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yoga
Move

Is Yoga or Pilates Enough?

I commonly see patients who consider themselves to be ultra-fit because they excel at a method of training, sport, or exercise class. This includes people who are masters at CrossFit, Pilates, martial arts, various types of yoga, running, swimming, cycling, skiing, etc. Usually these people are quite shocked to learn that they have significant weaknesses and imbalances, which, over time, have caused serious dysfunction and pain.

Before I go any further, let me first say that being good at any of these activities is usually far better than being sedentary, or even moderately fit. Each of those activities mentioned have substantial benefits to the participant. Troubles can arise when one of these activities is taken to the extreme, without being built on a proper foundation.

I’ll pick on yoga briefly because it has some of the most dedicated adherents, who also turn out to be the most surprised when things go south. Depending on the type (I am generalizing here), yoga can offer a multitude of benefits including increased flexibility, endurance, strength, and mental well-being. With some types of yoga, die-hard enthusiasts tend to become too mobile, or hypermobile, over time. While mobility is important, especially in the hips, people who do some types of yoga exclusively will find themselves too mobile at the expense of stability of the spine and endurance of the supporting musculature. After a few decades, this will land them in my office wondering how this happened to them. They are also usually quite surprised to learn that they must avoid or alter certain poses to stop further injury from occurring.

The same can be said to varying degrees for most other sports, classes, or training styles. Some are better than others but few, if any, are perfect all by themselves. Taking one concept and thinking it should be applied as much as possible all over the body doesn’t work. Flexibility is good to a degree in certain areas. Strength is the same. Stiffness is the same. Balance is key.

Any exercise routine should be built upon a solid foundation of spinal stability, hip mobility, proper movement patterns, and good posture. I have touched upon these concepts in previous blogs. Once these are learned, practiced, and incorporated into your exercise routines and daily life, you can enjoy those other things that you like to do. Just remember, if there is something you absolutely hate doing, you probably need more of it.

As always, feel free to send us a message with all your questions about spine health and fitness at backinstitute@aspenclub.com. Good luck!

Out of Pain. Into Possibility. Jeremy James.

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Breathe

Do You Know What Yoga Does for You? (Part 1)

I believe there is a huge misconception in our culture about yoga and what it does for the individual who practices this ancient tradition. I’ve come to this conclusion based on most of the media coverage of the subject, but mostly from people I meet, usually on the ski lift. When I tell them I teach Kundalini Yoga, the responses usually range from “oh that is just about stretching and relaxing,” to “I cannot do yoga because I cannot even touch my toes” to “I would rather exercise and get a good workout.” Then, there is the other extreme view, that it is a religion or based on specific religious doctrine.

From the yoga masters, we learned that yoga practice brings unity to the finite and infinite self, an experience of feeling whole, expanded awareness from raising our consciousness, along with balance and harmony. That all sounds great, but how does this happen? This effect does not just come from stretching the muscles and connective tissue of the body. My spiritual teacher Yogi Bhajan said, “If flexibility was the measure of consciousness, all circus acrobats would be spiritual teachers.” The basic techniques of yoga include postures and physical movement, pranayam, which is controlled, conscious breathing, mantra, which is the use of vibration and sound current, by chanting, and meditation. Through thousands of years of research and development by the ancient yogis and mystics, they found these techniques, if done in a specific way and sequence, created certain effects and experiences in the body and mind of the individual. As an artist creates subjective beauty and a scientist produces objective physical results, the art and science of yoga consistently gave the practitioners greater physical health and the personal experiences of spiritual awareness.

Yogic philosophy says when the physical body is in its ideal state, the mind becomes centered and open, and then we will have greater access to the intuitive wisdom we hold within. This ideal physical state is achieved through the yoga practice by working on the various systems of the body to strengthen, open, and balance them together because they are all interrelated. The circulatory and respiratory systems are closely aligned with their functions, and the yogic practice of pranayam breathing creates a very efficient exchange in the lungs for the intake of O2 and the release of CO2. Breath of fire, a rapid breathing technique, cleans the lungs from the dust and debris we have inhaled and boosts the O2 level of the blood stream, which energizes every cell of the body.

Yoga helps increase the body’s ability to eliminate via the digestive system by increasing the fire element of the 3rd chakra and changing the environment in the intestines so that harmful bacteria and other parasites cannot proliferate or survive. The lymphatic system is flushed with the physical activity and boosts the immune system by detoxifying the liver, lungs, and kidneys. Some of these effects can also come from your basic active lifestyle of exercise and recreation. What separates yoga, and especially Kundalini Yoga, from basic exercise are the effects on the nervous system, and the most critical, the endocrine system, our glands. Yoga increases the energy moving through nerve pathways, and breath of fire particularly intensifies this movement. The glands are the guardians of our health – their secretions of hormones change and regulate our body’s growth and development. Additionally, the nervous system and the glandular system work together to change the chemistry of the brain. Yogi Bhajan said, “The energy of the glandular system combines with the nervous system to become more sensitive so that the totality of the brain perceives signals and interprets them.”

This is how we expand our conscious awareness, and this is how yoga changes our lives. In the next blog entry, I will talk about the specific glands, the yogic techniques that affect them, and the effect this has on our personal growth.

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