Healthy Snacking

Working long hours can make it difficult to maintain healthy eating habits. Come 3 p.m., that candy dish at the front desk can be mighty tempting if you're feeling stressed and unfocused. To stick with a healthy diet, and to avoid the blood-sugar highs and crashes that come with impulsive snacking, plan ahead. Pack a nutritious lunch that includes a good mix of protein, carbohydrates, and fat, opting as much as possible for fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains. And keep a variety of healthy snacks on hand to keep your energy stable and cravings at bay.

Add these healthy options to your grocery shopping list: raw or roasted nuts and seeds; fresh and dried fruits and vegetables; granola and energy bars made with whole foods and no added sugars; whole grain hot and cold cereals; dairy, soy, or coconut yogurt; whole grain crackers; nut butters and hummus.

Also, don't forget the importance of drinking plenty of water. Sometimes we can mistake dehydration for hunger. Sometimes when I am hungry and feeling the need to snack I will drink a glass of water and wait about 15 minutes to see if I truly feel hungry. Our culture has us waking up to coffee and caffeinated beverages that dehydrate us. Try waking up to a glass of warm water to flush out the kidneys and hydrate you for your day!

Cyber Eyes

Yoga Journal - Yoga Holistic Healing - Cyber Eyes

This is a great article on how to help tired eyes if you stare at a computer for many hours a day. Another suggestiion to awaken tired eyes is to rub your hands together briskly for about 15 seconds and then cup your palms over your eyes and breathe deeply. The energy from your hands can revive tired eyes. I also like to take frequent breaks from computers and other electronic devices and close my eyes and breathe. I try to take out the visual stimulation and notice how I am feeling. We rely so much on our sight that it can be interesting to try to "feel" what is going on in your body instead of relying on what you see! My favorite pose for this is guha or hidden pose. You can check that pose out by looking under the "poses of the week".

Cyber Eyes

Yoga Journal - Yoga Holistic Healing - Cyber Eyes

This is a great article on how to help tired eyes if you stare at a computer for many hours a day. Another suggestiion to awaken tired eyes is to rub your hands together briskly for about 15 seconds and then cup your palms over your eyes and breathe deeply. The energy from your hands can revive tired eyes. I also like to take frequent breaks from computers and other electronic devices and st close my eyes and breathe. I try to take out the visual stimulation and notice how I am feeling. We rely so much on our sight that it can be interesting to try to "feel" what is going on in your body instead of relying on what you see!

Guest House poem from class

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Rumi

NY Times:Yoga Can Wreck Your Health.(Here Are 7 Ways To Avoid It)

NY Times: Yoga Can Wreck Your Health.” (Here Are 7 Ways To Avoid It)


Here is a follow up article to the one I posted before from the new York times. I think he makes some valid points. The first is that the ego does not belong on the mat..stay with your level and respect your body. The second is that yoga does not have to be only asana...we can meditate and breathe and that can also be yoga. While I like a more vigorous yoga practice I do often find depth and healing by slowing down and actually letting the poses sink in. I find that I tend to listen to my body more when I am not rushing through the poses. Then there are days that I need a tough practice to slow down my mind. What I take away from both of the recent articles is that the term "yoga" can mean many things to many different people. As long as your yoga benefits you and that you perform it consciously...what does it matter what others think?

Coffee! The Good, the Bad, and the Ayurvedic Perspective.

Coffee! The Good, the Bad, and the Ayurvedic Perspective.
This is an interesting article on the pros and cons of America's favorite drink...coffee!! See what you think. My opinion...I have my one cup of good coffee 3to 5 days a week because it tastes amazing in my French press. Otherwise for me it is chai or green tea!

Yoga Journal Office Yoga - Stress relief you can do at your desk. Day 1

Yoga Journal Office Yoga - Stress relief you can do at your desk. Day 1

This is a great way energize your body when you are feeling tired and sluggish. Arm raises allow you to open your chest allowing more oxygen into your body. You can watch the video for a demo.

There is also a tip here for creating more core stregnth simply by sitting on the floor for a few minutes a day. Maybe use this time for some deep breathing or meditation. This is a great way to center yourself when you are feeling stressed.
Enjoy!

Office Yoga

Do you have a desk job that requires you to sit for a large portion of your work day? Do you travel in airplanes many of your days? Most of us answer "yes". Even if you do not have park yourself in a chair all day most of us spend a considerable amount of time in front of a computer during some part of our day..ok or an ipad or smart phone. :) Recently, I taught a workshop on office yoga. Not all of us can fit a yoga class into our busy days but what we can do is squeeze in some simple yet effective yoga poses to counteract the stiffness and poor posture that can come from all that sitting on your rump. You don't have to have an hour to get some yoga into your day..just a few minutes! Click on the link to the article and sign up for a free 3 week "Office Yoga" newsletter from Yoga Journal and get some stress busting ideas for your workday. You will also receive some ideas on some poses that you can do from your desk all with instructional videos.

I will upload my work yoga handouts as well on another post!

Yoga Retreat 2012 Update

There are still some spaces in my May 2012 Tulum Yoga Retreat! We will have an amazing environment, fantastic company (based on who is going), delicious healthy food and to top it all off..yoga! If you are thinking that a warm vacation is on your list of New Year's resolutions then come join me. Feel fee to email me with questions! The "bring a friend" discount is still available too. :)

The retreat that I attended in Tulum last Novemeber forever changed my life. It gave me for the first time in a long time a true break from my life so that I could pause and reflect. I came away rejuventated and recharged and ready to re-enter my busy life. It forced me to recognize that need to escape every so often and to give myself the gift of slowness and simpleness. What better way to do this than to incorporate my love for yoga! So, if you need a break or a chance to just stop and let your life sink in, then I think you will find that a yoga retreat can be the best medicine!

Hope to see you there!
For more information, click on "Events" and find the 2012 Tulum Retreat information.

Yoga at Work Workshop at Prana

Come join me at Prana this Friday at 6p for a "Workplace Yoga" workshop. We will explore poses you can do to help get you through your day..all from your desk! Click on the title of this article to see the Prana schedule of events for this weekend. This weekend Prana is hosting a wellness weekend. There are many workshops and all are free!!

Prana is a clothing store located on NW 23rd Ave on the corner of NW Irving. They sell womens's and men's casual and athletic clothing and accessories. They also offer free yoga classes! :)

Yoga Pose of the Month-Bhujangasana "Cobra" Pose

Cobra pose...one of my new favorite poses. It has taken on new meaning to me recently after really learning how to access the full potential of the pose and after hearing its symbology. Cobra pose is normally practiced alone as part of a backbend asana or in sun salutations as an option for upward facing dog. I used to hear my teachers say, "Updog or Cobra" during sun salutations and think.."Why would I do cobra...when updog is so expansive and strong looking?". Well, as it turns out cobra is actually a harder pose physically to perform. It takes a lot of balancing of muscle work between the core and the back and the releasing of the shoulders down and back so that the chest is free..all with the strong support of the arms to assist in the expansion. I sometimes found that in "Updog" I was just hanging out there and no doing much with my legs or my back. Yes, I was getting a chest opener but that was about it. I started substituting more cobras in for down dogs and I have found myself getting stronger...and besides yoga is not about looks..

Cobra pose is a reminder to ourselves to seek from within. Snakes do not have ears and so they sense motion and sounds by vibration. They are close to the earth so they "feel" it. Yes, they can see but they do not rely only on their sight. It is a great reminder to us to stop more and to feel what is going on inside us...not just how do things look? Sometimes we can get ourselves into a pose but does it feel therapeutic? Perhaps if we could turn off our vision and our ears and just listen and feel we would truly trust the inner wisdom we have.

Here are some tips on getting into cobra more effectively:
* Plant your hands beside your ribs (away from the crown of the head). Hands can be wider and do not have to be right beside the ribs if this causes you to force your shoulders towards your ears or if this limits the backbending potential.

* Firm up the legs! Press into the front of the feet and the legs. Cobra draws upon a strong base so keep your legs engaged in the pose! It also helps to think about pressing the outer seams of the legs away from you (without actually moving them away). Pretend someone was standing on the outside of your legs and you were pressing the outsides of your calves into their inner edges of their calves. This inwardly rotates the thighs which naturally causes you to have a backbend.

* Move the shoulders out of the way! Lift the shoulder blades up , draw them together (without slamming them together), and press them away from your ears. This will naturally open the chest.

*Engage the core! Draw your belly in and pull it back towards the spine to peel it away from the floor.

*Press into the hands and balance the arm strength and support with the legs and the core. Think synergy!

*Tuck your chin and lengthen the neck. Draw the front of the throat towards the back of the throat. This keeps tension from forming in the neck and shoulders.

* Keep re-adjusting. Press more into the legs and then lift more through the belly, draw the shoulders further down your back and breath in deeply. You do not have to be in the fullest extension of the pose in the first breath!

Benefits from the Pose:
*
•Strengthens the spine
•Stretches chest and lungs, shoulders, and abdomen
•Firms the buttocks
•Stimulates abdominal organs
•Helps relieve stress and fatigue
•Opens the heart and lungs
•Soothes sciatica
•Therapeutic for asthma
•Traditional texts say that Bhujangasana increases body heat, destroys disease, and awakens kundalini.

For beginners: Roll up a blanket so that it is triple rolled and long like a tube. Place this blanket horizontally between your hip bones and naval. This will give you a little boost so that you can feel the lift of the chest.

Harvard Declares Dairy NOT Part of Healthy Diet

Harvard Declares Dairy NOT Part of Healthy Diet
Michelle Schoffro Cook
January 8, 2012
2:30 pm

The Harvard School of Public Health sent a strong message to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and nutrition experts everywhere with the recent release of its “Healthy Eating Plate” food guide. The university was responding to the USDA’s new MyPlate guide for healthy eating, which replaced the outdated and misguided food pyramid.

Harvard’s nutrition experts did not pull punches, declaring that the university’s food guide was based on sound nutrition research and more importantly, not influenced by food industry lobbyists. The greatest evidence of its research focus is the absence of dairy products from the “Healthy Eating Plate” based on Harvard’s assessment that “…high intake can increase the risk of prostate cancer and possibly ovarian cancer.” The Harvard experts also referred to the high levels of saturated fat in most dairy products and suggested that collards, bok choy, fortified soy milk, and baked beans are safer choices than dairy for obtaining calcium, as are high quality supplements.

Kudos to Harvard for promoting greater consumption of vegetables and fruits, as well as healthier protein options such as fish, beans or nuts. And kudos to Harvard for ignoring the lobbyists and showing the USDA what healthy eating is all about.



Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/harvard-declares-dairy-not-part-of-healthy-diet.html#ixzz1j4U0dzvS

Is Yoga too risky?

Click on the title of this article to read a recent NY times article about yoga and injuries. I have heard more people talking about this article lately. I am not at all offended by the article and I think the author makes some valid points. We are all not meant to do all the crazy poses that are encompassed in "yoga". It my opinion yoga is the most powerful and amazing medicine for your body but I use the term yoga loosely. Yoga for me is not just the "workout" but yet the discipline, the wisdom, the energetic medicine, the teachings and yes the physical movements. With that said, you must always approach any physical activity with a respect for your body. We are all not created and put together the same (thank God) and so our bodies do not always welcome the shapes we may wish to create with our bodies. We also must respect the fact that the majority of us sit all day and exercise is a small fraction of the time we are awake. So knowing this why do we think that with enough will we can contort our bodies to ridiculous shapes without any respect for the fact that our bodies may not support this? That is why yoga teaches to leave the ego at the door when you enter a yoga class. That is also why yoga teaches to tune into the body the entire class and to feel and assess what is going on. We have to show "non-violence" to our bodies when they tell us "enough" and or "this is not intense this is painful". It is easy to get swept up in the moment and to just "endure" it because our goals are held so sacred and besides who wants to be a yoga wimp in front of the class?...who wants to modify when it would appear to look more sophisticated to contort and force our body to look like the slender bendy girl in the front row? Power yoga is the restraint to hold the power of our bodies wisdom over the egos grasp. It is hard but it is the only way our yoga will be therapy for us and not a pre-requisite for an ER visit.

The teacher I now study with, Lisa Mae Osborn really teaches us to think about our classes and the people in them and to teach poses that help the "general" public. There are some favorite poses of mine that I just will not teach anymore because I do not feel that the benefits to the few outweighs the risk to the many. I realize though that I cannot injury proof my classes to 100%. I just hope to educate my students on how to listen to what the true voice of their bodies are saying and to respect this amazing temple that we are given so that we can enjoy life.

Interesting information on Headaches

What You Need to Know If You Get Headaches

By Dr. Peter Borten, LAc, DAOM, Acupuncturist and Herbalist at The Dragontree Spa and Creator of Imbue Pain Relief Patch

A young man once came to see me for treatment of severe, nearly constant headaches that were ruining his life. He had been having them for about a year. I noticed something about his posture while we were talking. His head came too far forward of his shoulders. If you can imagine what you might do if you were working on a computer and craned your head forward to see something in small print on the screen – this was the resting position of his head. It was subtle. But I know to look for it, especially since I have some tendency to do this myself. In my case, I think it started from playing saxophone while growing up. I spent eight years bringing my head forward to get my mouth on the mouthpiece of the instrument.

Though I didn’t actually expect him to say yes, for some reason I found myself saying, “You don’t happen to play the saxophone by any chance, do you?”

“What? Yes!” he responded. “How did you know that?!”

I was probably almost as surprised as he was. This seemed to make me instantly credible – and seemingly in possession of some psychic abilities – so I don’t think he believed me when I said, “Wild guess.”

After doing the usual tests, I proceeded to examine his neck and his upper back. I found the muscles to be quite tight and full of active trigger points. Without doing any other treatment, I put about twenty acupuncture needles directly into these tight muscles, primarily along the inside edges of the shoulder blades (that is, between the shoulder blades and the spine, right up against the shoulder blade), and I let him lie there under a heat lamp for about 45 minutes.

That one treatment was all it took to end the cycle of headaches. He called me some months later and said he had meant to come back, but since he no longer had headaches, he wasn’t sure if it made any sense. I told him to save his money.

I never tell people to expect results like this. Some types of pain are exceedingly stubborn. But this kind of miraculous healing happens often enough that I’m no longer surprised by it. I can take some of the credit, since I happened to be the guy who delivered the treatment, but it’s mostly just a matter of paying attention and knowing what to look and feel for.

While headaches can be a symptom of a huge range of problems, from brain tumors to chemical exposure to dehydration, this was nothing more than a tension headache. And tension headaches always involve myofascial trigger points – hyperirritable lumps in strained, tight muscles. Most of the time, they can be neutralized quite readily with the right kind of acupuncture or massage. Afterwards, I nearly always follow the treatment with application with one of my Imbue patches. Sometimes, if I don’t have time for a treatment, I’ll just give a patient some of the patches, and frequently they report that the pain went away even without any other treatment.

I also tell them to drink about half the number of pounds they weigh as ounces of water (for instance, a 120 pound person would drink 60 ounces of water), spread out over the whole day. Plus, I give them a lacrosse ball and tell them to do their own maintenance by lying on the floor with knees bent, placing the ball under the back at the most tender area, and then waiting and relaxing. Then, the ball is moved to another tender spot, and so on, until the whole area feels better. Often, fifteen minutes of work with a ball can stop a tension headache. You can read more about this in the head pain section of the Pain Expert tool I created for the Imbue website: www.imbuebody.com

So, while I encourage anyone with severe or unusual headaches to see your medical provider, it’s always worthwhile to also check out the muscles of the back of your neck and your upper back. Our activities revolve so much around our heads and upper limbs, this area is just particularly prone to getting cranky.

One more thing. If you spend a lot of time sitting in a chair at a table or desk, using a computer or doing some other work with your hands, not only are your neck and upper back likely strained, it’s also probable that your shoulders are rounded forward much of the time. This is especially true if you use a laptop, because the narrow keyboard makes you bring your hands close together. Over time, this can promote shortening of the chest muscles – the pectorals. That is, the distance between the shoulders and the breastbone (sternum) becomes shorter than is healthy. If your chest is compressed this way, then your shoulder blades are going to be spread wider in the back than is natural, which perpetuates strain of the upper back muscles. Therefore, in order to release the upper back muscles in a sustainable way, you often must pay attention to your posture, keeping your shoulders back and your chest open. Chest-opening stretches, acupuncture and massage of the chest will help, too.

Be well,

Dr. Peter Borten

Protect Your Breasts.

Protect Your Breasts.

An interesting article by John Douillard, a leading Ayurvedic physican, on the importance of iodine and iodide in women's diets.

Take the 21 day Yoga Challenge!

Yoga Journal will start a 21 day Yoga Challenge on January 9th. There will be daily video for a yoga practice and a newsletter with recipes and wellness information as well as a weekly meditation. All for free! Just sign up and pick a track: beginner or intermediate. You can also set and track goals. What a great way to start off the new year with a habit worth keeping!

If you do not have time for this program then try doing one pose a day for the 21 days or 3 Sun Salutations per day...the goal can be achievable but yet small. Any dose of yoga is worth your time. I will also be sharing any really cool tips or information that I learn on my blog.

Happy New Year and may it be a year filled with more yoga!

Gentle Flow

Take a look at this nice flow for some revitalizing when you want a guided tour!Just click on the title.

Balancing Yoga Practice

Overall_Balancing
1

Anjaneyasana
Low Lunge

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2

Virabhadrasana III
Warrior III Pose

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3

Virabhadrasana I
Warrior I Pose

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4

Virabhadrasana II
Warrior II Pose

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5

Utthita Parsvakonasana
Extended Side Angle Pose

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6

Utthita Trikonasana
Extended Triangle Pose

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7

Prasarita Padottanasana
Wide-Legged Forward Bend

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8

Malasana
Garland Pose

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9

Paripurna Navasana
Full Boat Pose

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10

Ustrasana
Camel Pose

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11

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana
Bridge Pose-with block between knees

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12

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana
Bridge Pose-without block with option for Wheel Pose

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13

Uttana Shishosana
Extended Puppy Pose

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14

Ardha Matsyendrasana
Half Lord of the Fishes Pose

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15

Bharadvajasana I
Bharadvaja's Twist

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16

Eka Pada Rajakapotasana
One-Legged King Pigeon Pose

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17

Baddha Konasana
Bound Angle Pose

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18

Janu Sirsasana
Head-to-Knee Forward Bend

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19

Upavistha Konasana
Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend

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20

Halasana
Plow Pose-Hold for 15 breaths

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This is a great morning routine to do if you need a boost of energy and want to get your enenrgy flowing for the day. Start with some pranayama like alternate nostril breathing for about 3-5 rounds and then start the asana sequence. Hold each pose for about 5 breaths at least. If you are unsure about any of the poses you can go to www.yogajournal.com/poses and you can search for the pose description. I can also email you a word document of this sequence!
Enjoy!