Breath: The Essence of Life & the Foundation of Yoga

By NikkiStarr Yoga is the union between the body and the mind, connected through the breath. Breathing is the most fundamental technique of Yoga. It is the essence of life. Without breath, neither exists. The first thing we do when we enter into this planet is to take our first independent breath. The last thing we do when we leave our physical bodies is to exhale out our entire existence in that one final breath. Deepak Chopra explains that:

“You inhale for the first time shortly after your umbilical cord is cut. From that moment on youtake approximately seventeen thousand breaths each day, which over a lifetime totals about500 million breaths. In your final moments on this planet, you exhale for the last time; thatbreath defines the end of your life. Your breathing supports every experience you have from thetime of your first inhalation to that of your last exhalation. Breath is life” (Chopra, Deepak TheSeven Spiritual Laws of Yoga: A Practical Guide to Healing Body, Mind, and Spirit, 99).

Think about it, approximately seventeen thousand breaths each day!! Incredible! Accordingly, it is appropriate and fundamental that each of our yoga classes begins with Pranayama Deep Breathing and ends with Kapalabhati Breathing.  Pranayama warms up the body from the inside out. It is good for the lungs and the respiratory system. Additionally, Pranayama exercises our nervous and circulatory systems. It is relaxing and grounding. Pranayama roots us in our practice, in our bodies.  Kapalabhati in Vajrasana (Blowing in Firm Pose) is detoxifying and energizing. It is good for the abdominal muscles and internal organs because it improves oxygenation of the body and increases circulation. Kapalabhati is good for the heart, high blood pressure, and respiration.

Breathing connects our minds to our bodies. It is the only autonomic function that we have conscious control over. While we hold our breath in our consciousness, we have the power to change it, to regulate it; thereby, regulating our bodies. Our involuntary nervous system functions resume control when we surrender the conscious control of our breath. The reality that we have the ability to control part of our autonomic nervous system is empowering. Because we can consciously choose to put our attention on our breath, we have the ability to give ourselves widespread health benefits, which is beautiful. We are so lucky! Through conscious breathing, we can relax our bodies and our minds. Additionally, alleviating high blood pressure, irritability, and insomnia. We can detoxify and revitalize our whole body! This humble piece is but a small acknowledgement and reminder that Conscious Breathings is, in line with Chopra, the “key to a healthy, vibrant life” (100).

We each hold our own key! We have the power to unlock our own health, happiness, and vitality. Exhale out what does not serve you and live the life you Love!

The Power of a Pose

Not feeling especially happy today?

There’s a well-known, quick fix solution social psychologists might tell you about … it involves putting a pencil between your back molars and clenching down for about two minutes.  You’ll feel a little happier when it’s over (and not just because you get to relieve your face from the discomfort).  Try it with an open mind – it’s a little weird, but it works.

Here’s the “science” behind the trick. The muscles activating in this “pose” are the same ones that bring a smile to your face.  This biting-down activity is doing more for you than simply “turning a frown upside down” … in theory, it’s securely activating the same tissues and nerves around your mouth to simulate a sense of well-being in your psyche, mimicking a smile without the psychological effort of “faking it.” In other words, you’re letting your neurological system take care of your mental well-being, from the outside in.

The same logic applies to our yoga practice, perhaps in an even broader context.

Think about your body language during the times you feel your happiest, most confident self.  As you walk into a room, perhaps your chest is protruding.  You walk a little taller. When you’re full of good energy … your arms are extended and ready to hug, help, high-five … whatever.  You’re literally a “bigger” version of yourself.  It’s not rocket science – it’s just easy to tell that you’re feeling good by looking at your posture.

On the contrary, during the not-so-great days, you might catch yourself slouching or folding your arms, holding yourself tight for comfort or protection.  You’re a smaller version of you, maybe using those hands to chew your nails as a coping mechanism for your anxiety.

Much like the good old pencil trick, this is how the yoga helps us psychologically from the outside-in.  You’re opening your body.  Expanding your chest, lengthening, stretching … Releasing whatever nervous energy you’re holding up that’s keeping you tight, small, or timid.  By standing tall during tree pose, you’re giving your body permission to feel strong and balanced – even if your mind isn’t 100% there. By proudly releasing your chest in camel, you’re beaming with confidence – even if you’ve had the kind of week that would rather make you feel like crawling into a cave. By enlarging your body, you’re enlarging your mind.

Bottom line … There are those sometimes elusive feelings in life we all strive for:  happiness, confidence, inner peace.  You may not always be feeling these things on the inside … but if you start by displaying them on the outside, through your body, you’ll get there.  Don’t discount the power of a pose, no matter how small it may seem.  Keep it up!

A "Q&A" about ACL & MCL Tears

A recent post from Bikram Yoga Vancouvers blog brought up a great response to a very common question- so we decided to share it here with you!

The Question

In March 2012 I experienced a minor tear in my ACL (anter      ior cruciate ligament) and MCL (medial collateral ligament). I have not been able to work out or play any sports since then. Recently, someone told me that Bikram Yoga could help, but I wonder if I should wait until after I see my surgeon in mid-October to try a class? I’ve tried Bikram Yoga before, but haven’t been in the hot room for over two years now.

We asked Roxy, a BYV teacher and a medical doctor, to provide us with some info about ACL & MCL tears. Here’s what she recommends …

The Answer

Of the two injuries you’ve experienced, it’s the ACL tear that’s most serious. The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a tough band of tissue connecting the femur (thigh bone) to the tibia (leg bone) located deep inside the knee joint. Specifically, it functions to prevent forward movement of the tibia from beneath the femur, or similarly, backward movement of the femur over the tibia. Also, it serves to resist rotational and sideways forces to the knee. ACL tears are quite often accompanied by injuries to additional knee structures, most often one of the menisci (knee cartilages) and/or the medial collateral ligament (along the inner side of the knee). ACL injuries, by themselves, also vary in severity: they can be mild, moderate or severe (grade 1 microscopic; grade 2 laxity with slackening; or grade 3 full thickness tear with most instability). The more structures are injured along with the ACL, the worse the injury and the longer the recovery.

The medial collateral ligament (MCL), on the other hand, connects the femur and tibia on the inner side (between the knees) and resists forces acting on the outer side of the knee. Along with its counterpart on the lateral or outer side of the knee (lateral collateral ligament (LCL)), the ligaments provide stability and support to the knee in side-to-side movement. The MCL’s primary function is to prevent the leg from overextending inward, but it also is part of the mechanism that stabilizes the knee and allows it to rotate.

ACL tears, especially the most severe ones, may require surgical treatment, while MCL tears most often heal on their own without surgery (with symptomatic treatment). Initially, in the acute phase of injury, icing, elevation and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories are recommended with limitation of physical activity (minimizing weight-bearing) followed by physical therapy – which Bikram Yoga is – to strengthen the knee soft tissues and supportive structures and regain flexibility.

With ACL tears, the recommendations are no sudden movements (e.g., do not play sports like soccer, basketball, tennis, etc.), no planting (as in running and planting feet), no pivoting and no deep squatting.

Bikram Yoga & Recovery

Bikram Yoga – with some modifications – will be quite healing for a variety of reasons. Since often ACL tears have other soft-tissue injuries associated (e.g., meniscus tears), the increased irrigation of the circulatory system to the synovial fluid will provide better nutrition to the soft tissues. In Bikram Yoga, we do not do sudden movements and everything is held still, so there are no worries in that department.

Deep knee flexion, such as in Awkward Pose, can be avoided (gradually increasing the intensity bit by bit if tolerated). The other deep knee flexion, namely Fixed Firm Posture, has to be performed with utmost care with very little depth: start by keeping your weight forward on the arms and not fully flexing the knees, keeping the knees wide apart to minimize the intensity (feet still apart at hip-width).

There is no pivoting in class, but extreme care should be taken with rotations of the knee: namely Tree Pose (not bringing the knee back too far down or back, keeping it up toward the ceiling and forward toward the mirror), Toe Stand (most likely, you will need to avoid this one) and head to knee in the floor series (for the leg that rotates out and bends in, the heel may not reach anywhere near the costume nor the foot the inner thigh, so a very loose flexion). Likewise in Spine Twisting Pose, on the side of the injured knee, keeping the leg straight on the ground rather than bending the knee.

The general recommendations of sports medicine for ACL tears (no sudden movements, no planting, no pivoting, no deep squats) can be put in the context of the postures to achieve the desired improvement. Extra caution should be taken when restarting the practice but, in time, favourable results can be achieved and accelerated by Bikram Yoga as a form of physical therapy. In the acute phase of injury, I would suggest taking it extremely easy, but the practice can be particularly helpful as it is ideal for strengthening the supportive soft tissues of the knee, in particular the musculature, which will help with sustaining the architectural support of the knee joint that is lacking ACL support.

Summary of Specifics to Bikram Yoga Practice for ACL Tears

1. Deep knee flexion should be avoided initially, then gradually increased in intensity if tolerated (gauged by the student):

• Awkward Pose: Minimize knee bend; may need to avoid third part with knees together (given the rotation).
• Fixed Firm Pose: Stay high, keep knees wide apart and even brace body weight partially by leaning forward on arms.

2. Extra care in rotation:

• Tree Pose: Keep bent knee up toward ceiling and forward toward mirror; with one hand holding the foot, the other hand can be used to support and hold the knee to minimize effect of gravity of pulling the knee down, which would increase rotation.
• Toe Stand: Avoid.
• Head to Knee Pose:(referring to floor posture that is accompanied with stretching): The leg that is normally bent and brought in for the foot to touch the inner thigh with heel on the costume may be bent slightly and loosely without bringing the foot in all the way to inner thigh (in very extreme cases, the leg may be kept straight).
• Spine Twisting Pose: The leg that is usually bent on the floor may be kept straight.

This post originally appeared on the Bikram Yoga Vancouver blog.

Bikram Yoga for Inflammation

by Noa Glow

A new study from the University of Ohio shows yoga can help calm the body’s inflammatory responses and, as a result, decrease the likelihood of heart disease, diabetes and even cancer. Find out how yoga for inflammation can help you.

What is inflammation?

Most people think of inflammation as temporary swelling that occurs after an injury – nothing an ice pack and some R&R won’t fix. But unlike acute inflammation, which is in part how your body responds to harmful stimuli and kick-starts the healing process, chronic inflammation is a prolonged process that can do damage to your body.

It starts with the immune system. When you’re injured or sick your body dispatches an army of white blood cells to fight the infection – a totally healthy and normal response. But if this reaction occurs for no reason (i.e., when there’s no infection to fight), the white blood cells may harm perfectly healthy organs and even destroy other cells, leaving the door wide open to disease.

Unfortunately, you can’t feel or be tested for chronic inflammation. And with more and more research pointing to this condition as a pre-cursor to some very serious diseases – from hay fever to arthritis to cancer – it’s important to stay healthy and minimize your risk. Bikram Yoga can help.

University of Ohio Study on Inflammation

Researchers compared 25 women who had practised yoga regularly for at least two years with 25 novices. The beginners showed 36% more leptin – a hormone that stimulates inflammation – in their bodies than the experienced yogis. Additionally, the experienced yogis had 28% more adiponectin, an inflammation-soothing hormone. The longer the women in the experienced group had practised, the greater their ratio of anti-inflammatory to inflammatory hormones.

Additionally, the expert yogis had lower heart rates in response to stressful events than the newbies. Yoga also seemed to boost the mood of practitioners in both groups, which (as we’ll find out) can reduce inflammatory activity.

Causes of Chronic Inflammation

• WEIGHT: Extra pounds can cause well-meaning white blood cells to inflame other bulging-but-otherwise-uninfected cells. This can make healthy cells resistant to insulin, which in turn can lead to diabetes. The unneeded white blood cells may even start to leak into your bloodstream and aggravate your liver.
• STRESS: Since the parts of your brain that sense pain are also activated by social anxiety, inflammatory activity can increase under stress.
• TOXINS: Cigarette smoke and smog can pollute your body with toxins and, according to some research, encourage inflammation.

How Bikram Yoga for Inflammation Can Help

• EXERCISE: Maintaining a healthy weight means eating right and doing regular exercise, like practising Bikram Yoga.
• RELAX: Lowering your stress levels can be a key to beating chronic inflammation. According to stress expert Dr. Ken Nedd, doing Bikram Yoga releases certain stress-induced hormones, reduces tension in the muscles and relaxes the body through the stimulation of pressure points. The controlled breathing exercises in the series also enhance your ability to relax, release tension and experience a clear, focused mind.
• DETOX: Bikram Yoga keeps your body in prime toxin-fighting form, helping it to get rid of unwanted waste and fight infection effectively.

Noa Glow writes for and practices at Bikram Yoga Vancouver. This article was originally published on December 13, 2012 by Trevor Ellestad on the Bikram Yoga Vancouver Blog.

Appetite for Yoga

By Rachel Payne

When I was first asked to write about yoga and nutrition for our BYPV blog, my first reaction was that of resistance.

Why, you may ask?  After all, that is what I am going to school for.   To honestly answer that question, I don’t know why I resisted.  Maybe because I am always bogged down with essays, and research papers and the thought of having to write ONE MORE THING purely nauseated me and sent me into a child-like rebellion (and straight to the kitchen).  Or perhaps it was because when it comes to nutrition and fitness, there are so many variables, and one size does not fit all, so I felt like it was going to take a lot of preparation on my part and that was stressing me out. Or maybe it is my ever increasing senior-itis, and I just don’t want to do it.  Whatever the reason, it’s insignificant. Ultimately I wanted to deliver something personal, and authentic.  I wanted to talk to you about a subject that I have a passion for, a topic that many can relate to, something that keeps me up late at night reading and meditating upon….something that is me and that is potentially you too.  After a lot of prayer and meditation, I felt led to guide you through this mini journey of my life….my yoga and my nutrition…but with a much different twist. If I reach but one of you, my mission is accomplished...deep breath...are you ready?  Or a more appropriate question, am I ready?

From as far back as I can remember I have had a poor relationship with food.  Through all the tragedies and circumstances this life has handed me, food was my comfort.  It never talked back, it never disrespected me, it never judged me, it never abused me, it was always there; it flooded my brain with all the feel-good chemicals that I needed in order to temporarily ease the pain of the moment.  And now as a 30 year old adult, my relationship with food is still poor.  It is a vicious cycle, stressful emotions lead me straight to the kitchen, followed by remorse and guilt, which then sends me back into the kitchen.  Many variables play into this aspect of my life.  It is not just one thing that keeps me a slave to the cookies, cake, pudding, and ice cream.  But the bottom line is, it is an addiction.  But unlike the addictions of sex, drugs, alcohol, gambling, exercise, (insert yours here), food cannot be taken away.  We need it to survive.   Thus continues my struggle to overcome, or mend my relationship with food.  I feel like my own prisoner sometimes, trapped in this body that I cannot seem to maintain.  I bust my tail in the gym 5-6 days per week, I do yoga, I eat clean, I hydrate, and I rarely-to-never eat out.  Yet I cannot maintain any amount of weight I lose on a permanent basis.  As a Dietitian to-be, and nutrition professional, this is a constant struggle.  I want to live authentically, practice what I preach.  Every day I battle this addiction.  Every day I am faced with emotions that are hard to handle, not to mention the ever expanding waist line due to my frequent binges.  I have always been one who tries to practice what I preach.  And it is ever imperative that I lead a lifestyle in which my future clients will look up to and respect.

This struggle and reality is what led me to yoga.  Every day I face myself in that mirror.  It doesn’t matter how far away I am from the mirror, from the front row to the back row, I cannot hide.  That mirror is MY accountability. Looking, loving, and accepting myself is the hardest feat.  To accept today, the now, and THIS body is all my body wants.  My 90 minute moving mediation is my “cure”.  Every day when I am faced with difficult emotions that unconsciously send me straight to the kitchen, I stop and breathe.  What would happen if in that moment I put into practice all the discipline and focus I demonstrate on that yoga mat?  What if I allow the emotions to arise, watch them as a spectator without judgment, just as we are instructed to do in our daily yoga practice?  Imagine, most of our suffering comes from resisting what is already there, particularly our feelings.  All any feeling wants is to be welcomed, touched, allowed. It wants attention. It wants kindness. If we treated our feelings with as much love as we treat our dog or our cat or our child, we'd feel as if we were living in heaven every day of our sweet life.  This is what my yoga has taught me.  Have I mastered this? Absolutely not.  Every single day I start over.  Some days are better than others, but what I do know is that I always have my yoga.  It calms me, teaches me, encourages me, and keeps me in that space of gratitude.  All our bodies want is love and acceptance, and from that space, we are overcomers and conquerors.  There will always be problems, so many problems, but if we stay grounded in our own presence, in our own “alrightness”, we can deal with them from a clear space that our yoga practice creates within us.  The more and more we love and accept ourselves exactly the way we are, the better and better we will get at EVERYTHING.  Such self-acceptance creates emotional freedom which inspires all of us to grow to our fullest potential.

Thank you for allowing me to share this with you. You all motivate, encourage and inspire me.  I am grateful.  I look forward to sharing with you again, perhaps next time on a more educational note about yoga and nutrition.