Not All Salt is Created Equal

By Lana May Many doctors agree: pure minerals and salt are essential for health. Salt often gets maligned in the media, but the truth is salt and minerals are essential for our bodies to function properly. Salt is the main component of the body's extra-cellular fluids, and helps carry nutrients into the cells. Sodium helps regulate other body functions, such as blood pressure, helping to keep our blood pressure normal. But quite simply, not all sources of sodium and salt are the same.

When it comes to the power of natural salt, nothing compares to Himalayan crystal salt.

100% natural, Himalayan pink salt is one of the purest salts available on earth. It is the oldest, healthiest, and most delicious salt in the world.

Himalayan crystal salt is far superior to traditional iodized salt which is extremely toxic. Himalayan salt is millions of years old. It is a pure form of salt, untouched by many of the toxins and pollutants that pervade other forms of ocean salt.

Himalayan crystal salt contains the same 84 natural minerals and elements found in the human body; and they  are in an ionic form (see the impressive list of elements below). It is therefore more easily absorbable and much more use-able by our bodies than any sea salt. However, not all of the ingredients in Himalayan salt are technically minerals; some, such as hydrogen and oxygen, are elements but not minerals. Spectral analyses done on Himalayan salt show that it contains both macrominerals, such as calcium and chloride, as well as trace minerals including iron and zinc. The pink in Himalayan salt comes from iron oxides.

This crystal form of salt has also been maturing over the past 250 million years under intense tectonic pressure, creating an environment of zero exposure to toxins and impurities.

What is more, this salt’s unique cellular structure allows it to store vibrational energy. Its minerals exist in a colloidal form, meaning that they are tiny enough for our cells to easily absorb them.

The health benefits of using natural Himalayan crystal salt may include:

• Controlling the water levels within the body, regulating them for proper functioning
• Promoting stable pH balance in the cells, including the brain
• Encouraging excellent blood sugar health
• Aiding in reducing the common signs of aging
• Promoting cellular hydroelectric energy creation
• Promoting the increased absorption capacities of food elements within the intestinal tract
• Aiding vascular health
• Supporting healthy respiratory function
• Lowering incidence of sinus problems, and promoting over-all sinus health
• Reducing muscle cramps
• Increasing bone strength
• Naturally promoting healthy sleep patterns
• Creating a healthy libido
• In combination with water, it is necessary for blood pressure regulation
• Prevents cellulite, when compared to table salt
• Reduces chances of developing rheumatism, arthritis and gout, and improves joint movement when compared to common chemically treated salt
• Reduces chances of developing kidney and gall bladder stones when compared to common chemically treated salt
• More regular bowel movements
• Increased energy, and better sleeping
• Reduced duration of colds and flu
• Adds delicious flavor in cooking: coating nuts, snacks, chips, popcorn, beverage applications, cooking, grilling, salt shakers, drink rimmer, roasting, seasoning, spice rubs
• As a bath salt, Himalayan salt has long been praised for its healing benefits; and is known for stimulating circulation, soothing sore muscles, helping to reduce acid reflux, lowering blood pressure, and removing toxins

Table Salt & Sea Salt

Many people are unaware that common table salt is actually full of many forms of chemicals and even sugar! Salt, while necessary for life as we know it, can be dangerous if taken in this chemical form. Commonly sold table salt is composed of 97.5% sodium chloride and 2.5% chemicals like iodine and absorbents, and sugar. Common salt is also dried at more than 1,200° Fahrenheit, a process which zaps many of the natural chemical structures of naturally occurring salt.

Many people believe sea salt is a healthy alternative to table salt, but this is no longer the case. The oceans are being used as dumping grounds for harmful toxic poisons like mercury, PCB's and dioxin. Reports of oil spills polluting the sea are becoming more frequent. With some 89% of all the sea salt producers now refining their salt, today's sea salt simply isn't as healthy as it used to be.

Sea salt may dehydrate the body whereas Himalayan salt actually hydrates our tissue! Himalayan salt and water will help detoxify the body and balance the body’s pH. Sea salt is difficult to digest and assimilate for our bodies because it is not at the organic mineral electrolyte size which is immediately usable in our blood and cells. No digestion is required for Himalayan salt. It is therefore immediately available for use throughout the body shortly after drinking some dissolved in water – unlike sea salt! .

Why Minerals are Important

Minerals are the foundational nutrient for the entire body. Every process in the body requires minerals and enzymes. Studies have shown that everyone with a disease has at least one major mineral deficiency. Mineral deficiencies are also present with those dying of natural causes. Organic minerals at a molecular level are also referred to as electrolytes.

Know this – organic ionic salt as electrolyte minerals is required as the foundational building material for everything in our bodies. All enzymes and protein production in our bodies depend upon minerals. Cellular hydration and the elimination of cellular acid wastes of metabolism depends totally upon electrolyte minerals! Add a pinch to your water throughout the day. If you focus on ‘how you feel’, then your body will cue you to give it more or less salt – depending upon what your body requires.

Use of salt is a very inexpensive, safe and homeopathic method for getting the necessary minerals and electrolytes our bodies need. You can make salt water, so replenishing our bodies with pure, unrefined, ionic and colloidal natural salt and clean water is essential to our overall well-being. This natural remedy is beneficial for adults, children and pets.

Learn more about or purchase Himalayan Pink Salt in the boutique at Bikram Yoga Paradise Valley!

List of Elements Found Naturally in Himalayan Pink Salt

From the Hot Room to the Bedroom …

By P.J. Stuart

Va-va voom!

Nothing fuels your body quite like Bikram Yoga does. Know what I mean?

It’s no urban legend or old wives’ tale.  If you’ve been practicing for a while – you already know it, first hand.  Your whole system is working better. You love it … and so does your mate. Yeah … I see that smile.

“Whatever are you talking about, PJ?” you ask, innocently.  (Mm-hmm).

I’m talking about all that nitric oxide coursing through your veins, of course.

Ahem.  When this powerful gas molecule is released into your bloodstream, it relaxes the blood vessels, expands the capillaries and increases circulation. (See where I’m going?  Gentlemen, start your engines.)

Fortunately, for those of us who practice Bikram Yoga, there is ample opportunity to produce nitric oxide during class.  Going through the 26 postures of the Bikram series, we activate muscles in every part of the body. As with any type of exercise, those muscles demand oxygen, supplied by the blood.  In order to send blood to those areas more easily, when the need arises, nitric oxide is then released from the lining of the arteries.  Presto.

Some scientists call nitric oxide “the hero of human biology.” By dilating the artery walls, it enables blood to travel faster through the body.  One popular metaphor physicians may use is that of a fire hose.  As water rushes through it to put out a fire – the hose needs to expand enough to handle the pressure, still keeping enough force to put out the fire.

Thank you, nitric oxide, for treating our circulatory system the same way!

You can imagine – during a 90-minute Bikram class, as we send blood to all areas of the body, we produce a lot of nitric oxide.  This is what makes Savasana so delicious and restorative.  And in the bedroom, it’s what …  Well, you know the rest.  I won’t use adjectives there, but they’re good ones too.

I don’t want to get in any trouble with the pharmaceutical geniuses who decided to put the power of nitric oxide into a pill … but … wouldn’t you rather get your dose of Viagra the natural way?  Avoid the need for it all together?

That’s right … see you in class!

Living the Life I Still Had Inside of Me All Along!

Sam was born with Congenital Spinal Stenosis - a narrow spinal canal sometimes resulting in unusual pressure on spinal nerve roots usually resulting in painful symptoms. Over the years calcium has built up around his spine (arthritis) and made the narrowing even worse. In October of 2010 he began practicing at Bikram Yoga Paradise Valley, a few months before having his first spinal surgery to open the L4/5 pathway to ease its restriction of the spinal cord. He continued to do Bikram Yoga (BY) during rehab and another surgery was scheduled for June to open his L3/4 pathway further down the spine.

“The doctor actually turned me away on the day of the second surgery and told me, ‘whatever you have been doing keep it up, it's working to change your spine, at this point there is no need of further operations’.” Within just eight months of practicing Bikram Yoga, Sam’s second spine surgery was called off!

Along with radically improving his spine, Sam has lost over 50 pounds and eight inches on his waist, stopped all medications, and his cholesterol is now under 170 (it was over 240). Before practicing BY Sam says he sat around, watched tv, and ate. He hadn’t made time to do anything for his physical health for years. Now Sam says, “I feel as if I am in the best overall shape of my life. I can walk. I just started to run again. And I hike the mountain preserves as long as I want to! I feel taller somehow. I have more self-confidence in all I do. And it all seems to keep on getting better.”

On the topic of getting better, Sam is working hard on his Standing Bow Pose. “I have used it to compete with myself. Hold it now, no matter what, work on my form, look at myself in the mirror. Looking in the mirror for 90 minutes during class helps me to remember I am NOT 25 anymore. I see my Dad at almost 60. But in my mind I am still 25. The more classes I do, the harder I work at it, the better I feel and look. I eat better throughout the day knowing I have to come in and look at myself. I now understand I can always improve on everything.”

His wife, Shirley, and daughter, Megan, all go to Bikram Yoga now. “We love coming here and practicing together three plus times a week. Thanks for showing me another life I still had inside of me all along.”

My Life as an Onion

Journey through Bikram Yoga By Karen Carnow

I have spent many years as a Vinyasa yogini, but due to injuries, my practice needed a change.  My friend, Amy, asked me to join her at Bikram, and I did; sporting a very negative attitude.  That particular class did not make me very happy.  The heat was gross, people were wearing bizarre outfits, the poses were boring, I wanted to leave early.  Where was the music, and the flow, and people doing cosmic headstands and arm balances?  What was this? And the worst part, the instructor wanted me to look in the mirror.  She must have been  kidding; for I had not really looked into a mirror in years.  All the yoga I had done previously,  was in a very dark room, preferably with my eyes closed.

But, understanding that I needed yoga in my life, I decided to go again the next day.  I hated that day even more. So hot, so uncomfortable, and no; I am not looking in the mirror.  As that morning wore on, I was amazed at how good I actually felt.  This could be an interesting concept; yoga without pain and competition.   “Fine,” I said to myself agreeing to give Bikram one more chance.

On this third day, an epiphany hit me. I decided  as I “glanced” up, that perhaps the reason I don’t want to look at myself was something very deep and very repressed.  So in final Savasana, I became an “Onion" determined to peel away some of my layers, to find some inner core.

The first layer I needed to attack was my night food binges.  Maybe if I curbed that, I could wake up feeling lighter and less angry. Done.  Layer magically peeled.

The second layer was to change my eating habits, and to replace bad carbohydrates with good ones.  Oh, snickers…how you will be missed.  Layer peeling.

The third layer would be the toughest and would be a work in progress; liking myself  again. Being patient with myself, and knowing that at 56 years old I am doing “pretty darn great.”

I am proud to tell you that I have been doing Bikram almost every day for 8 weeks, and I stopped my abusive food habits. The evolution has been transforming and my onion skins are really starting  to peel away. I am finding self acceptance, and a desire to peel away more layers to find the core with in.

I am amazed that the teachers all guide with a  scripted instruction; and how uniquely different they all are.  Sometimes, I feel like a pretzel, sometimes superman, and sometimes a tin man; it's always different.  Every day. Every instructor.   But, I am finding,  that it is all good.  And that I want more.  And to feel more.  And to peel more.

My goal is to stand in front, wear a cute skimpy outfit, and look in the mirror.  Really look.  And then, I will finally be at the base of my onion.

HORSEY RIDES IN 365 DAYS!

By Todd Deacon Low back pain is one of the most common problems people have. According to a study from the College of Maryland, about 60% of the adult U.S. population has low back pain, and it is the second most common reason people go to the doctor. Low back problems affect the spine's flexibility, stability, and strength, which can cause severe pain, discomfort, and stiffness. Back pain is the leading cause of disability in Americans under 45 years old. Each year 13 million people go to the doctor for chronic back pain. The condition leaves about 2.4 million Americans chronically disabled and another 2.4 million temporarily disabled.

I am fortunate enough not to be disabled, but I have had a very bad back injury for over 16 years. I’ve seen specialists, physical therapists, personal trainers, masseuses, and even a stretching specialist. You name it, I’ve tried it.  Just over a year ago things had gotten very bad, I was having episode after episode were I couldn’t get off the floor for sometimes up to 5 days. It was really starting to affect my life. I have an amazing and wonderful wife and two beautiful daughters who count on me. I wasn’t able to work, play with my kids, or help out. I was in pain and miserable.

My doctor recommended physical therapy. I’m self-employed and pay hundreds a month for adequate insurance coverage. However, I was informed that physical therapy would not be covered by insurance and I would be paying around a hundred dollars per visit! Wow, no thanks! Instead I RICE’d it (rest, ice, compress, and elevate), sat in the hot tub, stretched, and took anti-inflammatories; all the typical western solutions. The pain would eventually subside, but it just kept coming back. I finally listened to my sister and did something different…

My sister, Nicole, owns Bikram Yoga Paradise Valley (BYPV). She kept telling me a regular practice of Bikram Yoga would help my back. I had practiced sporadically in the past, but never made a commitment to the yoga.  Plus it’s really hard and you sweat your face off!

I committed to practicing 3-4 times minimum per week for a year.  In the begining there were times when I wasn’t sure if it was getting better, but with continued communication with the gurus at BYPV I learned how to heal my body.  For example, I learned that backward bending would help heal my back more than forward bending, though the forward bending felt good on my lower back. There was so much to learn and unlearn, I am so thankful for all the amazing guidance I receive at BYPV.

Low and behold, a year later I couldn’t be happier about my decision and I’m even happier I fulfilled my commitment. Though my back isn’t 100% and I still have days when it’s tight, it’s 99% better and that’s saying A LOT! I haven’t lost a day to laying on the floor because my back is in spasms. Did I mention I’ve lost some weight? In the last year I also lost 40 pounds doing Bikram Yoga, drinking LOTS of water, and eating healthier.

When asked why I do Bikram Yoga?  Other than being pain-free, feeling like a million bucks every time I do the yoga, being strong and healthy, and finding self-realization... the number one reason is being able to give my three and five year old daughters horsey rides before bed.