surfing" and tend to steer clear of all the latest wonder drug and herb websites.

"Scientific" research can be slanted to the benefit of the funding source or researcher, to the same degree as the latest and hottest diet guru's claims. We're aiming for self-responsibility here, so if what you read sounds true for you, consider it and try it. If not, sigh (but with a deep exhalation) and know that I meant well. :D

THE BENEFITS OF DEEP BREATHING:

1. Promotes Relaxation. Taking deep and slow breaths, is the quickest way to trigger your parasympathetic nervous system into the relaxation response.When we're stressed or frightened, our breathing is shallow and rapid (among other physical responses) and we're ready to fight or flee. When the stressor is gone, we breathe a sigh of relief and the brain receives signals that say, "All is well".

2. Eliminates Toxins. Your lymphatic system relies on body movement to flush out cellular waste and toxins. The action of your diaphragm in deep breathing massages your inner organs and stimulates lymphatic flow, much like the way your heart pumps blood through your body.

3. Improves mental clarity and relieves the effects of depression and anxiety. Much in the same way that it promotes relaxation.

4. Burns Fat. When you exercise, too fast or too slow, your body doesn't receive enough oxygen and burns glycogen rather than fat. Deep breathing strengthens your cardiovascular system so that you're able to exercise aerobically, and efficiently burn fat.

Illustration: USC Health Magazine

Resources: (1) Marcelle Pick, Deep Breathing - the Truly Essential Exercise, Women to Women. (2) Renew-You.com, Fitness Habits - Nurturing Ourselves Through Movement.

Inhale, Exhale.

Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.
~Chinese Proverb                                                               

Can something as simple as the act of breathing change your demeanor? Try taking a series of quick and shallow breaths through your mouth. How does that make you feel? Now take a full exhalation, let your shoulders drop and take a few deep but gentle breaths, through your nose. How does that make you feel?

An increase in carbon dioxide may induce negative emotions (1) by triggering an inborn stress response. If we were suffocating then yes, it would be important for our bodies to respond with the fight or flight reflex. How bizarre to think that we could induce that same response just by the quality of our breath!

We discussed the importance of relaxation during childbirth in Friday's Prenatal Yoga class and the role of pranayama in learning to relax. The expectant mothers are learning to control their breathing and relaxing during exertion. It's a practice that's beneficial for all human bodies.

In times of pain and mental stress, slow deep breaths can bring instant relief, lower your heart rate and blood pressure. We come into this life with an inhalation and leave with an exhalation. Paying attention to the quality of those breaths in between the first and the last, makes all the difference.

(1) Griez EJ, Colasanti A, van Diest R, Salamon E, Schruers K (2007) Carbon Dioxide Inhalation Induces Dose- Dependent and Age-Related Negative Affectivity. PLoS ONE 2(10): e987. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000987

Photo: AK Travelers

Travel Lag

Through travel I first became aware of the outside world; it was through travel that I found my own introspective way into becoming a part of it.
-Eudora Welty

I am six hours away from my usual self. I left Kona on Thursday and flew to Honolulu, then to Dallas, then to Pittsburgh late Friday afternoon and on to Morgantown, West Virginia, by car. My luggage arrived safely but my face took thirty-six hours to land. My eyes will be blood shot for another twelve hours, if I'm lucky.

That's all the whining I will do because I did land safely, three times! I haven't changed the time on my clocks, mechanical and biological, and usually am affected by the changing time zones and altitudes when I return to Hawaii (October 12). There's too much to see and absorb while I'm away from my usual self so I send these links ahead:

Jet Lag Calculator
Your Body Clock

Photo: Tom Magliery

Mindful Eating

Last week Saturday, Nora Bow bought this tray of wheatgrass at the Keauhou Farmers' Market for about fifteen dollars. She snips a handful at a time to juice and the grass keeps growing.

Nora just bought herself a Green Star Juicer and quickly learned all the nuances of its twin gear set-up. Here, she's showing me where to look for the extracted juice.

Like me, Nora finds wheatgrass juice a bit harsh to drink neat, so she's going to add some mango,apples, limes and starfruit. All of them grown locally except for the apples.

Once all of the wheatgrass and fruits have been juiced, what comes out of the juicer is a roll of pulp which Nora adds to her compost pile.

After downing our shots of chlorophyll, vitamins and minerals (with just a hint of 'foul grass'), Nora took me outside to see her favorite way to Eat Local: her container garden. Nora and her husband Jeff, live at The Pines in Kailua-Kona so they don't have a lot of outdoor space or soil. Container gardening solved that.

Nora's second choice for procuring local products is to trade her homegrown veggies and herbs with friends for such things as avocados, papayas and lychee. Then she ventures out to the Farmers' Markets in Keauhou and Waimea. What she isn't able to stock up through these channels, she'll get at the local health food stores.

Nora's an inspiration for all of us who aspire to eat local, eat neat, and eat organic. Her diet is comprised of about 90% raw foods yet she cooks for her husband who is not a vegan or vegetarian and she grows her own food within a limited space. Proof of the old maxim: Where there's a will, there's a way!

When We Remember

"Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not its twin."
-- Barbara Kingsolver

The truth is that there have been wars that have taken the lives of thousands. The recollection of the events or the memory of the lives that were lost, remain specific to us as individuals.

Click to play "Taps", and I leave you with the space and time to reflect, this Memorial Day.

Photo: From the Heart Postcards

It's in Your Hands.

You can't shake hands with a clenched fist.
-Indira Gandhi

A friend and I were talking a few days ago about forming the habit of feeling good. I can best relate it to the practice of sitting up straight. If I am not vigilant when I sit in front of the computer, gravity reels me in and at some point I just don't feel good and notice that my spine has begun to slouch. As soon as I sit upright again, all is well. It's a habit that I've acquired, thanks to yoga.

During the last few years, I've come to realize that maintaining a state of joy and happiness also requires a diligent practice. If I am not vigilant, I easily slouch and succumb to the emotions and energies of those near to me, yet I have so much more to offer when I am upright and happy. I'm learning that my emotional posture is my primary concern.

It seems absurd that anyone could find comfort and familiarity in arguing or delight in depreciating another person. It must be an acquired habit, just like slouching. As Abraham-Hicks observes:

"We have a fun way of looking at it: Let's say you have a piece of very fine sandpaper, and you rub it with your fingers. It is so fine that at first, it feels almost like velvet. So you rub it a little more, and a little more, and a little more...

In the beginning, there is no detriment to this experience. But the longer you rub it, the more unpleasant it becomes. Your skin is beginning to feel some sensitivity--and after an hour or two, maybe even some beginnings of blisters. Yet sometimes, that sandpaper is really the only thing visible in the room. And even though the experience is not very pleasant, you've got this habit going.

Then, all of a sudden, you realize "Hey, I don't have to do this!" and you simply lift your fingers up off the sandpaper!

This is a deliberate intent to remove yourself from this irritation. The sensation of lifting up is wonderful. As you lift off, it almost feels like spider webs pulling from your fingers. We want you to begin reaching for that ensuing sense of relief.

You've had your eye on this sandpaper. It seemed justified, it seemed important. People talked to you about it, there's evidence of it in your life, and everything seems to be somehow about sandpaper. But in reality, there is it, and there is the absence of it, and you do have a choice of whether or not to lift your fingers--your thoughts, that is--off of what is evoking this unpleasant experience.

Begin to take pleasure in feeling relief from it."

Handshakes are believed to have originated as a gesture of proof that the hand held no weapon. So the next time you bring your hands together in namaskar , come in peace and give thanks to all of the habits you now engage in that lift you. As your hands press open to each other, feel the relief of knowing that your happiness lies in your hands.

Photo: CDRP

Courage

“Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.”
-Maya Angelou

A few days ago, a woman who regularly attends yoga classes remarked that something we did in a restorative class made her back feel better than ever. We talked about some of the possibilities, as I have had to be a bit more creative with the filled-to-the-brim Wednesday class. We often run out of props during restorative sessions so I now have half the class doing another pose as I try to keep transitions smooth,as well as beneficial.

While I believe that an exercise taken from the Egoscue method was responsible for her impressive relief, I had to credit this woman for her diligent practice and class attendance. Her faith and courage keeps her coming back, class after class.

The pose may not have been as effective for her a year or two ago, but practice and a willingness to progress laid the foundation. Then she said, "It takes time, but everything gets better and better as you go along!"

That must be the measure of a good habit or discipline: everything gets better and better. Psychologists, the positive ones, are finding that self-regulation can actually be strengthened like muscles. Self- regulation in one habit also tends to infect other areas of your life.

Back to one of my favorite mantras: It's not what you do once in a while that makes a difference, it's what you do over and over again.

Artwork: "Courage" by Julie Paschkis

Tend and Befriend

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born..
-Anais Nin

I received an e-mail message this week regarding the differences in the way stress is physiologically handled by males and females. It appears that 90% of stress research has been done on males, and the "fight or flight" response that has been reported in stress studies is overridden by a "tend and befriend" response in women.

Oxytocin , a hormone that is secreted by the posterior pituitary gland, helps mammals bond. "...It seems that when the hormone oxytocin is released as part of the stress responses in a woman, it buffers the fight or flight response and encourages her to tend children and gather with other women instead. When she actually engages in this tending or befriending, studies suggest that more oxytocin is released, which further counters stress and produces a calming effect. This calming response does not occur in men, says Dr. Klein, because testosterone---which men produce in high levels when they're under stress---seems to reduce the effects of oxytocin. Estrogen, she adds, seems to enhance it."(1)

Hormones have been blamed for a host of human issues but like everything else that we've been hardwired with, they serve a purpose. Our differences, all genders considered, should be celebrated rather than equalized. The causes of stress in our lives might be what we should focus on, rather than our differences.

If we follow our natural inclinations, I think we stand a better chance at being healthy and happy as individuals and as a species.

Science may find a reason why we should spend pleasurable time with other humans, we just need to make the time.

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Which Is Your See-Saw Balance? In which part of your life do you feel it is most important for you to have balance - and then after that, other things fall into place?

(1) UCLA Study On Friendship Among Women.

Tips to Keep Friendships Strong.

Photo: Pictured (left to right): Friends Joy Patee, Krista Anderson and Alissa Breatchel at a '60's theme party this past August. Joy and Alissa have since given birth and Krista is now 6 months pregnant.