Issue: #16: March 2011

Namaste friends,

Soul Food

"He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed."-- Albert Einstein

"The world will never starve for want of wonders, but for want of wonder." -- G. K. Chesterton

 

HEAL

A Long and Happy Life
Happiness may play a key role in longevity and good health. According to a review of more than 160 studies, an upbeat, positive, "glass is half-full attitude" seemed consistently responsible for longer, healthier lives. Positive moods were shown to reduce stress-related hormones, increase immune function and help the heart recover following exertion. One study of 5,000 university students, studied over 40 years, revealed that the most pessimistic students tended to die younger. In another study, animals living in stressful conditions such as crowded cages, had weaker immune systems and died much earlier than those in less crowded conditions. Ultimately, learning how to cope with chronic stress, depression and anger (think yoga!) may be more important than what you eat or how often you work out.

Egg-citing News!
Eggs have gotten a bad rap because they contain cholesterol. However, dietary cholesterol has little to do with levels of blood cholesterol because when you consume cholesterol, your body produces less. In fact, eggs contain numerous substance which may lower your risk of heart disease. Eggs contain vitamins, including A, B vitamins and the hard-to-come-by vitamin D; and minerals such as the cancer fighting selenium plus heart-healthy omega-3's. The yolks also contain an important substance called choline. Choline helps to reduce inflammation and improves the function of nerves and muscles. Studies have shown that it's okay to eat eggs daily. But to get your choline, forget about those egg-white omelets!

 

STRENGTHEN

Hipper Hips
To wake up sleepy outer hip muscles (the abductor muscles) in preparation for balancing poses, try this variation on the classic sidelying leg lift. Lying on your right side, lift your left leg slightly (6 inches is plenty). Press the entire outer right leg down into the floor and you'll notice the left leg lifts and lowers in response. To make the action even easier, let your eyes look up as you ground the bottom leg. This little action of the eyes will help recruit the entire body in the movement, in effect sliding the body up and down. Then try tree standing on the right leg. Not only will it be easier, but the muscles that need to fire to keep you balanced will be engaged on their own.

Healthy Knees
The knee is a notoriously unstable joint. To keep the knee aligned, the hip and foot muscles need to be not only strong, but balanced. Here's an exercise to help your knees find stability. Stand with your back against a wall and your feet far enough from the wall that when you bend your knees to 90 degrees your ankles are directly under your knees. Wrap a strap around your outer thighs and criss-cross the ends of the strap in front. Holding the two ends of the strap, resist with your hands as you press your thighs into the strap to keep your knees aligned with your feet. Bend and straighten your legs, sliding your back up and down the wall. Pressing the thighs into the strap will prevent the knees from caving in and bring more weight to the outer edges of the feet. The same can be done in utkatasana (awkward chair).

 

LIVE

For Anatomy Lovers
You may never dissect a human body (and you may not want to), but you will have a vicarious sense of how it feels to be in the dissection lab and a greater understanding of your own body after reading Bill Hayes' The Anatomist: A True Story of Gray's Anatomy and Christine Montross' Body of Work: Meditations on Mortality from the Human Anatomy Lab.

The first is my favorite. Hayes recounts his own experiences in the anatomy lab as he compiles a biography of Henry Gray, author of Gray's Anatomy, the classic text on anatomy used by generations of medical students. To quote just one example of his insightful and eloquent prose: "You cannot hold a human heart without questioning how it ever became known as the center of emotion...To me the heart does not look like anything but what it is, a tough muscular pump. But wait, not so fast... I find myself dazzled by a perfect meeting of anatomy and metaphor. In the human body, the sino-atrial node (the heart's pacemaker) is positioned right under the sternum, dead center in the chest. So... this truly is where feelings such as terror, love and elation are first felt--where your heart starts to race, pound and flutter."

Christine Montross was a poet before becoming a doctor. She finds poetry in the dissection lab, describing the heart's valves as "little half-moons that work passively and without musculature." She also entertainingly recounts the history of dissection and her first encounters as a medical student with the live bodies of actors playing patients (think testicular exams).

Down and Dirty
Letting your kids play in the dirt may have its advantages. According to the "hygiene hypothesis" advanced by a number of scientists recently, the rise in allergies and auto-immune disorders seen in industrialized countries may be due to a lack of exposure to bacteria when young. Asthma and auto-immune diseases are more common among women than men, giving rise to the speculation that the way girls are brought up may be responsible. Girls are less likely to be allowed to play in the dirt than boys, and more often play indoors, decreasing their contact with healthy bacteria.

 

WORKSHOPS

STARTING MARCH 2011:
FREE YOUR BODY!
A Series of Six Workshops

• Improve the way you move, sit, stand, and sleep 
• Reduce tension and strain in your back, neck, shoulders, hips, jaw and eyes
• Learn tools to eliminate unconscious habits that contribute to pain and stress
• Feel more confident and comfortable in your body 

Our bodies have innate wisdom; but over time, we develop habitual ways of standing, sitting and moving that create discomfort and strain. In this workshop, you will relearn how to move in a fluid, natural way that will make daily activities easier and will enhance athletic and artistic pursuits. Through gentle movement and breath work, you will reorganize your nervous system and rediscover the freedom of movement you felt as a child. The focus will be on playful learning. Support materials will be provided so that you can practice at home.

FIRST WORKSHOP: Free Your Hips, Saturday, March 26

COST: $300 for series (or $60 per workshop)
WHERE: Monroe Center, 720 Monroe St., (free parking),
5th Floor, Hoboken, N.J.
WHEN: Saturdays, 3/26, 4/23 From: 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Tuesdays: 6/7, 7/19, 9/20, 10/25 From 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Although most beneficial if taken as a full series, workshops can be taken individually.

Space is limited: Participants must sign up before the workshop. Contact me at suzanneausnit@optonline.net, Tel. 973-204-0929