Tag Archives: Yoga

Simply Walking, Good for the Mind

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mobilaserA recent article in the Orlando Sentinel focused on Dr. Jay Van Gerpen, a neurologist who specializes in gait.  He’s working with Parkinson’s patients on a study to help them stay on their feet and retain brain health.  Van Gerpen uses a simple tool, a laser device attached to walkers or canes that shoots a red laser beam in front of the person walking.

The theory is that visual cues can help Parkinson’s patients walk without freezing.  A telling sign of Parkinson’s is when gait and movement become imbalanced or halting. When patients focus on stepping over the line, they access the visual part of the brain, which bypasses the motor output area that isn’t working.

The old saying “there are many ways to skin a cat, ” proves true.  The laser provides a work-around.  The end result, a higher level of functionality.  One user stated; “When I wasn’t able to move as much, I noticed my brain was much worse,” Puckett said. “With the laser I can move, get around, and am definitely able to concentrate better.”

Now, regular readers will know I invariably tie these kind of news articles into the practice of Yoga.  Yep, here it is: when we practice moving from one posture into another, we are challenging the neural pathways, as well as stretching our tendons and joints, and maintaining muscle strength and tone.  We work with balance and we move with both symmetry and asymmetry.  As Jason Wallis, owner of Fitness Over Fifty says, “It’s good to keep the body guessing.”

So, as our society has become increasingly sedentary it’s important to remember; simple activity, like walking, is a great offense to maintain health and functional fitness.  Exercise improves or maintains circulation, ie: blood flow, which helps keep our tissues healthy, and keeps our systems active, challenged and in use.  In this example, we use an external tool (the laser) to maintain health when one part of system stops working properly.  Ingenious, really.

The Orlando Sentinel’s Marni Jameson has written several articles on Parkinson’s you can find a sub-category here.  The link to this article has many photos and a short video.  It’s informative and worth the time.

Everybody’s a Critic (of Yoga)

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In the last month or so, I’ve run across three separate articles dressed up as criticism of western presentations of yoga.  The trouble is, they come across being more narcissistic and envious of the “culture” they are supposedly now boycotting, and end up sounding resentful of fame and success rather than offering true criticism.

So here, with a grain of salt, I’m criticizing the critics.

better bunsOne article focused on the sensationalistic, commenting on the launching of a Yoga porn site, and Yoga for Better Buns to make his point of capitalism infringing upon this spiritual practice.  But then this very same poster is blogging at the HuffingtonPost.com and he is also an author of two books on Mindfulness and Meditation, both with a handy link to the Amazon Store right after his article.  And, by the way, he’s written many other articles in such a style.  If you didn’t already know, bloggers at the Huffington Post don’t get paid for their articles.  They do it for exposure.  Can he be any more of a shill?

Continue reading →

Yoga and Basketball

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I recently finished reading Tiger in a Lion’s Den, by former LSU men’s basketball coach Dale Brown. It’s kind of what you’d expect in reading a book by a coach. It certainly isn’t a literary masterpiece. But, I’m a hoops junkie, and I’ll read most books on basketball by successful coaches just to see what’s there.

Brown was an emotional leader, one who played by the rules and was an outspoken critic of the NCAA. I enjoyed his stories regarding coaching against basketball luminaries such as Bob Knight of Indiana and Joe B. Hall of Kentucky. The story I relate here had to do with UCLA coach John Wooden. Continue reading →

Write It Down

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Things happen for a reason. I’m more convinced of this than ever. A series of events align and it allows you to see from a different perspective. This happens whenever I venture north to Portland for a class with Chase Bossart. I’m there for a series on Asana Sequencing and a review of the Yoga Sutra, and a little nugget on meditation appears. Chase says, “If something comes up in the process of your meditation, write it down.” In other words, don’t stubbornly resist it.

I knew this. But why wasn’t I doing it?

At Kripalu, one of the concepts that was presented during our training was to “give permission.” Maybe I needed permission. So I sit down to my meditation the day after our weekend sessions, and I have no paper, no journal. So I write nothing down. My mind is addled, things come up, but I ignore them and press on.

I finish my meditation, and it was ok. But I realize I did not take advantage of that clarity. Thank the stars, Buddha, whomever… a process like this no longer drags out. The next day I have paper handy.

Wow. So much stuff is in my head.

There’s uncertainty in so many areas of my life right now.  But yet, little epiphanies arose out of meditation.  This time, I wrote them down. I have to say, though I seemed to stop many times, it did not affect my meditation. Time flew by and I was unburdened and more refreshed. And, beautifully so, I had a plan for one area of my life where I could bring some certainty. There was progress immediately.

I have had periods where I have meditated, each with different intentions. For some reason, I had meditated 45 days straight just prior to when the worst news of my life was revealed to me. I was amazingly stable. I meditated every day for a year. And more recently, with a workplace wellness challenge as an incentive, I meditated 31 days straight.  But, it dropped off again.

With all that is up in the air, I need my meditation to be regular.  This time, I will keep a journal nearby.

Enlighten Up!

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Enlighten UpEnlighten Up!
A Skeptic’s Journey into the World of Yoga
Directed by: Kate Churchill, 2008

My friend Dudley recommended this movie, and I finally got around to watching it. Enlighten Up! is a documentary that takes Nick, a reluctant yet curious individual at a crossroads in life, and immerses him in yoga to see what happens.

The movie follows him as he seeks out many famous teachers, takes classes from them (sometimes to gain an audience) and interviews them. There are predictable scenes of Nick in uncomfortable poses, and clips from yoga proponents; some sounding wise, some appearing surprisingly grumpy, while others just seem a bit too far off in left field to be taken seriously. Continue reading →

The Wisdom of Yoga

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The Wisdom of YogaThe Wisdom of Yoga
A Seeker’s Guide to Extraordinary Living
by Stephen Cope, Bantam Books, Inc., 2007

Yoga is the practice of experience.  This is often lost on the western mind.  We see Yoga as a physical exercise and don’t understand or perhaps fear the depth of what experience beyond intellect can teach us.

The Yoga Sutras are incredibly distilled.  Much like the Taoist advice from the Tao Te Ching, the Sutras can seem maddeningly simplistic or even contrary.  In short, I’m not sure the Yoga Sutras would have made any sense to me had I not had the experiences I had in the studio. Continue reading →

Jim Kallett and Bikram Yoga

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Jkallett posterim Kallett – Lecture
Friday, January 4, 2013
Corvallis, Oregon

Jim Kallett was invited to town by my local studio to offer a posture clinic.  He also gave a lecture the evening before.  As a Bikram Yoga aficionado of 8 plus years, I was interested in what he had to say and looking forward to the Q&A.

The talk started out as I would have expected; a biographical review of Bikram Choudhury, his youth, his training and the history behind the sequence and bringing it to America.  As one who has read his books, I knew much of this and was a little impatient at the pace.  However, not everyone is as geeky about Yoga as I am, and lineage is a major element of Yoga.

Continue reading →

Fight disease with balance

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Fighting Parkinson’s disease with exercise, balance: Not strictly Yoga, but certainly challenging and strengthening the mind/body in ways similar to Yoga.  And the story is local, Dr. Blatt is right here in Corvallis.  I don’t know Dr. Blatt personally, but I like his approach:

“It is time to challenge conventional expectations about what Parkinson’s disease and other neurological diseases are supposed to do to us.”  He is quite clear, however, that he used exercise and medicine to “maintain good physical function in spite of the disease.”

For more information you can check out his website and additional articles:

http://www.exerciseforparkinsons.com
Active healing: Exercise class serves Parkinson’s patients

Yoga and Tai Chi help with balance

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Yoga for MS patients:  Starting with traditional yoga and modifying it to take into the balance, muscle stiffness and fatigue that patients can face.

As you know, I’m a huge proponent of Yoga.  However, there are many modalities.  This study found Tai Chi can help Parkinson’s patients improve functional movement, walking and balance compared to resistance training and stretching.

Studio Roll Call

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This series, the same postures again and again, tends to attract those with some OCD type behaviors.  I’ll admit I’ve got some tics; I keep track of how many classes I’ve taken and I do like to check out studios when I travel.  I haven’t traveled much lately.  But here’s a list of where I’ve taken a class with links, comments or reviews.

08/06/2003 – Corvallis Bikram Yoga, still my home studio!  Strictly Bikram.

11/30/2005 – Eugene Bikram Yoga, now Sweaty Ganesh Yoga no longer affiliated with Bikram, other styles also.

04/01/2006 – San Louis Obisbo, nice folks, funky room, no showers.  Other styles as well.

05/18/2006 – Bikram Yoga Fremont Street, Portland, OR.  Strictly Bikram.

06/10/2006 – Bikram Yoga Mount Vernon, WA. Closed May 2013.  Facebook page and more info.

06/14/2006 – Bikram Yoga Tacoma, WA. Closed June 2015. There are other options in Tacoma.

12/22/2006 – Bikram Yoga Reston, VA.  Strictly Bikram.

04/20/2007 – Bikram Yoga SE Portland, OR.  Strictly Bikram.

08/07/2007 – Bikram Yoga Seattle, now Sealevel Hot Yoga.  Strictly Bikram.

08/21/2007 – Bikram Yoga St. Johns, Portland, OR.  Strictly Bikram.

02/27/2012 – Boston Bikram Yoga, Historic.  Strictly Bikram.

03/26/2015 – Blue Moon Yoga, Fresno, CA.  Small, nice, no showers.  Bikram and Vinyasa.