Tag: healthy living

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The Spirit Moves Me Elsewhere

Long story short: I participated in an Apache, Two-Spirit, all women sweat lodge ceremony last weekend.  It was very cool (actually it was very hot) – there was singing songs and what I would call dharma sharing and lots and lots of sweating.  So much sweating.

The woman leading the lodge was very easy going. She instructed us as to the proper way to do something (entering the lodge for example) and they she would say that if we felt that we needed to do that thing another way, that was okay.

One of the instructions was that if we ever felt like we were over heated and wanted to get out of the lodge before the end of the ceremony, all we had to say was that, “the spirit moves me elsewhere.”

Some of the women participating in the lodge did decide to step out at different points of the ceremony. They all said the phrase as they exited the lodge.

After the ceremony, I was talking with the friends who I had gone with (they always know where to find the fun woo woo things to do) and we started talking about the phrase, “the spirit moves me elsewhere.”

It seems to me that this phrase may have terrific application in all sorts of life situations, not just sweat lodge ceremonies.

Think about it: anytime you find yourself in an unpleasant situation or even just can’t find an easy way to wrap up a conversation, you can deploy this phrase and leave.  Maybe you’re at a cocktail party and you’re just done talking to someone, use this phrase to extract yourself.  You don’t even have to actually leave, just move to a different part of the room.  Whatever it is you could just say, “the spirit moves me elsewhere,” and move.  No more awkward goodbyes.  It’s brilliant.

Think about it. I really don’t see any situation where anyone can challenge that statement.

As I write this, it reminds me about an old story from this place where I used to work.  There was this gal who had worked there before me (this is one of those old, workplace legends), and one day it was either freezing cold (it was often freezing cold in that office) or the air conditioning wasn’t working … something like that.  At one point, this gal just gets up, states, “I can’t work under these conditions,” grabs her bag and leaves. Like really leaves.  Like goes home for the day.  It still makes me giggle just thinking about it now.

What makes this story even more delightful is the fact that we were subject to a very strict time-keeping policy in that office and the idea that someone would just get up and leave is beyond the pale.  I’ll tell you what, there were more than a few times when I wished I could have said, “I can’t work under these conditions,” and left.

Sometimes, you just have to go. 

The spirit moves me elsewhere.

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Mind the Gap

I was walking and listening to my current favorite podcast, Earth Tribe Radio. Fiona and Jill are wonderfully wacky ladies who make my walks terribly interesting. I started listening to them because they had an episode about how cats are psychic. You know that got my attention!

The particular episode that inspired today’s post was about meditation and mindfulness. They often bring up an idea that sparks something for me to mull over while I walk and, in this episode, it was when Fiona suggested that another word to use when considering this concept is “awareness.” They expanded on that thought, talking about finding little moments throughout the day to be mindful rather than having dogmatic expectations about when and how someone should meditate.

Fiona presented her technique of “stop, drop, and go” that involves just taking a moment to appreciate what is going on around you and then continuing with what you are doing.  Jill shared a similar technique where you exhale and then intentionally pause for a moment before inhaling.  While she was describing this, the term that sprang to my mind was “mind the gap.”

I know that is not what the original “mind the gap” is about, but I think this is an effective appropriation of familiar aphorism. Why not use “mind the gap” as a mindfulness prompt? Don’t you think that it would make a great slogan for a t-shirt or a wrist tattoo? 

Minding the gap is using that pause as a moment of awareness.  I like the idea of using moments of interest throughout your day to be present.  I mean, I can’t be completely tuned in to everything all day long, I’d never get anything done!  Being open to taking moments to notice wonderful, little things here and there though can be enough to create a sense of calmness, of centeredness, of connectedness.

As I was contemplating “mind the gap” as an awareness practice, I noticed this very interesting rock and had to stop.

My initial reaction was that I wanted to grab it.  But why did I feel the need to possess this interesting rock?  I mean, I like a magic rock as much as the next girl, but I also try to respect the sovereignty of objects out in the world.  When I notice a beautiful flower, I take a photo rather than picking it.  Why shouldn’t I show this rock the same respect?  I refrained from picking up the rock but did stop and take a photo of it.

And then I was on my way.  I had minded the gap, given this rock some attention, and returned to my business.

We don’t have to change our path or our intention every time something catches our attention.  We also don’t have to go through our lives with blinders on to all the fascinating things around us. If we mind the gap, we can enjoy those small moments of appreciation without getting sidetracked.

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Who do you listen to, your body or your mind?

Recently, I have been working out less.  I listened to my body and noticed that it wanted a break.  I didn’t quit going to the gym all together, but instead of five or six days a week, it was more like two or three.  I would still set my alarm for all the usual days, but when I got out of bed (I made myself actually get out of bed before the decision was made), I would listen to my body if it told me that it didn’t want to exercise that day.  The trick is to actually get out of bed before deciding to tap out. Otherwise, I couldn’t tell if my body really wanted a break or my brain was trying to trick me.  I find my brain lies to me a lot.

Aside from the get out of bed test, the reason that I could tell that I was listening to my body and not my brain is that I was still feeling good even though I wasn’t exercising as much.  I tend to get really antsy when I don’t get enough exercise, sometimes I feel like I want to crawl out of my skin. I was able to focus and be productive and I was still moving enough to keep my back from getting too angry with me, so it was clear that my body was still getting what it needed.

Now this is no way to achieve one’s fitness goals, but it is a good strategy to keep things copacetic if you are of a certain age.  I am still listening to my body and I am starting to feel like I need to ramp back up to my higher activity level.  I can feel it in my arms a lot right now. 

Thinking about how I need to listen to my body instead of my brain when it comes to exercise led to contemplating other areas of my life in which my brain likes to lie to me. No surprise, food is the next biggie.  When I listen to my body, I tend to eat more fruits and veggies.  I don’t get as hungry and I don’t get tummy aches.  When I eat what my brain wants, it tends to be more white food – things with a lot of sugar, things that are processed … things like French fries.  My brain always tries to convince me that I want to eat fried food.

It’s funny to think that I shouldn’t listen to my brain.  Isn’t that where my smart is supposed to be after all?  It can be more challenging to hear what my body has to say to me, especially when my brain is shouting and jumping up and down. But when I am quiet and listen, it never steers me wrong.

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Vitamin D Therapy

One of my favorite treatments to boost my mood and enhance my overall sense of well-being is Vitamin D Therapy.  I find that with even a brief treatment, I feel much better.

Vitamin D is important for building and maintaining strong and healthy bones because calcium can only be absorbed into bones when vitamin D is present.  I think the most fascinating thing about vitamin D is that your body just creates it.  Not out of the blue, but it is synthesized in the skin when exposed to sunlight.  And then it is used to build strong and healthy bones. It’s like photosynthesis for people!

It turns out that there is also a lot of scientific research on the benefit of vitamin D for treating depression and other psychological conditions.  It starts to get really technical, like this article on the National Institute of Health website, but the gist of what I read was that it seems likely that vitamin D can amplify serotonin in the central nervous system, which may lead to treatments for certain neurological disorders (such as ADHD in children). Serotonin is a neurotransmitter used to convey messages between nerve cells and it contributes to feelings of wellbeing and happiness.

Even though it is not fashionable these days, I still like to get my vitamin D the old-fashioned way – by sitting out in the sun. It can be found in certain foods or taken in supplements, but how cool is it that you can get something so good for your body for free, just by going outside?  Totally not scientific, but I sure feel happy and calm after I spend some time in the sun; I like to think that it’s because all of the vitamin D that I’m making is boosting my serotonin levels.

Now, my style of vitamin D therapy is not for everyone.  I am fortunate that I don’t tend to sunburn and if you do, you should certainly limit your exposure.  The Mayo Clinic indicates that the recommended daily dosage is 600 international units (IU) for pretty much everyone (400 for babies under one year and 800 for adults over 70).  I am not sure what that translates into in terms of sun exposure, but I expect that it is not too much.  The way that it is synthesized in the skin varies depending on location, time of year, and skin color and can be inhibited by use of sunscreen.  Basically, if you are more pale, you need less exposure, which is good news for skin safety.  Negative effects are possible with doses of more than 4,000 IU daily, which seems to me would correspond to a pretty nasty sunburn anyway.  So, don’t overdo it!

But if you needed another reason to get up and go outside, think about the fact that not only is nature is awesome, but that you have the ability to create a chemical reaction in your skin that is designed to help you stay healthy and make you feel better.

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Indoor Cycling, Summer Edition

I have recently made some changes to my indoor cycling schedule. I’ve traded in my Saturday morning class for Sunday.  I know, I’m surprised at myself too!

I’m happy that I am managing to still get in at least two classes a week, even without having an overwhelming amount of grrrr to get out on a daily basis like I used to.  But every time I go to the gym on Sunday morning, I crack myself up.  Here’s the thing:

Yesterday was a beautiful summer day in southern California.  Around 9am I got in my car, drove one mile to the gym, and spent 45 minutes in a dark room taking an indoor cycling class.  There is nothing about doing that which isn’t at least a little ridiculous. It felt like I was living in a scene from LA Story.

First, it’s barely a mile.  And I don’t think that it is too much to expect that I can comfortably and safely walk there during daylight hours (I give myself a pass to drive when it is still dark out).   Also, after 8am parking enforcement is in full effect.  Either drive around for 10-15 minutes looking for a spot or pay to use the metered parking.  If you’re going to spend 10-15 minutes driving around looking for a free parking spot (like I did), you may as well have walked. 

Second, it was a beautiful day but here I was choosing to do my exercising inside.  Not just inside, but in a dark room.  I really can’t get over my own ridiculousness.  If I had decided to go to the 8:30 class instead, I wouldn’t give myself such a hard time because that still counts as first thing in the morning on a Sunday.  By 9:30, you should have already started your day (unless you had a big Saturday night, which I did not).

One important component for getting habits to stick is to make them automatic.  There aren’t options, it is just what you do.  I don’t spend any time thinking about how I’m going to get to the gym on any other day.  But on Sundays I keep considering all the options.  I should walk…maybe I could take my bike…then I have to dig it out of the garage…do I need air in my tires?  And by the time I’ve run through the whole monologue, it’s late.  I need to either decide ahead of time that I’m going to bike and make sure that everything is ready, or I need to take that option off of the table and just know that I’m going to walk.

The bottom line is that I still make it to indoor cycling at least twice a week and that is what really matters.  But I can’t help but laugh at myself about how I get there. 

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Got Hay Fever? Have you tried the Neti Pot?

Here is another health remedy from the strange-yet-effective file.

Have I told you before about how I went through that phase with terrible allergies?  About how I was miserable all the time and even gave up yoga? One thing that helped me survive that phase (and I continue to use now) is the Neti pot.

One day, I was watching random Oprah reruns and there was Dr. Oz.  He was promoting/demonstrating the Neti pot – a little tea pot style thing that you would use to wash out your sinuses.  Basically, you make a little bit of warm saline solution, then you pour it in one nostril, and it comes out the other.  You do both sides, then you are good to go.

I knew that saline solution could be helpful – I remember rinsing with salt water after getting my wisdom teeth out, it made sense that it could help flush and reduce inflammation in your sinuses.  It still seemed like it would be terrible.  But I was so miserable that I decided to try it.

I headed to Whole Foods where the nice gal in the health and beauty supply area knew all about it.  Her tip was to make sure that you really blow your nose well after you rinse.  Then I picked up a container of regular NON-iodized table salt and headed home to try it out.

And…

It was life changing!

Seriously, it really does help.

I became a Neti pot evangelist.  I would tell anyone with allergies to try it.  My sister always has terrible allergies and I really gave her the hard sell.  She wasn’t having any of it.  Finally, I told her that one day she would be so miserable that she would be willing to try it.  That day came and she has never looked back.  These days she is the one who reminds me to use my Neti pot when I start complaining about sniffles and sinus problems.

Here’s what you do:

  • Take your little Neti pot.  Here is an Amazon link to the one that I have.
  • Add ¼ teaspoon salt (non-iodized table salt).
  • Fill with warm but not hot water (should be close to body temperature).
  • Stir.
  • Lean over the sink (just a little, you don’t need to bend way forward) and tilt your head to one side.
  • Breathe through your mouth.
  • Put the spout against your top nostril and pour.
  • The water will come out your bottom nostril.
  • The package recommends using one pot-full per side, but I usually just do half-and-half.
  • After you’ve done both sides, lean over the sink some more.  After all the water has drained out of your nose, give it a good blow.

Few warnings:

  • Make sure that you are using processed water.  I use tap water, but if your municipal water supply is questionable, you might want to use bottled, distilled water.
  • If you are completely stuffed up, it won’t work.
  • If you use too cold or too hot water, it won’t feel good.  Shoot for water around body temperature.
  • If your sinuses are really unhappy, it might be a bit uncomfortable (like a slight burning feeling) but you will still feel good afterwards.
  • I also don’t recommend using it before going to yoga class or any other kind of exercise class when you will be bending over.  I’ve had surprise reminders that I just poured a bunch of water up my nose (drip!).

Let me know what you think!  Happy Hay Fever Season!

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Are You Recovering Today?

Well, yesterday was Saint Patrick’s Day, a day when everyone claims a percentage of Irishness (real or imagined) in order to justify indulging in beer (green or not), whiskey, corned beef, and wearing green.

So how did a day commemorating the arrival of Christianity to Ireland, become a drinking holiday?

Ah, ha!  Because Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking would be lifted for the day.  If Lent is your deal, then I hope that you made the most of St. Patrick’s Day because now Lent is back on.

Traditionally, St. Patrick’s Day was celebrated with religious services and feasts.  Modern celebrations of St. Patrick’s Day began as a way for the Irish diaspora to celebrate their heritage.  Eventually, it became a tourist holiday within Ireland and many of the practices common in international celebrations were adopted there.

What about the snakes?

It seems unlikely that Ireland ever had any snakes (too cold for reptiles).  At some point, the lore about Patrick’s efforts against the Druids (the Celtic professional class – spiritual leaders, healers, judges, and teachers) became his vanquishing of snakes from the island.  Poor Druids.

What’s the deal with shamrocks?

Three was a significant number in pagan Ireland.  It is speculated that this helped Patrick with his evangelical efforts – the legend is that he may have use shamrocks to help illustrate the holy trinity to the pagans.

Not an actual shamrock

Sunday Funday

This St. Patrick’s Day also happened to be Sunday Funday, a somewhat recent designation for Sundays spent brunching and partaking in other day-drinking activities.  The term first appeared in the Urban Dictionary in 2006 (what did we call it before then, just Sunday?). Sunday Funday traditionally should begin with mimosas (preferably bottomless) and/or Bloody Mary’s.  The objective is to party hard enough to pass out early enough to be fresh and ready to start your week on Monday morning.

So, my question for you is: are you recovering today?
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New Moon Sound Bath

My first experience with a sound bath was at a yoga class in downtown LA years ago.  During shavasana at the end of class, suddenly there was this incredible, roaring hum.  It pushed all of the random thoughts out of my mind and filled the now hollow cavity at the top of my neck.  It was amazing.

After class, I learned that the big gong in the corner wasn’t just for show, it was the source of this wonderful, mind-clearing noise.  I would make a point of going to that class even when I really wasn’t in the mood just to experience the gong at the end.

If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.  – Nikola Tesla

Last month I joined my dear bar (method) friends for a new moon sound bath event.  The organizers schedule these events to coincide with the moon cycles – either the new or the full moon.  I made sure to get myself on their email list so that I would always know when the next one is coming up and was so thrilled when they did it again last week.

The organizers are these really lovely women, Consuelo and Arvindjeet.  Consuelo leads us through the yoga postures at the beginning with her sweet, smiling voice.  When she speaks, she sounds like she is just so full of love and happiness for her fellow human beings that it can’t help but pour out of her.

Arvindjeet is very soft-spoken, but in a very grounded way.  She leads us through three oms with power and confidence and is responsible for all the sounds in the sound bath.

Side note: the practice of chanting om in yoga class has fallen out of fashion in recent years and I wish that it would come back into style, it really is centering and helps to focus the energy of the group.

The workshop begins with a bit of restorative yoga – just a few gentle postures held for a while, yin style.  Interesting things happen when you hold an easy, comfortable yoga posture like child’s pose for two minutes or longer.  The poses help work out some kinks, relax the body, and quiet the mind.  Then into shavasana for the sound bath.

Arvindjeet has these beautiful singing bowls, different chimes, this wonderful drum that sounds like rain, and an amazing gong that she will use to make different sounds.  It’s called a sound bath because the sound feels like it washes over you.  You don’t just hear the sounds, you feel vibrations all throughout your body.  Consuelo and Arvindjeet refer to the sound bath as, “giving sound healing.”  If you go back to what Tesla said about frequency, vibration, and energy, these sounds could be the keys to the secrets of the universe.

I know that I always feel different/better after one of these experiences.  Keep your eyes open for an opportunity near you and don’t be shy to check it out!

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Flabdominals Follow-up

Flabdominals (noun): flabby abdominals, particularly the kind that jiggle when participating in high-impact exercises and/or solicit congratulations on a person’s non-existent pregnancy.

A month ago, I wrote about my quest to vanquish my flabdominals. My daily exercise plan was not overly ambitious but potentially effective.  I’m sure that you are on pins and needles for a flabdominals follow-up. So, how did I do?

I have a six-pack of course!

Or not.  Sigh.

The blame doesn’t lie with the plan or the exercises.  It falls squarely on the execution.

What?  Am I telling you that I didn’t go from never doing ab work outside of exercise classes to doing it on my own, at home, on a daily basis?

Yes, that is exactly what I am telling you.  Sad, but true.

Things started off well.  The series that I had prescribed for myself was challenging but not overly strenuous.  It was quick but I felt like I had accomplished something when I was done.  All good things. 

One bonus benefit that I hadn’t expected was that it required more articulation in my spine than I was in the habit of doing.  Of course I had to engage my abs to do that.

The first five days were a piece of cake!  I was going to be un-flabdominal-ified in no time.  I was adding reps an feeling the exercises more deeply.  I felt like I was standing taller.  My shoulders were more relaxed because my core was more solid and they could relax on top of that.  This was going to be great!

And then…

I don’t know.

The bottom line is that I didn’t accomplish my goal.  All told, out of 28 days, I’m going to say that I did eleven days of abs.  Not even half. 

What now?  I could decide to tell myself that I’m a failure and give up on my quest to vanquish my flabdominals.  Why even bother?  I didn’t do it perfectly the first time.

Or, I could give myself credit for trying and acknowledge the difference that I noticed from just doing a little bit.  Something is not everything but it is more than nothing after all.  I didn’t do everything that I wanted to, but I did something and I noticed the difference.

This next month, I’m going to see if I can double that number.  I know that eleven days of ab exercises make a difference, let’s see what happens.

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Restorative Yoga

As I get older, I gain more and more appreciation for restorative yoga.

When I was younger it felt like a waste of time.  Why would I want to spend time relaxing in comfortable postures when I could be sweating?  I usually found myself spending those last few moments of class in shavasana (corpse pose, the traditional last posture of yoga class) thinking about what I was going to eat after I left.

In my previous post about yoga, I mentioned that I am more interested in doing less strenuous yoga these days.  I still like my regular yoga practice to include a good sweat and at least a few moments of “yikes!”  But I also have an appreciation for the occasional restorative yoga class.

My neighbor around the corner goes to the same gym as I do and one day we were chatting about our various workouts and the different yoga classes that our gym offers.  He mentioned that sometimes he likes to take this one restorative yoga class that uses lots of bolsters and blankets – it was like having nap time.  I admitted that I have fallen asleep in restorative yoga classes before.  One time I am pretty sure that I was snoring!

Usually restorative yoga classes will move through a few postures in a slow and gentle manner, then transition into an extended shavasana (or, as I seem to think of it, nap time).   Substituting a quick nap for your workout is not the point though.  The ultimate purpose of any style of yoga is to prepare you for meditation.  Restorative yoga just chooses to go about this in a different way than more active, physically strenuous styles.

Props

A restorative yoga class will tend to make extensive use of props such as blocks, bolsters and straps.  As someone who was once young, aggressive and extremely flexible in yoga class, I have only recently developed an appreciation for using these kinds of props.  Using props in various postures as a sort-of bridge to connect your body and to the ground isn’t about making something “easier.”  The connection enables the body to release tension and you can experience a posture more fully, if not more deeply. 

Yin Yoga

One restorative yoga class that I would take from time to time was a yin yoga class.  In yin yoga, you hold each posture for at least two minutes.  Fortunately, the postures are not balances or inversions, but mostly seated and laying-down positions.  It is a really interesting practice because you when you spend so much time in a posture, you really have the opportunity to look into all the dark corners that are easy to ignore when you aren’t holding the position for as long.  I discovered things that I didn’t like about postures that had been my favorites like baddha konasana (aka bound angle pose, or butterfly stretch).  Even holding child’s pose for two minutes can be intense.

When I don’t fall asleep in shavasana, I do still find my mind wandering.  But another advantage to restorative yoga for me is that it doesn’t have to be done on an empty stomach, so I can often coax myself out of obsessing about food for at least a few minutes.

Wisdom, kindness, and love. Namaste.