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Yoga for High Blood Pressure

Kimberly Jordan Allen — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 04:00:18 +0000

Whether your yoga practice is more spiritual or physical, there is no wrong reason to spend time on your mat. And while chances are you’ve experienced first-hand some of the health benefits of yoga—such as reduced stress, increased flexibility, or a greater connection to a higher power—you may not realize that the practice appears to be good for your heart.

After reviewing 49 trials, University of Connecticut researchers recently concluded that practicing yoga may help reduce blood pressure in adults with hypertension. In particular, yoga practices that include breathing and relaxation exercises three times a week may reduce blood pressure as much as aerobic exercise does.

While more research is necessary, other studies point to the heart health benefits of yoga. For example, in a 2018 study, researchers assigned 60 adults to practice either yoga, deep breathing, stretching, or relaxation exercises five days a week. After three months, every group except the relaxation group experienced a drop in systolic blood pressure. However, the yoga group saw the greatest decrease.

How yoga causes this positive effect is multifaceted. For one, yoga practices are shown to help reduce stress, a factor linked to blood pressure concerns. “Yoga reduces mental tension by calming the thoughts and focusing the mind on the breath while also observing present-moment sensation within the body,” says Ashtanga yoga teacher Harmony Slater.

Additionally, yoga may improve heart rate variability, which is the variation in time between heartbeats. Reduced heart rate variability is another risk factor for hypertension. Furthermore, yoga increases flexibility not only in the muscles but also in the arteries, and it stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system through the vagus nerve. In turn, this lowers heart rate and blood pressure, Slater explains.

And then there’s the benefits of pranayama. Studies suggest that this “yogic breathing” may be an effective tool for hypertension.

“We are not telling people to use yoga to substitute for aerobic exercise,” researcher Yin Wu of the University of Connecticut said in a press release. “Aerobic exercise is the gold standard for antihypertensive lifestyle therapy. But yoga provides an additional option that can be just as effective.”

So, as long as your doctor gives you the green light, it may be worth starting a yoga practice. And if you’re a seasoned yogi, now you have yet another reason to continue stepping onto your mat on a regular basis.

Yoga Poses for High Blood Pressure

If you have hypertension or want to try to prevent it, Slater suggests the following sequence. Aim to hold each posture for 15 to 20 breaths. If you wish, you can repeat any of the postures as many times as you like.

This entire practice (including the resting posture at the end) takes about 15 to 20 minutes, and you can practice on your own at home. Keep in mind that diet, overall activity, and other lifestyle factors play a role in hypertension, so if you have any heart health concerns, talk to your doctor.

Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana)

Lie on your belly with your forehead on the mat, legs close together and the tops of your feet flat and pressing down. Plant your palms by your lower ribs with your elbows pointing up and behind you. Inhale and drag your palms back lightly against the resistance of the sticky mat to lift your face and heart. Feel a width across the front of the shoulders and expand the front of the heart space. Keep your legs grounded and your neck lengthy as you continue to breathe.

Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

From cobra, inhale, tuck your toes, and push up to plank, but don’t stop. Continue lifting your rear and hips straight up and back, coming into an inverted V position. Exhale as you straighten your legs and drop your heels toward the earth. Keep your hands planted, your arms straight, and room between your shoulders and ears. If you have tight hamstrings, bend your knees slightly, press into your palms more, and lengthen the spine.

Child’s Pose (Balasana)

Come to all fours, then move your rear back onto your heels, laying your belly on your thighs and forehead on the mat. Extend your arms on the mat above your head (shown) or lay them along your sides. Breathe across your entire back, but especially the upper back, expanding the back of the heart space.

Half Lord of the Fishes Pose (Ardha Matsyendrasana)

Transition to sitting with your legs extended in front of you. Bend your left knee and place your left foot outside of your right knee. Exhale and twist to the left. Place your left hand behind you to help you sit up tall and, with your right arm, pull your left knee closer to help you twist. On each inhale, sit up a little taller. On each exhale, twist a little deeper. Do the pose on each side of your body.

Bound Angle Pose (Baddha Konasana)

Sit with your back against a wall. Bend your knees and place the soles of your feet together. Press the inner edges of the feet together as you lengthen the inner thighs in the opposite direction. Reach the inner knees toward the sides of the room; draw the outer knees into the outer hips.

Wide Angle Forward Fold (Upavistha Konasana)

Bend your knees into your chest and spread your legs wide apart, but not so wide that you cannot reach your feet with your hands. Lengthen your spine and fold forward as you hinge at the hip creases. Stay rooted through your sitting bones while keeping your kneecaps and toes facing up. Try to resist the urge to move forward, which could disconnect your seat from the earth. Instead, move into the open space gradually by drawing your navel into your spine.

Supported Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)

Place a bolster long ways on your mat. Sit with your lower back pressed against the short side of the bolster and slowly lie down on the bolster with your legs extended and toes pointing. Let your arms rest palms up at about a 45-degree angle from your body and broaden your shoulder blades as you move your chest toward your chin. To come out of the pose, slowly roll off the bolster back onto the ground.

Legs Up the Wall (Viparita Karani)

Bring your seat as close to a wall as possible, so that your butt is pressed directly against the meeting point of the floor and the wall. Extend your legs straight up and recline with your palms facing up so your body makes a right angle or an L shape. Close your eyes and allow gravity to settle your femurs into the hip sockets.

Easy Seated Posture (Sukhasana)

Come to a comfortable cross-legged seat with your shins crossed right in the center. Then practice a simple breathing technique sometimes referred to as “yogic breathing”: Following a ratio of 2:1 (exhale: inhale), make your exhalation twice the length of your inhalation. Sit here for as long as you wish.

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7 Life-Changing Stories of How Yoga Heals

Vanessa Powell — Sun, 07 Oct 2018 12:00:57 +0000

To celebrate National Yoga Month in September, Sonima launched an Instagram campaign called #YogaHeals, where we shared the profiles men and women who have experienced the true healing benefits of yoga. These individuals turned to their practice in their darkest hour and, as a result, saw a drastic and positive change their lives. While it can’t cure all, yoga can offer solace on the often long road to recovery as you’ll learn from reading these sevenei incredible personal stories below.

The success of this campaign has inspired us to continue to share #YogaHeals stories on social media indefinitely. Please direct message us on Instagram or Facebook about your own story to help us celebrate your resilience and the gift of yoga. The hope is that we will inspire others to roll out their mat, especially during a hard time, and discover just how inclusive, therapeutic, and wonderful this practice really is.

David Knee

“A requirement or desire of a basic healthy human life is a future. A diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), for most of us, will put that future in doubt. It did for me. At 41 that was my future. By 58, I was overweight, weak, and pre-diabetic. I decided to try Ashtanga.

I was fortunate because this—my first exposure to yoga—was introduced to me by knowledgeable, amazing, and caring teachers. I later discovered that it was a Beginner Mysore class. As I progressed through the asanas, I gained strength and flexibility, lost 32 pounds, and lowered my blood sugar. As I progressed through the practice (I’m now 63), I gained a future. Through the practice, I experience successes, failures, and incredible peace…all of which I look forward to each day.”

David lives in Victoria, BC. He began his practice with Jeff Lichty and Harmony Slater and continues his daily practice with Rachel Reid at Mysore Victoria.

Photography courtesy of David Knee.

Kate Sawford

“I was diagnosed with bone cancer in 1993 at age 11. My medical treatment consisted of a year of chemotherapy and a rotationplasty, a salvage procedure that involves removing the knee joint and replacing it with the ankle joint. I am fortunate in that the treatment was curative.

I started practicing yoga in 2007. Like many, I was seeking something. In my case, I was hoping to find relief from years of chronic hip pain that stemmed from the imbalance inherent to having 1.5 legs. It took more than a year of consistent practice, but now the chronic pain is a distant memory.

I have found more through my yoga practice than I ever thought I would. The discipline to get up at 5:15 a.m. (most days of the week), rich friendships with teachers and yoga students, who I’ve met at various workshops and classes over the years, a perspective on my mind when, on occasion, it rattles in its cage. I found a tool for learning to remain present, and a deeper acceptance of my body—something that I struggled to embrace in its altered form for many years.”

Kate started practicing in 2007 with Harmony Slater and Jeff Lichty. She has traveled around the world to practice with many other authorized and certified teachers since this humble beginning. Currently, Kate resides in Wellington, NZ and continues her practice under the guidance of Stewart Cameron Harris.

Photography courtesy of Kate Sawford.

Harmony Slater

“I had a dream of being a professional ballerina for as long as I could remember. Unfortunately, this ambition came surrounded by a culture of anorexia and bulimia nervosa, and body dysmorphic disorder. After 15 years of training as a ballet dancer, I felt I had no choice but to remove myself from this environment to stay alive. I was left a little more than a shadow of myself, and hated almost everything about my body. After two years of a focusing on my mental health and recovery, I began to yearn to feel in my body again.

Fortuitously, I was introduced to Ashtanga Yoga. From my first class, I knew this would become a path of healing for me. I felt alive and vibrant. I noticed a new kind of craving to nurture myself, fill my body with healthy food, and feed my mind with more positive self-talk. Regular practice gave me an increased awareness and the ability notice immediately when I was falling into negative or destructive patterns. For the first time, I felt self-love and worthy of joy. The Ashtanga Yoga practice has been my daily companion for the past two decades. There are still days when I am exorcising old demons out on the mat, but I trust that this method will continue to safely carry me across the often stormy tides into calmer waters.”

Harmony is a Certified Ashtanga Yoga teacher. She spent the past 15 years making annual trips to practice and study in Mysore, India, with the Jois Family. She resides in Canada with her eight-year old son, and continues to travel and teach in several Yoga Schools all over the world.

Photography courtesy of Harmony Slater.

Jan Goranson

“After two miscarriages and almost losing my first son at birth, and then again two months later, due to some breathing problems that he had developed, I took to running as an escape and a way to let my emotions go. A couple years later, I was, again, fraught with another high-risk pregnancy, and advised to stop all activities and take it easy. After my second was born, I was looking forward to getting back to running, but only two months after delivery, I returned home from a run to discover a lump in my neck. I was diagnosed with Thyroid cancer.

After having two surgeries to remove the entire thyroid due to the cancer spreading, I underwent radiation treatment. This was the most challenging time because I had to be separated from my family due to the high amounts of internal radiation that I had been administered.

I began practicing yoga to help me navigate through this illness and heal during my recovery. I found it extremely beneficial for coping with the emotional roller-coaster I was on. In truth, it seems yoga found me, and for that, I have an abundance of gratitude. It has empowered me to explore the inner workings of my body and mind, both ‘on’ and ‘off’ the mat. Through the practice of Ashtanga Yoga, I have learned to trust the system, and have found comfort in this deep and rich tradition.”

Jan Goranson has made five trips to Mysore, India and was Authorized to teach by Sharath Jois in 2017. She currently lives and teaches a Morning Mysore Program in Calgary, Canada.

Photography courtesy of Jan Goranson (asana assist by Harmony Slater).

Related: The Essence of Yoga as Therapy

Samantha Fiona Lucas

“I stumbled upon Mysore-style Ashtanga yoga 11 years ago while going through a divorce and suffering from a deep depression. Though I had been practicing yoga already for a decade, this practice [in particular] resonated with me deeply. I soon made my first pilgrimage to Mysore to practice with Sri K. Pattabbi Jois and now Paramaguru Sharath Jois. Immediately, my depression started to lift and my thoughts about dying subsided. I kept practicing.

Fast forward to June 2016, I was in a motorcycle accident and lost my right leg below the knee. In the hospital, I didn’t know if I would ever do another downward facing dog again. However, day two after the accident, I started to go through primary series in bed. I did what I could, breathing and moving what I could. I found I was able do so much more then my brain thought. If I didn’t do my practice, then I was a complete mess, emotionally and physically. The pain was too much to bear without practice. I continued to do what I could do. There were some very dark times. The depression crept in because a life-altering trauma takes time to process. I’m still processing, three years later, but the security of the practice gets me through. I am so lucky to have it as such a shining light that picks me up over and over again. I keep practicing!”

Samantha is a KPJAYI authorized teacher who practices in NYC at Brooklyn Yoga Club with Eddie Stern. She teaches at her home studio in upstate New York and Sharon, CT at The Studio and is starting to give motivational talks across the U.S.

Photography courtesy of Samantha Fiona Lucas.

Kino MacGregor

“During one of the most productive periods of my life, I woke up nearly every day with suicidal ideation. From the outside, it looked like I had it all sorted out and that I was living the dream. I had written and published two books, traveled the world, ran a yoga center, went to the beach often, bought a house, shared a life with a wonderful man, and, in many ways, all the boxes of a happy life were checked. But, inside I was not well.

Everywhere I looked, I only saw pain, whether I looked at my life, my actions, my past or my future. Truthfully, I can see now that I was not happy with the person that I was and I wanted to make up for it by living as fully and completely as I possibly could. It was like I wanted my life’s work to make up for the darkness that I felt inside. Or, at the very least, when I was running as fast as I possibly could, I was busy enough to not have a spare moment to dive down into my own inner turmoil. Being perpetually busy was a kind of drug that I used to escape the deep sadness that was in my heart.

From the time I was nine years old, I’ve struggled with periods of depression and I have used so many means to escape, avoid, deny or, generally, run from my pain until I was finally ready to face it, forgive it and make friends with it. One thing that has brought me great solace is to craft my life around a sense of purpose. In order to avoid the temptation of nihilism and despair, I search for meaning in the big and small aspects of my life. Whether it is the decision to treat every single being with respect and kindness or to act with integrity and justice, the decision to carve out patches of intention in what can sometimes feel like a random and senseless world is extremely useful for me. It’s like applied mindfulness in action and it’s something I’ve learned through my yoga and meditation practice. Training the mind in meditation is an important step in the self-care needed to heal from depression.”

Kino is a Miami-native who is happiest on the beach with a fresh coconut. She is a poet at heart who always stops to smell the flowers. She is the founder of Omstars, the world’s first yoga TV network. Kino’s message of spiritual strength reaches people all over the world. She is an international yoga teacher, inspirational speaker, author of four books, producer of six Ashtanga Yoga DVDs, writer, vlogger, world traveler and co-founder of Miami Life Center.

Photography courtesy of Kino MacGregor.

Sonia Jones

Almost 20 years ago, Sonia Jones fell in love with yoga. Before she was introduced to the practice, she had four children, and like any loving mother, she made taking care of them her top priority, so much so that she stopped taking care of herself. Sonia would tell everyone she was fine, while on the inside, her mind, body and spirit were in pain.

Especially her body.

Sonia pushed through it all, but as she learned from her good friend, Pete Egoscue, the Father of Modern Postural Therapy, pain is a message from your body that you must heed. She didn’t. She ignored a certain back pain for so long that she had to have emergency surgery and was at risk of being paralyzed from the waist down. It was only then, after surgery, when she was literally unable to move, that she realized she had to make a major life change. Egoscue recommended yoga. Initially, Sonia resisted, but, eventually, she gave herself fully to the practice of Ashtanga. It changed her life.

That is why it has become her mission to share the gift of yoga as it was given to her. She started by bringing yoga into schools to improve kids’ health and wellness. But there were more people she wanted to reach. The idea for Sonima.com was born. Through Sonima, Sonia shares yoga in a way that can fit into your own busy life, so you can build a practice at your own pace and truly commit to it. Sonia knows, firsthand, that yoga has the power to heal in more ways than you could ever imagine.”

Sonia is the founder of Sonima Wellness. A dedicated Ashtanga Yoga practitioner, she has seen the positive effects of eating right, moving the body with intention and regularity, and finding stillness in the hustle of life’s daily craze. She aspires to help others find the practices that will enable them to manifest their best selves in everything that they do, and with everyone that they love.

Photography by Hailey Wist.

Related: Healing Back Pain with Yoga

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The Essence of Yoga as Therapy

Andrew Hillam — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 12:00:16 +0000

Yoga is a therapeutic practice at all levels—physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. When used appropriately, it has the power to heal, balancing each of the above aspects and bringing them into harmony with each other. Even for healthy practitioners, yoga is therapeutic, working to strengthen and refine all aspects of their system. Getting out of balance and becoming sick, or sustaining an injury through practice, is a sign to reevaluate your approach, and to apply the principles of yoga to all aspects of life, not just to what is practiced on the mat.

The great 20th century yogi Tirumalai Krishnamacharya from Mysore, India represented the epitome of the art and science of yoga as a healing practice. From gaining initial recognition under the patronage of the Mysore King, Maharaja Sri Krishnaraja Wadiyar, in the 1920s and 30s, Krishnamacharya became famous for successfully treating patients with yoga therapy. Often, these patients were unresponsive to Western allopathic medicine and so several came to him as a last resort.

An innately talented healer, Krishnamacharya had a vast knowledge of yoga, and related disciplines, along with a wealth of practical experience. His approach was always to treat each person as an individual, using whatever aspects he felt the situation required. These could be a combination of āsana, prānāyāma, meditation, chanting and devotional practices, including ritual that could be tailored to the cultural and spiritual nature of the student. In this way, Krishnamacharya attempted to treat all aspects of the student in order to bring the whole being back to balance and good health.

Krishnamacharya was also highly skilled as an Ayurvedic practitioner and used analysis of the pulse for diagnosis along with the prescription of Ayurvedic herbs, oils and dietary treatments. He was instrumental in resurrecting an important text titled the Yoga Rahasya on yoga therapy from the 9th century sage Nathamuni. This was a work that was known about, but thought to have been lost forever. (The circumstances surrounding it’s rediscovery are fascinating and are described in T.K.V. Desikachar’s Nathamuni’s Yoga Rahasya published by Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in Chennai.)

The Yoga Rahasya is one of few ancient works containing specific information about the use of different aspects of yoga therapy for treatment of disease. Along with āsana descriptions, it places great emphasis on the quality of the breathing and the use of prānāyāma as well as devotional practices for the purpose of healing. Both the Yoga Rahasya and Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras were cited by Krishnamacharya as an important source for his successful approach to yoga therapy.

Although we can treat the symptoms of disease or injury in many different ways, healing is a process that comes from within. It happens as a result of the system’s innate intelligence, but this process can be adversely affected when we are out of balance. The aim of yoga and yoga therapy is to support the natural process of healing by bringing us back into balance on all levels. Where allopathy is required, the use of yoga therapy can support the healing process, and improve the overall outcome. I have known of several cases in which the need for asthma medication has been reduced or eradicated through consistent daily āsana and prāṇāyāma practices. I have also witnessed how daily practice with the focus on yoga as therapy has helped students with health issues, such as diabetes, blood pressure and depression.

Examining the Source of Injury or Illness

If injury has come about as a direct result of yoga practice, it is a sign that it’s time to re-evaluate your approach. From experience, it is futile for a practitioner to continue without change, hoping that things will improve. It may be the case that they are practicing too aggressively, or inattentively, or perhaps over-practicing. In any case, change in approach is needed.

Imbalances in other aspects of life may also reveal themselves in the yoga room as injuries or illness. The effect of life stresses, if left unchecked, as well as mental and emotional traumas are examples of situations that may show up in yoga as injury or generally, as chronic illness. Yoga as therapy attempts to get to the root of these problems by first correcting imbalances in the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual realms so that the individual is able to heal from within. Bringing the mind and heart to a state of attention and clarity through the various aspects of practice, such as breathing, asana and contemplative techniques is an example of this process.

Using Breath to Support Healing

Breath is an invaluable tool, which is extremely simple and available to everyone. The same parameters should be applied to breathing whether recovering from injury or not. However, in the case where injury has occurred as a result of practice, it is essential to re-examine the breathing technique and the qualities of our breathing during practice. It is unlikely that you will strain or overexert yourself when a good, healthy breathing technique is central to the focus of practice. Breath is a constant monitor of whether we are fulfilling the dual qualities of sthira (steadiness) and sukha (ease) within each āsana (posture) and vinyāsa (movement) and helps to keep the mind still and present. Often injury happens when the attention wanders and the breathing is interrupted.

A healthy breathing technique developed through āsana practice also carries over into habitual breathing, which has a positive effect at all times, helping to calm the nervous system, while bringing more energy, clarity and focus. During āsana practice, breathing should be long, deep and smooth without any straining and should be synchronized with each vinyasa. Inhalation and exhalation should be of equal length and the breath should initiate movement, not the other way around. This quality of breathing will bring a practitioner back to the present moment, cultivating more awareness to each movement and allowing the release of tensions that may be held unknowingly. Anatomically, the correct breathing technique also supports good physical alignment—key to preventing and overcoming many alignment based injuries.

The way the breath is used has a direct effect on the movement of prāṇa within the system and good breathing habits, along with simple prāṇāyāmas can help to regulate the flow of prāṇā within us. For instance, nādi śodhana prāṇāyāma helps to bring balance between the two hemispheres of the brain, simultaneously, enabling greater clarity and alertness along with calmness. It should be done after practice, but can also be performed during the day, and in the evening, preferably on an empty stomach. Practicing it for 10 minutes each time is a simple way to help bring balance to our system, while supporting the healing process.

The Importance of a Teacher in Yoga Therapy

A teacher who understands the therapeutic nature of yoga, and who is sensitive to each student’s individual situation will be able to make the necessary adjustments and suggestions to practice. As mentioned earlier, a student may need to address other external factors in order for the healing process to begin. How that is addressed will vary with the individual and their relationship with their teacher. It may only require a conversation that brings awareness to the source of the problem, or it may involve introducing other practices such as meditation, dietary shifts, chanting or further inquiry into yoga philosophy.

Śraddha (faith) in the ability of the teacher and the practice is also imperative. In the first chapter of the Yoga Sutras, Patañjali lists nine obstacles to yoga. The first of these is vyādhi (illnesses, disease, injury). At the top of the list, it’s mentioned that it’s necessary to first find balance and wellness in order to move toward a state of yoga. Patañjali places Īśvarapraṇidhāna (devotion to Īśvara) as the primary solution to overcoming obstacles. He states that Īśvara is a special Puruṣa (Soul) who contains the “seed (source) of all knowledge and cannot be excelled” and that “he is the ultimate guru without limitation of time.”

He is, therefore, the source of wisdom required for healing on all levels. It is believed that a teacher who comes from a genuine yoga lineage, such as Sharath Jois, connects us back to that unlimited source of knowledge within ourselves. Thus, the teacher becomes a focal point for śraddha (faith) in the process of healing. Even for those that do not have a belief in a higher power, the teacher represents a conduit for the knowledge of yoga that reaches back thousands of years, and for such a student, it can be that connection to a teacher that is able to inspire that śraddha.

Krishnamacharya’s legacy was to give us many great teachers, including Sri K Pattabhi Jois, TKV Desikachar and BKS Iyengar. Although different, all were therapeutic in their approach to teaching, and much of their success was from seeing yoga as a holistic process that should be integrated into all aspects of life, not just what we do on the mat.

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Why Schools Need Yoga and Mindfulness

Kimberly Jordan Allen — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 13:00:32 +0000

Everyone is stressed, teens and adults alike. When combined under one roof, such as a school, the problem is exacerbated, and everyone feels the impact. A recent study published in the journal Social Science and Medicine suggests that teacher burnout is directly associated with increased stress levels in students, which affects performance and quality of life in schools for all. Your kids deserve better, and so do their teachers.

Nearly 20 percent of new teachers in the U.S. leave their profession within the first five years, claims a 2015 federal report from The Institute for Education Sciences. Nearly 1 in 2 teachers state that the anxiety and disappointment felt at work is not worth the effort. The trickle-down effect is clear and supported: A 2014 Gallup poll called State of American Schools found that teachers are just as stressed as nurses. Penn State University researchers also confirmed that teacher retention is problematic and, as a result, student academic performance and social adjustment suffer.

The time has never been better for holistic lifestyle interventions. Many organizations, such as Bent On Learning, Holistic Life Foundation, Learning to Breathe, Mind Up, and Pure Edge, Inc. are already introducing mindfulness, yoga and meditation to teachers, administrators and students who desperately need the tools to improve their well-being.

“The health crisis in schools is profound. We’ve got stress, burnout, obesity, and this leads to mental and physical problems,” says Chi Kim, chief strategy officer of Pure Edge, Inc., an East Coast-based nonprofit founded in 2011 to offer wellness programs in schools and communities.

At a pop-up yoga conference in New York City last spring, researchers and long-term yoga and mindfulness practitioners further discussed the emerging relationship between wellness and healthcare. Among the attending experts were yoga researcher Sat Bir Khalsa, PhD, and Ashtanga yogi Eddie Stern, who was one of the principle writers behind Pure Edge’s curriculum. One of the most important topics reiterated throughout the event was the necessity to bring wellness to schools.

“Humans have a great capacity for self-regulation,” says Khalsa, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and research director for Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Massachusetts. “A healthy lifestyle can regulate gene activity at a cellular and molecular level. As yoga, meditation, and breath work enter the schools, we see a profound impact. Lifestyle diseases, such as depression and diabetes, can be influenced by these healthful practices.”

Studies show that mindfulness- and yoga-based skills, conscious breath work, and body awareness improve academic performance and emotional regulation. Mindfulness-based practices also reduce anxiety and increase attention, according to a study published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies. Research also reveals that mindfulness strategies enhance executive function in kids, supporting positive behavioral changes. In addition, a yoga practice promotes confidence and strength along with compassion and self-acceptance.

“Yoga helps teens gain control of the prefrontal cortex, which helps with decision making. This affects their ability to focus and determine healthier habits,” Khalsa explains. Children and adolescents benefit most from these practices while their brains are still developing.

Pure Edge supports the development of social, emotional, and academic learning competencies “with an open heart and an open mind,” according to the organization’s mission. It is particularly helpful in school populations impacted by PTSD, student trauma and anxiety, and symptomology related to ADHD.

“Our primary goal is to help foster community success through focus. Building resilience is key,” says Kim. The curriculum, which is the subject of ongoing research conducted by Stanford University, has served more than 300,000 children, grades K-12, across the country. Its mindfulness-based practices encourage students and teachers to deepen their emotional self-regulation, find calm, and manage stress. Movement-based exercises consist of seated twists and body-awareness techniques that bring individuals into the present moment.

“When kids feel safe, supported, and calm, they can focus better on the challenging tasks they have to complete,” says Dawn Brooks DeCosta, principal of Thurgood Marshall Academy Lower School in New York City. The school has been facilitating Pure Edge mindfulness-based practices, such as “brain breaks,” which offer an oasis for kids and teachers, allowing them to foster self-value and resilience.

One of the biggest issues that Pure Edge is working on now is caregiver burnout.

“Adults have to manage their levels of stress in order to be their best for the children,” Kim says. Makes sense, but in our current round-the-clock work culture, caregivers, too often, succumb to burnout, forgetting to practice self-care first. This is often the hardest part of the work—getting parents, teachers, and others to implement the caregiving for themselves. Pure Edge has helped more than 6,000 educators and administrators, most of whom report that the breathing exercises they learned were useful for balancing emotions and self-care.

“Teachers are 110 percent givers, all the time. They feel guilty for taking time to take care of themselves. Our core intention is to bring them calm, and make self-care more socially acceptable,” says Kim. “To be present, you have to feel valued and loved. And once that comes from within, we can share this with others.”

If you are interested in learning more about Pure Edge, the curriculum is available to anyone, free of charge. A simple practice that can help soothe your nerves—as well as your kids—at any time is Mindfulness of Breath, an exercise Pure Edge uses to facilitate connection. Try this easy, four-step balloon breathing technique whenever you need to feel insta-calm.

Balloon Breathing

1. Find a comfortable seat.

2. Imagine your belly is a balloon and start to breathe consciously, inflating with air for three counts and gently exhaling for three counts.

3. Repeat three times, or as many as you wish.

4. Notice how you are feeling calmer, refreshed, and more at ease.

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The Powerful Ways Yoga Can Help with Posture

John Campbell — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 13:00:32 +0000

Watch video on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRVaZNCzzwg

The greatest benefits of yoga lie in its ability to improve mental well-being. That said, it’s no coincidence that the practice also brings considerable physical benefit, and has been embraced in modern society as a calisthenic workout. In this video featuring John Campbell, Ph.D., an Ashtanga yoga teacher and associate professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia, you’ll be taken through a series of standing postures as Campbell expresses the importance of each physical and subtle element of the pose. One of the central components of the body’s adaptation to healthier forms, and the shedding of habitual patterns that cause pain, lies in the power of the breath, which as Campbell says, becomes the axis point for the body.

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What Makes Yoga Feel So Good?

Sarah Sung — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 19:00:15 +0000

There’s no question runner’s high exists. Scientists concur that a sense of euphoria can flood the brain after intense exercise, despite not knowing exactly how it works. Until recently, popular belief was that endorphins reduced pain and anxiety in response to physical stress. But new research suggests more chemicals are at play. A Canadian study published in Cell Metabolism this September suggests leptin—a hormone most associated with regulating feelings of hunger and satiety—may contribute to the rewarding effects of running. The brain’s endocannabinoid system may also help produce runner’s high, reports an unrelated German study published last month.

While there’s less discussion about a “high” after gentler forms of exercise like yoga, anyone who has practiced knows it offers a distinct feeling of bliss. Yoga’s immediate physical benefits include improved posture, blood flow, and concentration, plus, nailing a pose you’ve been working on for months adds a gratifying sense of accomplishment. Neurotransmitters, like endorphins, may contribute to the post-yoga “glow”—decreasing pain and increasing elation—but other factors may also be making you extra giddy.

One theory that explains why yoga feel so good is that it fulfills all five principles of the SPIRE model, a philosophy of living in which total wellness is a result of satisfying five key aspects of life: spiritual, physical, intellectual, relational, and emotional.

Yoga, with its philosophical roots, flowing movements, student community, and capacity to aid in regulation of our thoughts and feelings, hits all of these elements to provide an overall sense of well-being.

At a physical level, the postures in yoga help stretch, strengthen, and align the body. This aids in pain relief and prevention, and helps you move with ease off the mat. “The actual asana practice of movement and aligning bones allows the energy to move through our system a lot more expediently with less obstacles,” says physical therapist and yogi Harvey Deutch, owner of Red Hawk Physical Therapy in San Francisco.

The process of linking breath with movement also provides physiological and emotional benefits. Every part of you—your brain, heart, skin, organs, muscles, nerves, you name it—needs oxygen to function and survive. “Deep, expansive breathing—with exhales that last longer than inhales—helps oxygenate our blood and lungs and purifies the blood stream by eliminating toxins and carbon dioxide,” say Dilip Sarkar, M.D., a retired vascular surgeon who serves as chairman of the School of Integrative Medicine at Taksha University in Hampton, Virginia, and is a leading expert in Yoga Therapy.

The act of conscious breathing and letting your exhales last longer than your inhales can also affect your nervous system and lull your body into a relaxing state, explains Sarkar. Within the autonomic nervous system, you have both the sympathetic nervous system, which houses the fight-or-flight response, and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), which calms the body to conserve energy. When the body is in fight-or-flight mode, breathing is fast and shallow, but slow and controlled breathwork helps circumvent that stress response and provides a direct line to the PNS.

Once you’ve synced up with the PNS, you have easy access to the vagal nerve—the longest cranial nerve that runs from the brain to the heart to the gastrointestinal tract. Breath is the main way to signal to the brain to lower your heart rate and blood pressure. “Om-ing, chanting, and other vibrational sounds, also help you tap into your relaxation response through a pathway that’s connected from your ear to the vagus nerve,” says Deutch.

In addition to balancing your nervous system, yoga improves emotional regulation by activating a key brain region. “The effect of yoga primarily works through the limbic system of the brain,” Sarkar says. The limbic system is a complex area that controls emotions (including fear and anger), motivation, memory, and feelings of pleasure. When activated, “the amygdala and hippocampus send a signal to the hypothalamus and the end product is oxytocin and dopamine, which [elicit feelings of pleasure], happiness, and trust hormones,” he explains.

The physical yoga practice also prepares the body for meditation, which is “the therapeutic complement to yoga,” says Sarkar. In addition to making the body more comfortable for seated meditation, the physical engagement required by yoga aids in focusing the mind and reeling in racing thoughts. This, in turn, offers additional physiological benefits. “In a state of meditation, your mind quiets down, the thought process decreases, blood sugar and cholesterol drop, the heart rate slows, and blood pressure lowers.”

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The Healing Powers of Yoga

Sonia Jones — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 20:00:05 +0000

Watch video on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-c4qKMb8Co

In this video, hear about how yoga nourishes the mind, body, and spirit. Yoga master Sharath Jois discusses how the practice is a fully transformative and healing routine that can change your life and the lives of those around you forever.

The post The Healing Powers of Yoga appeared first on Sonima.