Issue: #2: January 2008

Namaste friends -- welcome to Good Space, Full Potential Yoga's newsletter on ways to heal, strengthen and live.

Now, as a new year unfolds, it's a good time to reflect on why and how we practice yoga. The "why" is easy. Yoga, at least in theory, helps us feel at home in our bodies and our hearts. The "how" can be trickier because as we practice it's easy to get caught up in wanting to achieve deeper or stronger poses and forget why we came to the mat in the first place. This approach invites injury and frustration. In fact, always grasping for more -- on the mat or off -- only creates dissatisfaction.

There's no such thing as an advanced pose. The simplest pose, done with grace, ease and breath, is more advanced than some pretzel-like position achieved by force and strain.

So then why bother with difficult asanas? Because discomfort is a fact of life. We can only find true comfort when we become more comfortable with discomfort. Sometimes we need to find a comfortable level of discomfort in order to break out of habitual patterns and grow. If we can confront our fears on the mat, whether they be arm balances, backbends or inversions, then perhaps we can cope with our anxieties off the mat with grace, ease and breath.

Breathe well, be well,
Suzanne

P.S. If you're interested in "advancing" your practice while finding a "comfortable level of discomfort," check out my January workshop, Yoga Boot camp for Babes at Devotion Yoga.

Soul Food
"From the heart, may it go to the heart."
-- Ludwig van Beethoven


HEAL

Use Your Schnozz
Breathing through the mouth is one of those "no-no's" that doctors seldom warn against. It promotes hyperventilation, along with allergies and gum disease. The mouth is meant for talking, eating, drinking--and, yes, smooching. But it's not ideal for breathing. It's up to the nose to slow down the breath, remove bacteria and dust, and heat the air so it doesn't shock the lungs.

If you're a mouth-breather, take a "time out" to lie on your back, hands on your belly, eyes and lips softly closed.  Breathing through your nose to the count of three or more, let your belly slowly rise into your hands on the inhale and drop down into the spine on the exhale. Don't be surprised if you feel anxious or if your nose seems clogged. Over time, as you relax into the breath, the fear of not getting enough oxygen will dissipate and the nostrils will open. For more information, visit Asthma Care.

Lemon Balm
For winter sore throats and sniffles, try this Brazilian home remedy. Quarter a juicy lemon. Peel and slice a two-inch knob of ginger. Cover the lemon and ginger in water and boil for about 20 minutes until the skin of the lemon is soft. Remove and squeeze the lemon. Add the juice to the water. Drink, adding honey to taste. The cooked ginger pieces can be eaten to further soothe the throat.


STRENGTHEN

Band Aid Therabands (elastic resistance bands) can help strengthen muscles often overlooked and overstressed in yoga. For instance, to strengthen the muscles of the upper back, sit in dandasana with a Theraband around the balls of the feet. Hold the ends of the band and draw your elbows directly back alongside your waist, pulling in the shoulder blades.

For more ways to incorporate resistance training into your yoga practice, check out my upcoming article in the February issue of Fit Yoga. This particular article focuses on using Therabands to strengthen the shoulders, but the bands can be adapted to almost any pose.

Ham It Up
Yoga tends to focus on stretching the hamstrings, rather than strengthening them. Strong hamstrings are essential in backbends to avoid overusing the buttocks and compressing the lower back. Try this strengthener:
Lie on your belly with your forehead on crossed forearms. Bend one knee to 90 degrees and lift the knee off the floor while pressing the hip down. You will feel your hamstrings in action, plus it's a great prep for bow pose.


LIVE

Count Your Blessings
'Tis always the season to give thanks, but that may be easier said than done. How do you start a gratitude practice? Keep a gratitude journal, and before you know it, the practice will become second nature. Avoid the obvious--food, shelter, health--and be mindful of reasons to be thankful that are easy to overlook. You'll soon find yourself appreciating the bus driver who greets you with a smile on a rainy morning, the yoga student who makes room for you to put down your mat in a crowded class, or the friend who responds to your angry outburst with patience.

This Is Your Brain on Yoga
We know yoga feels good. Medical science is now discovering why. The findings of a new study in the May issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, conducted at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and McLean Hospital show that practicing yoga may elevate brain gamma-aminobutyric (GABA) levels. Low GABA levels are linked with depression, anxiety, epilepsy, and even Alzheimer's.

Baby Fat
Not all fat is created equal. Most fat in the body is called white fat. But did you know that babies and children also have another kind of fat called brown fat? It's used to generate heat--which partly explains the pudge factor. Hibernating animals use the same fat to keep themselves warm during the winter when their muscles are not in use.