Yoga and Balance An Overview

by Baxter 

Tree Pose with the Wall

Because our ability to balance changes as we age, and poor balance is at the top of the list of risk factors for an increased chance of falling, it is obvious that maintaining and improving balance is a worthy endeavor! For almost everyone I talk to about their goals as they age, staying independent in function and lifestyle is at the top of their list. Sadly, at the extreme, poor balance often leads to unexpected falls, which can result in devastating fractures and loss of both physical function and being able to live independently. But deteriorating balance can just as easily erode the ability to go about your daily activities with ease and to engage in healthy physical activities. I am sure many of you have friends or family members whose changing ability to balance gradually kept them home bound and had a negative impact on their quality of life. That's why we consider balance as one of the four essential skills of Yoga for Healthy Aging.

Aging Changes to Our Balance System

Before getting into the ways yoga can maintain and improve balance, it is worth reviewing how balance changes as we age, in an honest light. In our post Aging and Balance, Shari Ser, who both a physical therapist and a yoga teacher, said:

“Unfortunately decline in ability to balance is part of ‘normal aging.’ Physiological changes inevitably occur in aging; the composition of the muscle fibers changes from fast twitch to slow twitch, which means our reaction times decline. There are changes in peripheral nerve conduction speeds, and we may either overcompensate or under compensate when our balance is challenged. The smooth modulation of our central nervous system is affected as we age. There are intricate feedback systems between our cerebellum, brain stem, cranial nerves, and basal ganglia that need to be working smoothly for us to easily execute our locomotion and peripheral body through space. 

Our proprioception (the ability to sense where we are in space) also changes as we age as well as our vestibular system (the balance system that is our inner ear). Some hypothesize that this is due to circulatory changes as we age. There are changes in our auditory and visual systems as we age. We get stiffer in our joints and muscles so we loose the full range of motion these joints may have had previously. Cognitive changes occur in our brain also slowing down the in streaming of information. Balance is a reflexive activity, an unconscious response to a change in stimuli, but to improve balance also requires mental concentration.”

How Yoga Helps

In that same post, Shari suggested some ideas on how yoga helps maintain or improve our balance: 

“The maxim “use it or you loose it” is so true with balance! But if we stand in Tadasana (Mountain Pose) we are integrating every single one of our balance systems. Our eyes orient us to midline and to the horizon, and they tell us where up and down are. Our vestibular system tells us that the surface is stable and there is no spinning or tilting to compensate for. Our proprioceptors in our joints, muscles, and skin send feedback to the resistance of the floor, and our conscious mind sends information to elongate here, relax there, shift to the right/left, etc. Our brain is never quiet in Tadasana, always tweaking a little bit here and there. The act of standing still is a full body isometric activity, and it is work that is making our bodies stronger.” 

We can challenge our bodies even more when we stand on one foot, balance on one foot and a hand, such as with Half Moon pose (Arda Chandrasana), or move through a series of connected postures, as in Sun Salutations, because balance and agility are intimately interconnected. In fact, agility requires balance in motion. As Leslie Kaminoff observes, as we move through our day, it is as if we are almost falling and self-correcting moment by moment, and our balance system is what keeps us upright. 

By engaging in stimulating all aspects of our balance system to work at optimal levels, a regular yoga practice has the potential to influence all of the aging changes Shari outlined above. With yoga, you can:

• Stimulate the pressure receptors and proprioceptors in your feet by working barefoot in balance poses barefoot.
• Stimulate the mechanoreceptors in our joints, ligaments, tendons, and muscles above the feet via the various positions in which you place your limbs during yoga asana.
• Improve mental focus by training your minds to return again and again to the balancing task at hand. You notice shifting sensations, the feeling of being on or off balance, when extraneous thoughts take you away from your focus on balance, and so on. Even the pranayama and meditation practices you do can lead to improved mental focus when you find yourself doing balancing poses or walking around the house. 

And yoga can address the sports medicine concept of “controlled instability” News on Balance, Falling, and Yoga) by initially introducing someone new to yoga and previously inactive to the basic yoga poses and dynamic sequences, then adding more challenging poses and practices for the advancing practitioner, and finally, when balance poses are mastered, enabling the practitioner to challenge the edge of stability by creatively modifying poses.

For those that already have balance issues when they start yoga, yoga has great ways of making the exploration of poses for balance safe, and minimizing the chance of becoming fearful. One of the first tools that can help these people is the wall, which they can use by standing close to it, either facing it, standing sideways to it, or having their back to it. 

By simply getting you out of your shoes and socks, yoga helps you wake up the balance and pressure receptors in your feet in general, whether you are ready or not for full balance poses. So even practicing standing poses in general is helpful for beginners. And for more advanced practitioners, yoga helps wake up the balance and pressure receptors in your hands when you practice arm balance poses, such as Side Plank pose (Vasithasana), Crane pose (Bakasana), or Handstand. 

Other factors that affect balance and safety are our individual levels of flexibility, strength, and endurance. And since we know that yoga can improve these factors, their improvement will contribute to improved balance as well.

Our mental attitude towards balance and the risk of falling can also have a huge impact on our success or failure, our progress or lack thereof. The yoga practices of mindfulness without judgment that we try to cultivate can change a habitual negativity around balance, such as “I suck at Tree pose,” to a more neutral mental input, like “I am typically wobbly in Tree, but let’s see what I can do today….”

So, your yoga toolbox provides a number of tools for improving balance, from the physical tips of your toes to the ethereal influence of your thoughts.

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Why You Should Start a Home Yoga Practice

by Nina

Houses At Unterach On The Attersee by Gustav Klimt

I just loved our post yesterday Accepting Your Body by Anna Guest-Jelley! It even made me a bit teary, as I think body acceptance—and self acceptance in general—are so important for all of us. I thought the first question she recommended was especially powerful:  

1. What does my body need in this moment, and how can I meet that need with the resources I have on hand?  

This is the question I ask myself every single time I practice yoga at home. (I typically only take one class per week, maximum) That's how I use yoga to take care of myself physically, mentally, and emotionally. But these benefits only come for those who are willing to go out on a limb and start doing yoga by themselves and on their own. After all, the class you go to on a given day might be turn out to be exactly the wrong thing for you that day!

So, are you someone who always thinks about starting a home practice but never quite gets around to it? Or did you once have a regular practice but have fallen off the wagon? If so, I’d like to encourage you to start—or return—so you can begin reaping some of the benefits that Anna mentioned in her post. In his post Home Practice: The Best Way to Improve Your Health Dr. Timothy McCall says that practicing at home is the best way to improve your health. 

"If you are taking yoga classes but not practicing at home, you may be missing the best—and potentially most therapeutic—part of yoga. Your personal practice is where the deepest work happens, when you go inward and go at your own pace” 

And practicing at home will also allow you to use yoga to self regulate (see Self Regulation and Yoga), which means that you can learn to “monitor and manage your internal states.”

Have I inspired you to get started (or start again)? If you do embark on a new adventure of practicing at home, let me know how it goes! Here are some posts from our archives may help you with your new home practice.

Motivating Yourself to Practice  

Energizing Yourself  

Pet More Dowwnward-Facing Dogs
Got 20 Minutes?  

Decide Each Day What to Do

Sequencing and Ideas for What to Practice 

We have lots of sequences on the blog, but being able to get what you need from your practice means learning to modify existing practices or develop them on your own.  

Practice As Many As You Can 

Mixing It Up  

Customizing Your Practice 

Stuck in a Rut? 

Creatiing a Mini Yoga Practice

Sequencing: An Essential Skill for Home Practice 

Sequencing in the Style of Krishnamacharya, Part 1 

Sequencing in the Style of Krishnamacharya, Part 2 

Iyengar-Style Sequencing, Part 1  

Iyengar-Style Sequencing, Part 2 

6 Ways to Take Care of Yourself with Yoga 

Yoga for Real Life
 

Staying Safe  

How to Stay Safe While Practicing Yoga 

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Is Meditation an Essential Part of Practicing Yoga

by Timothy

Patterns in the Sand by Brad Gibson

Do you need to meditate? Can you achieve all or most of the same benefits from just practicing asana, restorative yoga, Savasana, and/or pranayama? Is it worth even trying if you feel like you're no good at it? We get questions like these at the blog from time to time, so I figured I'd tackle them today.

I can't help but notice that people often talk about yoga and meditation as two separate practices. But according to Patanjali, the great codifier of yoga, meditation was an integral part of the practice. By yoga, of course, most people in the U.S. mean asana, which is why people say yoga and meditation. And since most asana classes don't include any meditation, many yoga practitioners have looked outside of yoga, often to Buddhism, if they're interested in learning more. There's nothing wrong with that, but I think people forget that the Buddha was a yogi before he became the Buddha!

Meditation gets a lot of press as an effective tool to de-stress, to calm the mind and the nervous system. That's certainly true, but if that were all meditation had to offer, you could hardly view the practice as vital, since we've got so many tools in yoga that can foster relaxation: asana, breathing practices, chanting and restoratives to name a few.

To many dedicated yogis, however, meditation is the crown jewel of the practice. They recommend asana mostly because it prepares the body for meditation, to sit up straight comfortably for long periods of time. All the high levels of samadhi—absorption as it is sometimes translated—the eighth of the eight limbs of yoga that Patanjali describes in the Yoga Sutras, are said to happen only in meditation. And, more specifically, from its long-term practice over the course of years, even decades.

I have been meditating for a long time, and it has become in many ways the most delicious part of my practice. It didn't start out that way. My mind was very busy when I began, and it was extremely difficult for me to keep my attention from flitting from idea to idea. And it was hard to find comfort sitting in one place, without frequent position adjustments and fidgeting. Many people who try to meditate get discouraged at this point and give up. That, I believe, is a mistake. As with a lot of other areas of yoga, hanging in when things are challenging, even discouraging, can bring rewards. Yoga teaches that it is by strengthening our weaknesses that we become more balanced.

Meditation can be a fabulous tool to study your mind and slowly gain more control over it. (I'm not just talking about the conscious mind, which is mostly what gets dealt with, often quite helpfully, in psychotherapy, but the unconscious mind, which hugely impacts our behavior and happiness.) The first lesson for most of us on the meditation cushion is just how unruly our minds are, and how hard it is to maintain our focus for more than a few seconds. Seeing that reality may be uncomfortable, but it's the first step toward eventually changing it.

And there is real benefit in feeling your mind running all over the place, wanting to get up and move, and continuing to stay seated anyway, trying to bring your attention back to whatever you're focusing on, whether that's your breath, an image, or a mantra. Studies of the Relaxation Response, which were performed on people practicing a demystified form of yogic mantra meditation, have shown that even when practitioners don't feel they are doing it well, they gain the physiological benefits of lower blood pressure, heart rates, etc.

Even after years of practice, some days my mind is still all over the place. But usually, if I stay at it, things eventually settle down. One reason why some experts recommend 20 minutes of meditation daily is that it often takes about that long to settle down. But the more you practice the easier it gets.

You might wonder where you will find the extra time to add a 20-minute practice to your already busy schedule. Well, first off, you don't need to do it for that long. Even a few minutes in the beginning starts to build up the habit. Over time you can slowly increase the time you sit. Interestingly, about a decade ago when I upped my practice to an hour a day, I discovered that I began to need about an hour less sleep each night, as if the meditation were giving me some of sleep's restorative effects. It felt like I was getting to meditate for free, without carving any time out of my day!

In my yoga therapy work, I often recommend meditation, but not always. Sometimes when someone is very anxious or seriously depressed, if they attempt to close their eyes and go inward, they may go into an unpleasant—and potentially counterproductive—state of mind. But if we can use other tools, like breath and asana, to improve the acute situation (along with whatever medication, therapy or other tools they are employing), I will often try to add meditation later. I have come to believe that for the long-term care of anxiety and depression, meditation may be the most powerful tool we have. It gets to places that asana simply can't, as powerful as asana can be.  But unlike a lot of meditators, I don't think you should give up your asana practice once you get into meditating. Because asana also gets to some places that meditation can't, like your hip flexors, for example!

The bottom line is that the different yogic tools appear to work together in a synergistic fashion. Meditating can make you a better asana practitioner, and doing asana can help deepen your meditation. And regular pranayama can help both of them!

In my next post, I'll give more specifics on how to begin a meditation practice. If there are particular themes you'd like to me address, please let us know.

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Friday Q A Yoga for Athletic Performance

Kayaks by Marie Lossky
(@Marie.Lossky on Instagram)

Q: Read your article Friday Q&A: Yoga for Long-Distance Runners about running and yoga. I am not a runner but have been a kayak/surf ski racer for 20+ years. When I started paddling I did not have a yoga practice and was pretty mediocre in my paddle performance. My yoga practice became serious about a year after paddling became a regular part of my life. After approximately 6 months of a regular yoga practice my competitive paddling performance began to change for the better. I began to win races against other paddlers in "faster" boats. I started to call yoga my "secret weapon" in terms of training. The more refined my yoga practice became the further I moved up the ranks as a competitive paddler. I believe that my yoga practice provided some intangible benefits as an athlete. Being able to "feel" what my body is doing and to relax more during exertion made a huge difference in my performance. Fast forward to today when I am well into my 60's and still managing to outperform most of my competitors that are 20 or 30 years younger than I am is a testament to a regular yoga practice. I am pretty sure these benefits work across other athletic endeavors. It may be hard to measure but I know it to be true from anecdotal observation. I sincerely doubt I would still be paddling competitively at this point if I hadn't had the good fortune to discover yoga!  

And 2 questions for you: Has anybody tracked the longevity of athletes’ careers when yoga is thrown into the mix? Along these lines I have another question. Have there been any studies that show an increase in Vo2 max from a regular pranayama practice? 

A: Before I briefly address this reader’s questions, I need to tell you that I was very intrigued by what he initially wrote to me so I sent him a few more questions to give me a better picture of his experience as a yogi and competitive paddler. Here are my questions along with his replies. 

Baxter: Can you describe your yoga practice in the early days and how it has changed over time? Which yoga tools do you practice regularly? Asana, pranayama, meditation, and any others?  

Ken: When I began practicing yoga in earnest it was all about getting to as many classes as possible. I would usually take three or four classes a week and as many workshops as I could. My approach was to have my asana practice be very physical and athletic. No pain, no gain. 

A serious injury forced a totally different approach. I rarely attend classes these days and have a very sensitive, gentle and "sensational" home practice. I have learned to "feel" my way into poses and strive to "release" as opposed to "stretch"—a subtle difference but an important one. Most of my practice is asana based with breath work being an integral part. I also do some pranayama as well. 

Baxter: How aerobic is your sport? How long is a typical race or event? What are the ranges of courses or times? Is it all like running, with short and long distance events?  

Ken: My paddling is a pretty physical and aerobic experience. Over the years my races have ranged between 10-40 km with my favorites in the past being the longer ones. The last couple of years I have been leaning toward shorter events. I am hoping to do some longer distance races this season. 

The races are really just the carrot to get out and paddle. I do a mix of Long-Slow-Distance training sessions that are between seven and twenty miles, mixed with various forms of high-intensity interval training. Both seem to be necessary to be competitive. In the last few years I have segued from paddling more traditional kayaks to high-performance surf skis. These are light, fast and tippy craft. They require much more core strength and balance. Longer events can be more of a challenge in terms of comfort and fatigue.

Baxter: Do you feel your yoga practice has had any potential benefit regarding reducing typical paddling injuries when you compare your health to that of your competitors? 

Ken: My yoga practice has been profound in terms of my paddling performance. All athletes have the potential for injury. I can't really say with authority if I have fewer injuries than others but I know I have fewer than I would if I didn't have a regular yoga practice. When I do have injuries, I tend to recover more quickly. If I sense a problem, a sensitive approach to my practice often allows me to release spasming muscles. I like to call it "active healing"—very slow and gentle.

I train regularly for paddle events and achieve good results while having spent less time training than many of my peers. That is certainly the result of a regular yoga practice. An efficient paddle stroke is much like a well-done asana. It begins with grounding and engaging the whole body. Being able to relax your body and mind during competition makes a tremendous difference in the outcome. Better to be a willow than a brick. 

As important as yoga is to my athletic endeavors, it also benefits most other aspects of my life. When I am not doing yoga or paddling, much of my time is spent in my shop building boats or furniture. Believe it or not, the likelihood of an injury is higher in the shop than on the water. Moving in a relaxed and mindful way is always a challenge when distracted by work! No doubt that yoga has helped there as well—the yoga of daily life. 

Thanks, Ken! 

And as for Ken’s questions, I could find no studies on whether professional athletes who do yoga have longer careers than those that don’t, but found a few off-hand comments to that effect in some online articles-yet another field for future yoga research. As to whether pranayama improves V02 max—a measure of excellent cardiovascular endurance and something desirable for endurance athletes—I did find a few studies that stated just that. For those interested in learning more, see Estimation of VO 2 max before and after Yoga Training in Healthy female Medical Students and Effect of Yogic exercises on aerobic capacity (VO2 max. 

—Baxter

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Supporting the Veterans Yoga Project!

by Nina

During Veterans Gratitude Week (November 4-13) yoga teachers and studios from communities around the country will be hosting donation-based yoga and meditation classes. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to Veterans Yoga Project, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to support recovery and resilience among our veterans, families and communities. Veterans Yoga Project provides classes, training, and healing retreats to enhance recovery and strengthen resilience for all veterans and for their families. 

The events held during Veterans Gratitude Week will raise awareness of the issues that many veterans face and allow communities across the country to come together to support in a tangible way, the men and women who protect and serve the rest of us. Estimates of PTSD Among veterans are:  

• 500,000 Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom & New Dawn Veterans
• 80,000 Gulf War Veterans
• 420,000 Vietnam Veterans

This year the goal of the Veterans Yoga Project is to increase their reach from previous years (39 states in 2015, 25 states in 2014) to include all 50 states! There are two ways you can help with this. If you’re a yoga teacher, you can sign up at Sign Up to Teach to teach one donation-based class in your community. Or, if you’d just like to donate to the organization to support these efforts, you can do so directly on the Veterans Yoga Project web site: Donate.

 #VeteransGratitudeWeek And you can also help by spreading the word! Find out more at Veterans Gratitude Week.

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Yoga and Parkinsons Disease Part 1

by Richard Rosen, guest contributor

A Road Through the Woods by Brad Gibson

When we received a question last week about yoga and Parkinson’s Disease, we turned to our friend Richard Rosen. Richard Rosen is a senior yoga teacher, who has been practicing yoga for 31 years and who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease about 9 years ago. Richard had so many interesting things to say in the response to the question that we decided to make it a separate post. —Nina

Q: Interested in suggestions for yoga for students with Parkinson's.

A: Parkinson’s Disease (I prefer Condition) is a progressive degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. Common symptoms include loss of muscular flexibility, balance, and strength. You may notice that these are the very physical qualities promoted by the physical practice of yoga postures and related exercises. To a certain undetermined extent then, yoga exercises help to not exactly counteract PD symptoms, but go a long way toward at least a temporary amelioration. These exercises (depending on the frequency and intensity of practice) also help cultivate and refine greater body awareness, which in turn (again to an undetermined extent) allows the individual to self-correct certain of the symptoms. I’m hedging everything I say here because, as in all of life, there are no guarantees. Some conditions progress very rapidly, others only gradually. But in any case the sooner a credible practice is established the better it will serve the individual. I can’t stress this enough: once the diagnosis of PD is confirmed, if you’re not already practicing some form of yoga exercise, get started immediately with a competent teacher.

This is a very difficult question to answer in 25 words or fewer as it’s stated here. I would ask first about the students’ condition: are they pretty much at the same level of development, or are some farther along? If the former, are they all still fairly mobile, is their balance still decent, their strength and flexibility? If the latter, how serious is the situation? Do some need canes or walkers? Is the shaking debilitating at times? Different strokes for different folks is the operative approach.

And then I’d need to know something about the teacher, if there is one. Training? Experience? Are there props like chairs and bolsters? What size is the class, if there is one? Are there assistants if there are more than, say, 6 to 8 students? Don’t mean to be evasive here but a PD class is definitely not like an average public class, these are students that need extra attention.

Or are you asking in general about individual students you might be working with in a private setting? Again it’s important to tailor the work to the student’s level of development. Without more detailed information I can only give general suggestions. 

Certainly one of the most useful exercises would be a passive backbend over a bolster or rolled blanket (see here for a photo). We PD people tend to slump after awhile and the backbend helps encourage a long (not "straight") front spine. The thickness of the support would depend on the student, both his/her level of development and previous experience with yoga-influenced exercises (I assume when you say “yoga” you’re talking about asana-like postures; please remember “yoga” is an umbrella term for a wide variety of schools and practices, and shouldn’t be equated solely with asana). Obviously the stiffer the student, the smaller the roll’s diameter should be, and stiffer students will likely need a blanket support under the back of their head to prevent jamming the neck, and should also keep knees bent and feet on the floor to avoid back strain. The roll should be positioned under the lower tips of the shoulder blades so that the arms can lay comfortably off to the sides, not higher than parallel to the line of the shoulders. Initially the student might stay for a couple of minutes, then slowly over time, depending on the student and the seriousness of his/her practice, increase the stay to 5-6 minutes. I should emphasize here that if the student isn’t ready or willing to practice regularly—every day would be ideal—then the exercises will have minimal impact if only practiced once weekly or less.

While in the pose it’s essential that some attention be paid to the breath. Have the student pretend he/she can channel the inhalations slowly and directly into the space behind the sternum (yes, I know that’s where the heart is, I said “pretend”), so that each intake creates more and more space in the upper chest. On the exhalations have the student imagine sinking down over the blanket, so that with each successive exhale, he/she seems to be releasing more and more over the roll.

I’m not, at this point, particularly comfortable going any farther until I learn something more about the teacher-student relationship, the former’s chops and the latter’s needs. Please write to this blog again with more information about yourself and the students, and of what you intend to do with this instruction. 

Richard Rosen is currently the director of Piedmont Yoga Studio in Oakland, CA. He is a contributing editor for Yoga Journal magazine, and is the author of three books, The Yoga of Breath (Shambhala 2002), Yoga for 50+ (Ulysses 2004), and Pranayama Beyond the Basics (Shambhala 2006). He’s also created a set of seven CDs titled The Practice of Pranayama, issued by Shambhala, and Shambhala will publish his Original Yoga, a book about traditional Hatha Yoga, in 2011. (To find out more about Richard and Piedmont Yoga Studio, see here.)

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Day to Night Yoga for Better Sleep

by Nina

Buddha in My Garden
by Michele Macartney-Filgate

This morning I was talking with Bonnie Maeda, RN and Shari Ser, PT about the workshop we’re going to be teaching on yoga for sleep disorders at the Berkeley Yoga Room, Saturday, June 16, from 2 to 5 (see here for registration information). When I described my 24-hour approach to practicing yoga for better sleep to them, they were very enthusiastic. So I'm going to share it with you today.

Yes, yoga in general is relaxing, but some poses are more relaxing than others while some poses and practices are actually quite stimulating. So if you’re having trouble sleeping, I recommend you plan out your day regarding which poses you do when. I mean, if you’ve been suffering from insomnia, you wouldn’t drink a double espresso right before bed, would you? Standing poses, backbends and vinyasa flows can be almost as stimulating, so a strong practice including those poses done just before bed can keep you awake (trust me, I've tried it). But those poses help keep you strong and flexible, as well as reducing stress by releasing physical tension from your body, so you wouldn’t want to eliminate those poses entirely from your practice. On the other hand, there are relaxing practices you can do right in bed either before sleep or in the middle of the night that will help you fall asleep more quickly and sleep more deeply. Here's how to plan out your day:

Day Time
Getting exercise is important for improving your sleep. So during the day, walk, run, swim, cycle, or do a strong yoga practice that includes forceful, stimulating poses, including standing poses, backbends, twists, and/or Sun Salutations and vinyasa flows.

Early Evening
After work or in the early evening, if you’re up for practicing, it’s best to do poses and practices that calm your nervous system, such as forward bends, inverted poses, and restorative yoga. Meditation, Relaxation pose with a mental focus, and yoga nidra (yogic sleep) are also good stress reducers. If you want to use a guided relaxation, see the Relaxation Tracks tab on at the top of the blog. From this point on it’s best to avoid the simulating poses and practices.

Before Bed
Turn off the TV early or put your book down, and take some time before you get into bed for conscious relaxation. Switching your nervous system from fight or flight to relaxation mode before getting into bed will help you fall asleep more quickly and sleep more deeply. Supported inverted poses, such as Legs Up the Wall pose, Easy Inverted pose (see here), and Bridge pose with straight legs, will calm your nervous system. Some people also like to meditate or practice seated breath awareness before getting into bed.

In Bed
For people suffering from insomnia, just getting into bed can trigger a new bout of stress. If you find your thoughts are racing and you are worrying about falling asleep, you can practice a body scan (Relaxation pose with a mental focus), where you conscious relax various parts of your body. Or you can work with your breath, either practicing general breath awareness or any form of pranayama that lengthens or emphasizes the exhalation. Practicing conscious relaxation before falling asleep will help you sleep more deeply. See my post Yoga You Can Do In Bed for more information on yoga you can do before falling asleep.

In the Middle of the Night
All of us insomniacs are familiar with the terrible moment in the middle of the night when we realize we’re wide awake and the possibility of returning to sleep feels hopeless. However, the worst thing you can do is lie there worrying about not falling back to sleep. Instead, return to the same practices you do before falling asleep, such as Relaxation pose with a mental focus, breath awareness, or extending the exhalation. Although it takes some discipline to focus on these practices (for some reason, worrying seems so much easier in the middle of the night), many people, including me, find that 10 to 20 minutes of practice allows us to fall back into a deep sleep.

Some practitioners I know do soothing poses in the middle of the night, such as supported forward beds (in bed with pillows) or even Legs Up the Wall pose. You can try this if seems appealing; just make sure you move slowly, stay warm, and keep the lights as low as possible. You could even play a guided relaxation track at this point. Again, see my post Yoga You Can Do In Bed for more information.

Morning
Good morning! I hope you slept better last night. Now, if you feel like gently stimulating your nervous system by moving with your breath, doing a few standing poses, or even doing a full yoga practice, go for it!

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There are Many Yoga Paths

by Nina

Travelers on a Mountain Path at Night by Hiroshima

“Yoga is a spectacularly multifaceted phenomenon, and as such it is very difficult to define because there exceptions to every conceivable rule.” 

“So when we speak of Yoga we speak of a multitude of yogic paths and orientations with contrasting theoretical frameworks and occasionally even divergent goals, though all are means to liberation.” — Georg Feuerstein

Although Ram has written an entire series on the eight-fold path of yoga (also called Raja Yoga) as described in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, it is important to understand that there are many other paths besides the eight-fold path to achieving the same yogic goals. I mentioned this in my post 8 Essential Yoga Concepts last week, when I discussed the essential yogic concept of “many paths.” 

Since then I’ve been doing some research on those paths. In 8 Essential Yoga Concepts I said that the Bhagavad Gita mentioned three different paths and that Vivekananda described four. At that time my intention was to describe the four paths that Vivekananda identified in more detail. And, in order to help you, my readers, to better understand each path, I also wanted to find a well-known yogi or two who traveled each one path (for example, Mohandas K. Ghandi is the considered by many as the ultimate practitioner of Karma Yoga.)

To learn more about these paths, I turned to The Yoga Tradition by Georg Feuerstein, my go-to resource on yoga history. When I read the following, I wasn’t completely surprised (I knew from having already read the book about the multitude of yogic paths and crazy twists and turns of yoga history), but I soon realized that my original plan wasn’t going to work:

“Within the realm of Hinduism, six major forms of Yoga have gained prominence. They are Raja-Yoga, Hatha-Yoga, Jnana-Yoga, Bhakti-Yoga, Karma-Yoga and Mantra-Yoga. To these must be added Laya-Yoga and Kundalini-Yoga, which are closely associated with Hatha-Yoga but are often mentioned as independent approaches. These two are also subsumed under Tantra-Yoga.”

In the same chapter, Feuerstein also mentioned Aurobindo’s Integral Yoga as a separate path from the “modern” era. Finally, he pointed out something I knew but wasn’t taking into consideration, which is that there are “Yogas” within the Jaina, Buddhist, and Sikhism traditions (something I will not be going into today).

I quickly realized that if I was to describe each of those paths and come up with a representative yogi for each one, I’d be writing a whole chapter! Instead, I’m just going to recommend that for those of you who are interested in learning more about all these paths and more that you read "Chapter 2: The Wheel of Yoga" in The Yoga Tradition yourself. I will, however, provide a very brief summary of the paths he described below.

But I was also left with several questions. Which of these paths am I on? Maybe Hatha-Yoga with some Raja-Yoga and Karma-Yoga mixed in? And does it matter if I mix it up like that? Do I have to follow only one path? Or any path at all?

According to Feuerstein, not only do I not “need” to become a convert to any path, but also I should not accept yogic ideas and practices without questioning them. 

“In our struggle for self-understanding and psycho-spiritual growth, we can benefit immensely from a liberal exposure to India’s spiritual legacy. We need not, of course, become converts to any path, or accept yogic ideas and practices without questioning. C.G. Jung’s warning that we should not attempt to transplant Eastern teachings into the West rings true at a certain level; mere imitation definitely does more harm than good. The reason is that if we adopt ideas and lifestyles without truly assimilating them emotionally and intellectually, we run the risk of living inauthentic lives.”

When I read the above quote, I felt very relieved! For one thing, yes, I guess it is okay for me to mix it up and not be committed to a single path. But also I realized that this is what my post about “many paths” should be about: just a sort of general statement that, as Feuerstein said, there is a “multitude of yogic paths.” And as you learn about these paths, you may find ideas and practices that are useful to you (or not). So keep an open mind, and don’t get stuck on one path or with one teacher’s interpretations of what “yoga” means just because it’s the one you started out with.

Some of the Yoga Paths (Summarized from The Yoga Tradition)

Raja-Yoga: The yoga system (eight-fold path) of Patanjali described in the “Yoga Sutras,” which emphasizes meditative introversion.

Hatha-Yoga: A psycho-spiritual technology intended to fortify the body to withstand transcendental realization. Unlike Raja-Yoga, Hatha-Yoga expresses the ideal of Tantra, which is to “live in the world out of the fullness of Self-realization rather than to withdraw from life in order to gain enlightenment.”

Jnana-Yoga: The path to Self-realization through wisdom, in which you learn to discern the Real from the unreal or illusory.

Bhakti-Yoga: Self-realization is achieved through devotion to God or the Divine, who can be worshiped in song, ritual action or meditation.

Karma-Yoga: The “yoga of action” described in the Bhagavad Gita, in which every action is turned into a “sacrifice,” where you surrender outcome of the your action to Divine.

Mantra-Yoga: The use of sacred utterances, numinous sounds, or sounds charged with psycho-spiritual power as rituals to achieve Self-realization. Has 16 limbs, including conduct, concentration, mediation, breath, and mudras, so more than just mantras are required.

Laya-Yoga: Self-realization or Samadhi is achieved through “absorption.” Central to this path is the concept of the kundalini-shakti (the serpent power).

Integral-Yoga: Developed by Sri Aurobindo, this form of yoga has the purpose of bringing “divine consciousness” back into the human body and into ordinary life. It has no prescribed techniques because the individual must simply open himself or herself to the higher Power.

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Is Yoga Really Dangerous for Men Dr Timothy McCalls Response to William Broad

by Timothy

Man in Unwounded Warrior 3 Pose by Nina Zolotow

Science reporter William Broad, who a year ago woke the proverbial sleeping (downward facing) dog of the yoga world with his NY Times Magazine article How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body, is back at it. This time he's claiming—based on a review of injury statistics—that men are at much greater risk of serious injury from yoga (see Wounded Warrior Pose). The claim may or may not be true, but I don’t think you can really tell from the data he presents. I plan on writing more about this topic in my next email newsletter, but wanted to respond to Nina's query for the blog today.

As Broad makes clear in his book, The Science of Yoga (from which the first Times yoga article was excerpted), the subject of his inquiry is the physical practice of yoga as found in most classes. He’s not talking about meditation, chanting, selfless service or spiritual development. Even so, styles of asana practice, different teachers and classes vary enormously. It’s my feeling that Broad's failure to account for these differences could entirely explain his findings.

Back when I was taking a lot of classes of different styles (which I'm not doing anymore, so if things have changed I’d love to get feedback from readers), I found that in the more meditative and restorative classes, I was often one of the only males in the room. But in some of the more vigorous and acrobatic classes, the gender split was closer to even. Thus, men having a higher incidence of yoga injuries could simply be a reflection of their favoring the kinds of classes where injuries seem more common, and not actually reflect any greater vulnerability to injury.

It is also my experience (and that of most yoga teachers I’ve spoken with) that people who are more flexible are generally at greater risk of injury, particularly for injuries like hamstring muscle tears, and overstretching of the ligaments. It varies from person to person obviously, but on average men are much stiffer than women, and seemingly less prone to these types of injuries.

Many yoga injuries—again based on my experience, since we lack data—happen when people are trying too hard to achieve a particular result. Your foot won’t go into Lotus pose, for example, so you pull a little harder to get it into position, and in the process tear ligaments in your knee. But before that happens, the body almost always gives warning signs, such as pain or strained breathing. If you decide to ignore them and power your way through, problems may result. Both men and women can do this, but if I had to guess I’d say men are more likely to, so in this way may be at higher risk.

William Broad loves to create controversy. Beyond claiming that yoga can wreck your body, he has also written that yoga can make you fat, and that the entire practice started out as a sex cult (neither of which is true). Statistically speaking, if Broad’s analysis is correct (and given the methodological problems in how he did his analysis—see Is Yoga Really Dangerous for Men? Dr. Ram Rao Weighs In—I don't think we can know), men may indeed be at higher risk of injuries when practicing asana, but this may miss a larger truth. My guess is that if a man practices less demanding forms of yoga, or any style of yoga in a less aggressive and more mindful way, that his risk probably isn’t any greater than that of a woman, and may even be less. Uh oh, there’s a potential future headline for Mr. Broad: Women at Greater Risk of Yoga Injuries! You heard it here first….

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May the Prana Be With You! Energy and Yoga

by Baxter

Exploring the Arctic by Michele Macartney-Filgate

During an evening meal recently, an acquaintance of mine asked me what I thought about the word “energy” as it used today in this country when discussing practices such as yoga and martial arts. I should mention that this new friend is a medical anthropologist and a long time martial arts expert and teacher, and had a few ideas of her own. After we spoke about western and eastern concepts of energy, I had a sneaking suspicion that I had not addressed this idea to any great extent in these blog posts. So, with that in mind, I’d like to begin a conversation about energy as it pertains to the practice of yoga.

For anyone who has been in yoga classes for a while, you will be familiar with a term from Sanskrit that is sometimes translated as “energy,” but really has both a broader and more specific meaning in the original language.  Prana, the term referring to energy (not the yoga clothing line!), is conceived of as being of two types. The first is a substance called prana that pervades the entire known universe of material objects and is contained in such things as our atmospheric air and in the food we eat, so that it could be considered in part as nutrients for living beings. According to Georg Feuerstein, prana “signifies the universal life force, which is a vibrant psychophysical energy similar to the pneuma of the ancient Greeks.” In addition, there is an individual prana, which exists solely within you, that is the animating force of your life. We are born with a certain portion of pranic energy that we slowly use to fuel our life’s activities, and a partly renewable portion of prana that we can derive from food and air. This later source is not able to sustain us, however, if our original store of prana eventually runs out, which it does for all of us eventually.

Prana in the body is also said to move around. It does so via channels or small inner highways, said to number around 72,000 according to some sources, that are known as nadis. Out of the 72K, only three of them get spoken about much: the central channel that runs within or in front of the spine from the pelvic floor to the crown of the head, known as the sushumna nadi, and the right and left nadis known as ida and pingula, that start at the nostrils and end at the pelvic floor at the base of the sushumna nadi. I’ll tell you more on the sushumna nadi another time.

In addition to these three large channels and all the myriad smaller ones, the prana is said to move around the body via a series of forces called “winds” or vayu, that assist in moving prana up towards the chest and head via the prana vayu, down toward the pelvic floor via the apana vayu, out to the extremities via the vyana vayu, around the digestive center via the samana vayu, and finally around the throat area via the uddana vayu.

According to the texts on Hatha Yoga from the Twelfth century and forward, the yoga practice itself is designed to have several effects on prana. By correct practice, which is quite detailed and contains enough material to fill up many blog posts, one can conserve one’s individual quantity of prana so as to achieve your goals in yoga or in everyday life. Through visualizations, yoga postures and pranayama breath techniques to name a few, you can also encourage the usual movements of the winds of the body or you can reverse them. For example, apana vayu is associated with all bodily functions where things need to move down and out of the body, such as for urination. Obviously, we want that to happen at certain times of the day in order for our physical body to empty waste and remain healthy, so apana vayu needs to move in its usual fashion. The yogis also suggest changing the normal movement of apana vayu at times, sending it upwards, as a way of holding onto more of your total energy. They figured if you could live longer and remain relatively free of illness, you would have more time to achieve the highest goals of yoga, such as another future topic, samadhi.  

If we try to find a modern interpretation of prana, we might think it has something to do with blood in the circulatory system or nerve conduction in the nervous system, and it is conceivable that it has just such correlates, although not exactly described in the same way as our modern physiology is described. In my personal yoga practice, I find that working with the concept of prana is yet another way for me to bring more concentration and focus on the tasks at hand, be they yoga poses, breathing techniques or even a more mindful way of standing in line at the bank. I’ll leave the idea of prana here for now, but I am certain this essential concept in yoga philosophy and alternative yoga anatomy will pop again before to long. Until then, may the force be with you!

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One Thing Yoga Zen Whatever

by Nina

Zen Jewel by Torei Enji

Last night I was thinking about someone close to me who is going through hard times—struggling with rather serious depression. Although he exercises regularly, he doesn't take yoga classes. He's considering starting, though, and naturally I'm the go-to expert on that topic so I spent some time reading up on the studios in his area in an attempt to help. But when it came down to it, I surprised myself by recommending a Zen center in his area instead of a yoga studio. That's because I felt that if he was going to do one thing for himself—in addition to western style therapy—it should be a practice that would reduce his stress levels. Stress, of course, can exacerbate or even cause depression and I know his lifestyle is stressful. And Zen style meditation is a great way to switch your nervous system from Stress mode to Relaxation mode, and to teach you to cultivate equanimity in the face of challenges.

Still, why, when I have been writing about yoga for stress management practically since Day 1 (see The Relaxation Response and Yoga) wouldn't I recommend yoga? Well, the truth is that most yoga classes (like the ones in his neighborhood) are merely exercise classes. They don't teach meditation, pranayama or any forms of conscious relaxation, except maybe a brief Savasana at the end of a sweaty flow class. Gosh, one studio was even offering something called arial yoga, which looked kind of like Cirque du Soleil. That might be fun but those acrobatic techniques didn't really seem like the most helpful skills for him to be cultivating at this point.  I felt in the end that at least some basic instruction in meditation from an experienced teacher—and I knew he needed in-person instruction not just YFHA written instructions—and a group to practice with in beautiful, peaceful room would be more helpful to him than trying to learn to jump into Chaturanga Dandasana.  It's kind of sad but I just didn't trust those unknown yoga teachers whose bios I read online to teach him the kind of yoga I felt he needed at this time. I know that fancy poses and the promise of a "yoga body" are what sells yoga these days but some really valuable techniques sure seem to be getting short shrift in the meantime. 

Well, that's my mini rant for the day. But I do want to add that if you're going through some difficult times yourself and you want to try just one thing, do something to bring your stress levels down—yoga (see here), Zen, whatever. Besides, the Buddha himself was a yogi, right?

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Benefits Of Attending Yoga Flow South Hills Sessions

By Minnie Whitley

Vinyasa is a form of yoga in which movements are synchronized in line with the rate of breathing. This provides a platform for stretching body muscles while at the same time not interfering with the rhythm of air flow in and out of the body. Yoga flow South Hills provides a variety of classes to fit all kinds of clientele. There are also many interesting styles that are featured.

Searching for a class in Pittsburgh where you can train for yoga is not hard. However, getting a good one requires proper planning. Your main driving force ought to be the goals that you would like to achieve from the process. It is good to take a look at your prospective instructor. Do they make you feel at home with yourself? Are they boring?

Being a type of exercise that is gaining popularity every single day, the city of Pittsburgh is definitely not left out when it comes to professional trainers. These personnel have what it takes. All that a student needs is the spirit of wanting to practice more and more every day to the point of near perfection. The main idea is that one should be conscious about their breathing as they do the physicals. Too much concentration in physical activity goes against the aim.

The styles used involve not only stretching but also organized movements. Some teachers prefer silence while others would include chanting. This does not matter much, though. In South Hills, the Vinyasa method is highly rated. This involves posing sequentially in three different ways. The vinyasa involves doing plank, chaturanga and Power yoga.

There is uncountable number of methods at the disposal of the teacher. They are only required to be creative and quite original to avoid boredom due to routine tasks. Of course, in any given process, there are some methods that are more suited than the rest. These are always prioritized. The trainees also ought to relate well with their trainers to achieve more. With such arrangements, agreeing on certain pertinent issues becomes easy.

When choosing a teacher, consider your long term aim and the styles that appeal to you. Your aim might be to lose weight or just to stay fit. There are specific styles that are suitable for each aim. Most teachers have an area of specialization. The recommended choice is therefore the one who is specialized in your area of concern.

Once you have chosen a class, attend all the recommended sessions for impressive results. Remember no situation is ever ideal or perfect. In this regard, it is advisable to be contented to the class you have chosen and follow the instructions well. If you are sharp enough, you will have incomparable success that will culminate into great joy on your part.

Music is a good mind soother in these sessions. The effect brought about by the rhythm is highly satisfying and motivating. The whole class feels calmed and their anxieties are kept at bay, leading to better performance. Creativity of the mind has a lot to do with its state of calmness. In a contemplative mood created by music, one can generate new ideas freely. Our world is thus painted with another color, the mystery of which only the magic of yoga can reveal.

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The Pros and Cons of Manual Adjustments by Yoga Teachers

by Nina

Study of Hands by Albrecht Durer

We recently received a question regarding our policy on manual adjustments:

I was wondering how you (or any of the bloggers) feel about yoga teachers giving hands-on adjustments in a group setting? I have been teaching for 13 years but I do not feel comfortable giving adjustments. It just strikes me as too risky because I can't possibly know what's appropriate for any student's body. I'd much rather rely on detailed verbal cues and a slow-to-moderate pace that allows students to align and adjust their own bodies. Occasionally, I give a light touch if I see that a student is not getting the verbal cues and if I'm concerned that his/her alignment looks dangerous. 

Now, just yesterday, I took a class from another teacher in a studio I'd never visited. A friend of mine recommended this teacher. Toward the end of class, without asking my permission, she came over and pushed me deeper into a supine twist. She did this to half the class on one side of the body and the other half of the class on the other side of the body. Afterwards, I just felt a bit lopsided. However, today I noticed that my spine was definitely out of alignment and went to the chiropractor for an adjustment. I still have some residual discomfort. This experience has reinforced my idea that hands-on adjustments in group classes are not very wise. Comments?

To start, I have a very simple answer for this reader, who obviously prefers not to receive or give adjustments. For you I’d say that you should not give adjustments to your students (except the rare light ones you do now). No teacher who isn’t comfortable using manual adjustments should use them. And if you don’t like receiving adjustments or don’t trust teachers to give them to you, then you should inform your teachers that you do not wish to receive them.

But rather than just dismiss the topic with that simple answer, I thought I’d address it in general, because quite frankly I love manual adjustments, both receiving and giving them. I find that they are an extremely effective form of communication, one that can’t quite be replicated with words (and I’m a writer). In my teacher training and apprenticeships, I was trained in the use of manual adjustments, so I’ve always been comfortable using them. And when I was teaching a group of international graduate students and their spouses, I found using my hands to communicate was particularly important because my students typically did not understand subtle, anatomical instructions. I must say, however, that I never give adjustments to “push” anyone deeper into a pose, but rather to communicate a direction of movement or relaxation that I feel will help the student find more freedom in the pose.

As far as receiving adjustments goes, some of my best insights have come from the touch of a teacher’s hand. As I practice at home, I sometimes have a distinct visceral memory of a teacher’s hands guiding my body into opening or relaxing, even years after the original experience. I have had one negative experience when I was trying a new style of yoga and the teacher’s assistant, wanting me to “melt my heart” in a Downward-Facing Dog, pushed quite firmly on my spine (apparently my Iyengar style alignment was not going over well) in a way that made me quite upset. That just put me off that particular teacher—and maybe that style of yoga—but not adjustments in general. Obviously—and we say this all the time on our blog—we need to use discernment in choosing the teachers we study with. Because improper use of adjustments could be potentially injurious, how our teachers use manual adjustments (if they do) should certainly be one of the criteria we use to choose who we study with. So I’d say go with your gut: if you’re uncomfortable in any way with how the teacher uses his or her hands, find another teacher.

But since this is a rather controversial topic, rather than just going on my own experience, I decided to consult some experts. Of course, I just happen to have a few experts on staff, including two who are medical doctors! But everyone on the staff except Brad teaches yoga so I thought it would be interesting and valuable to ask them all. To make it easy, I asked everyone all the same three questions.

DR. BAXTER BELL:

Do you like receiving manual adjustments from your teachers? Sometimes, if they know what they are doing.

When you teach (if you do), do you like to GIVE manual adjustments to your students? Sometimes, if the setting is appropriate: I know the students, they are agreeable.

Optional: Very briefly, do you have anything to say about the pros and cons of manual adjustments? It seems that certain styles of yoga may do a better job of training their teachers in the measured and appropriate use of adjustments. Done well, they can be enlightening for the student; done poorly, injurious.

DR. TIMOTHY MCCALL:

Do you like receiving manual adjustments from your teachers? When it’s from a teacher I trust yes. But there have been times where I have not allowed a teacher to adjust me. I also think there is a crucial difference between gently guiding someone in the right direction, and taking your hands and bring them to the position. I have experienced the latter, and while (when done well) it can feel great, the risk of injury is much higher.

When you teach (if you do), do you like to GIVE manual adjustments to your students? Yes, in the gentler style mentioned above.

Optional: Very briefly, do you have anything to say about the pros and cons of manual adjustments? Done skillfully they can be great. Done unskillfully it’s a craps shoot.

RAM RAO:

Do you like receiving manual adjustments from your teachers? Yes.

When you teach (if you do), do you like to GIVE manual adjustments to your students? Yes, I always declare before the start of the class that I will be making fine adjustments that require for me to place my hands. If they are not comfortable with me touching, they need to tell me.

Optional: Very briefly, do you have anything to say about the pros and cons of manual adjustments? Manual adjustments are transmitting a message across from the teacher to the student through the hands. How you do it can be interpreted in so many ways:

PROS

A) Helps a student move into the pose
B) Helps a student find his or her balance
C) With manual adjustments a person may achieve new sensations or experience
D) Manual adjustments help the student to go deeper into the pose
E) Helps develop a long-standing teacher-student (guru-sishya) relationship

CONS

A) Genuine intentions of the teacher to adjust can also misinterpreted
B) Weak students or beginners can injure themselves

SHARI SER:


Do you like receiving manual adjustments from your teachers? I like receiving adjustments. It tells me the teacher is looking at me and assisting me in my stuck or over-used areas. It is a key to awareness.

When you teach (if you do), do you like to GIVE manual adjustments to your students? I give adjustments as a teaching tool to encourage the student to direct attention to an area that either is vulnerable or is where they are working too hard.

Optional: Very briefly, do you have anything to say about the pros and cons of manual adjustments? Adjustments are tricky. You're aren't doing the student's yoga—it has to be their yoga. You are just the guide to keep someone safe. Also, how you learn to touch is very important. Touch has to be non-invasive, minimal and respectful. A lot of people don't want to be touched, and you need to respect that. Judith Lasater always asks the student for their permission to touch, which is extremely important, especially when it is a new student in the class. If these precepts are respected, then there is no con and it is all pro.


BRIDGET FREDERICK:

Do you like receiving manual adjustments from your teachers? I love manual adjustments, but my teachers are superb. I realize that not all teachers have the same finesse. There is a way to gently suggest an energy flow without really manhandling someone.

When you teach (if you do), do you like to GIVE manual adjustments to your students? Yes, because in my own practice I find the adjustments invaluable. Often, with my students, some touch is necessary to get them to find the release or extension I'm seeking. Students can get lost in a pose—connecting words to anatomical movement can be confusing. Often a directional touch can suggest more than a whole paragraph of explanation. But if I'm working with a group of students I do not know, I'll announce at the beginning of class that I tend to be pretty hands-on and that if this is not welcome, to just let me know.

Optional: Very briefly, do you have anything to say about the pros and cons of manual adjustments? Manual adjustments are energetic and learned over time. Getting adjustments from a skilled teacher is incredible. Bad manual adjustments can be unpleasant, or even cause injury.

BRAD GIBSON:

Do you like receiving manual adjustments from your teachers? Yes, I find this really instructive. It also gives a more personalized feel to a class—especially if it's a large one.

When you teach (if you do), do you like to GIVE manual adjustments to your students? N/A

Optional: Very briefly, do you have anything to say about the pros and cons of manual adjustments? I almost always appreciate the extra instruction of manual adjustments. I suppose the only downside is when this happens from an assistant and I find myself (sometimes) out of sync with the rest of the class.

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