Bikram Yoga Sugarhouse
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Wednesday, July 3, 2013
July Newsletter
Tip of the Week: Bikram in the Summer Heat
With the weather being as hot as it's been this past week, we felt it was only appropriate to re-post a blog from last summer. We know it's hot, but stay strong and get to class! You're already sweaty anyway...what are you waiting for?
If you're like most people, the thought of sweating it out in a 105 degree room is the last thing you feel like doing in the middle of a sweltering hot summer.
But practicing Bikram Yoga during the summer months can help acclimate you to the season's heat and actually make the summer more bearable. Also, without the large difference between the temps outside and inside the studio, you'll be able to warm up faster once you get to class.
Here are the Top 7 Reasons Why You Should Do Bikram in the Summer:
1. When you first walk into the yoga room, it actually feels cooler than outside! Piece of cake!
2. When you leave the yoga room, the outside feels cooler than inside! So you are getting best of both worlds! Bikram Yoga makes the summer more manageable!
3. The relentless heat from the summer can leave you feeling sluggish. Every time you take class, you fill your "gas tank" by hyper-oxygenating the nerves and blood vessels in your body.
4. Your body is more warmed up before class. Muscles are more relaxed in the heat. In the afternoon classes especially, you may find that you are more flexible and go deeper in the postures since your body had all day to warm up.
5. You will save money on your air conditioning bills by acclimatizing your body to a warmer temperature in your house so you won't have to run the A/C as much!
6. You will release toxins faster. Your body is warmer, you start sweating sooner, and you lose more of the stuff. 'Nuff said. (Just don't forget to be super-hydrated before and after class, and add some replacement minerals to your during-class water).
7. You will look and feel more confident in your skin, and of course your swimsuit!
Bikram Yoga SLC student Debi Muir sweating it out in class
If you're like most people, the thought of sweating it out in a 105 degree room is the last thing you feel like doing in the middle of a sweltering hot summer.
But practicing Bikram Yoga during the summer months can help acclimate you to the season's heat and actually make the summer more bearable. Also, without the large difference between the temps outside and inside the studio, you'll be able to warm up faster once you get to class.
Here are the Top 7 Reasons Why You Should Do Bikram in the Summer:
1. When you first walk into the yoga room, it actually feels cooler than outside! Piece of cake!
2. When you leave the yoga room, the outside feels cooler than inside! So you are getting best of both worlds! Bikram Yoga makes the summer more manageable!
3. The relentless heat from the summer can leave you feeling sluggish. Every time you take class, you fill your "gas tank" by hyper-oxygenating the nerves and blood vessels in your body.
4. Your body is more warmed up before class. Muscles are more relaxed in the heat. In the afternoon classes especially, you may find that you are more flexible and go deeper in the postures since your body had all day to warm up.
5. You will save money on your air conditioning bills by acclimatizing your body to a warmer temperature in your house so you won't have to run the A/C as much!
6. You will release toxins faster. Your body is warmer, you start sweating sooner, and you lose more of the stuff. 'Nuff said. (Just don't forget to be super-hydrated before and after class, and add some replacement minerals to your during-class water).
7. You will look and feel more confident in your skin, and of course your swimsuit!
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Tip of the Week: Skin Care and Bikram Yoga
How to get a post-yoga glow:
Pre-cleanse
Before class, remove all makeup. “Pores open up in a hot, steamy environment, making it easy for mascara, powder and last night’s pub crawl to get in there. If you don’t have time to wash, carry cleansing pads, like Jason Cleansing Wipes with you.”Before you go
Hot yoga skin care no-no #1: Not washing your face before you leave the studio. “Once you leave the heat, pores start to close, trapping the dirt and sweat you just purged back inside. Be sure to cleanse skin thoroughly with a gentle cleanser, skin is sensitized from the heat, so it’s important to not overdo it. For normal to oily skin, try the Eminence Organics Eucalyptus Cleansing Concentrate and for normal to dry, go for the Eminence Coconut Milk Cleanser.”Hydrate
Yes, any yogi knows the importance of staying hydrated, but Pamela says that if your skin is dehydrated, sometimes water alone doesn’t do the job. “I take evening primrose supplements to boost moisture levels and improve elasticity, especially during the dry winter months. Be sure to finish off your hot yoga skin care routine with a great moisturizer. I like Comfort Zones Sacred Nature Cream for dry skin because it contains buriti oil, which is rich in fatty acid that deeply nourish. For oily skin, try the Comfort Zone Sacred Nature Fluid.”A post-class cooling tip
“Evian Facial Spray after you cleanse is another gentle way to refresh and hydrate your skin. I love this product because it is great for all skin types. Keep it in the fridge for an extra refreshing spritz!”Read more: http://www.alignyo.com/the-goods/hot-yoga-skin-care-tips#ixzz2XLibYQ2W
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Tip of the Week: Bikram for Injuries
Sometimes when people have an injury they think they need to wait until they're pain-free or symptom-free before coming back to class.
Of course you should always get the go ahead from your doctor first, but currently we have many students working through some significant injuries with the help of Bikram yoga.
Student Robb Baumann is recovering from a broken tibia, fibula, talus, and shattered ankle bone. He had a 4 hour surgery with 3 plates and 25 screws to repair his leg.
"After not being allowed to bear weight for 3 months, I was finally was able to start back with my Bikram practice. My physical therapist and surgeon both can't believe the progress I've made. My surgeon is so impressed that he's even considering Bikram yoga now for one his own injuries. Roxanne tells us in class to 'work with the body you brought with you today, and your body will tell you what it needs'. This takes on a whole new meaning when you've lost so much range of motion, and every class is a struggle. While I've got a very long way to go, there's no question that Bikram has been the best source of rehabilitation I've done so far."
Bikram yoga is one of the very few forms of exercise you can practice and benefit from while coping with an injury or illness. Its combination of heat and careful movement increases circulation and flexibility, expels acids and other toxins and helps you begin to heal.
It all comes down to the HEAT and the specific poses that Bikram has chosen to include in the series of 26 postures. While your body's core temperature will only rise about a mere 0.5 of a degree, your body's ligaments, muscles, tendons and other soft tissues will warm up to allow powerful healing to take place.
Of course you should always get the go ahead from your doctor first, but currently we have many students working through some significant injuries with the help of Bikram yoga.
Student Robb Baumann is recovering from a broken tibia, fibula, talus, and shattered ankle bone. He had a 4 hour surgery with 3 plates and 25 screws to repair his leg.
Bikram yoga is one of the very few forms of exercise you can practice and benefit from while coping with an injury or illness. Its combination of heat and careful movement increases circulation and flexibility, expels acids and other toxins and helps you begin to heal.
It all comes down to the HEAT and the specific poses that Bikram has chosen to include in the series of 26 postures. While your body's core temperature will only rise about a mere 0.5 of a degree, your body's ligaments, muscles, tendons and other soft tissues will warm up to allow powerful healing to take place.
The heat allows these parts of the body to stretch
further, more comfortably and safer. Safety is most important because it
means there's less chance of new injury, or re-injury of old scar
tissue.
The heat also 'thins' the blood – this means that it
circulates more freely than at room temperature. As the blood
circulates it flushes out toxins in your organs and calcium build up in
joints.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Tip of the Week: The Sit Up
The Bikram sit up...it's that sneaky little pose that works its way in just when you're all nice and comfortable in savasana. It may be as welcome as a fog horn waking you from a dream with Ryan Gosling, but it does have its benefits.
Benefits of the sit up:
Raise your arms over your head, cross only your thumbs with your palms facing the ceiling. Flex your feet and contract your leg muscles. Inhale and contract your abdominal/core muscles. Exhale and press the lower part of your spine to the floor (this will help to protect your back and actually make it easier to come up), and reach "up" as you sit up,
keeping your legs straight and your heels on floor. Grab the big toes with your first two fingers and lay your
whole body out flat on your legs, touching forehead to knees (it's important to touch forehead to knees as this the compression part). Touch the
floor on either side with your elbows and stretch forward twice. Double jerk, double exhale. Note that this is one of the few times when you are exhaling through your mouth and not your nose.
Try to stretch further and further with each sit up you do.
For those with back issues, roll to your side and push up on your hands and knees.
Benefits of the sit up:
- Reinforces and strengthens the abdominal muscles.
- Firms and trims the lower body, where many problem areas, especially for women, reside.
- Increases flexibility of the spine.
- Provides the body with energy.
- works the muscles, ligaments and tendons of the legs and improves circulation there as well.
- Stimulates digestion.
- Open mouth exhalation stimulates diaphragm and eliminates toxins from the lungs.
Bikram Yoga SLC instructor and 2013 Utah Regional USA Yoga Asana
1st Place Champion Carolyn Valencia
Try to stretch further and further with each sit up you do.
For those with back issues, roll to your side and push up on your hands and knees.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Tip of the Week: Which Nostril Are You Breathing Through?
Juls had a simple tip the other day in class for helping us to focus on our breathing when lying in Savasana. She said that rarely do we breathe through both of our nostrils at the same time. When you're lying on the mat feeling the air going in and out of your nostrils, can you tell which nostril is taking the air in? See if you can tell the next time you're lying in Savasana to help focus on your breath. Below is an article called "How We Breathe" from the Complete Wellbeing website.
As per Swara Yoga, we breathe through both nostrils only for a brief period during the day. The rest of the times, one nostril is dominant than the other in breathing, and while that is happening the other is recessive. Each nostril is dominant alternatively; the switch typically happens every four hours or so.
In the recent times [in 1895], Richard Kayser, a German nose specialist was the first to notice this breathing cycle.
At the same time, the swollen tissue in the other nostril returns to normal opening up the nostril. The swelling and contraction happen gradually and for the brief period when the switch is on, we breathe through both nostrils. We also do so at dawn and dusk.
Also, usually we breathe through the same nostril every morning, for three consecutive days, after which, for the next three days, we breathe through the other nostril. This periodic alternation of the nostrils maintains the balance of our system.
Swara Yoga teaches that breathing through the right nostril increases acidic secretions leading to increased gastric acid production in the stomach, while the left nostril increases alkaline secretions. The natural alternation of breathing through the right and left nostrils helps balance acid and alkaline levels in our system.
Breathing through the right nostril also increases our blood glucose levels, which go down when we breathe through the left nostril [1988 study by Backon].
Further, we take in more oxygen when we breathe through our right nostril [as per a 1993 study]. As per a Vivekananda Kendra Yoga Research Foundation, Bangalore, study breathing through the right nostril several times a day for a month increases our oxygen consumption by 37 per cent.
Breathing through the left nostril four times a day for a month significantly increases the baseline level of volar galvanic skin resistance [GSR] resulting in increased sweat gland activity in the palm.
Since each nostril is linked to opposite sides of our cerebral hemispheres, breathing through the right nostril activates the left hemisphere [the logical side of the brain] and the left nostril activates the right hemisphere [brain's creative side]. When the pattern is changing, we change sides in our sleep. The side on which you lie is the nostril, which is dominant at that time.
According to yogis, this causes behavioural and health problems. To regulate this imbalance, yoga prescribes pranayama techniques like Anulom Vilom or Nadi Shodhana, which involve deliberately breathing through alternate nostrils by blocking a nostril with your thumb.
Contrary to popular belief, we seldom breathe through both our nostrils. When we take a breath, there’s no doubt in our minds that the next
breath will come. Similarly, there’s also no doubt in our minds about
the way we breathe [actually we hardly ever give it a thought].
That’s why it comes as a big surprise to know that we seldom breathe
with both our nostrils simultaneously. According to Yoga, Ayurveda and
some solid research, most people—about 85 per cent of people—breathe
with only one nostril at a time.The pattern
In the eastern parts of the world, this has been an ancient discovery. There’s even a body of yoga dedicated to it called Swara Yoga.As per Swara Yoga, we breathe through both nostrils only for a brief period during the day. The rest of the times, one nostril is dominant than the other in breathing, and while that is happening the other is recessive. Each nostril is dominant alternatively; the switch typically happens every four hours or so.
In the recent times [in 1895], Richard Kayser, a German nose specialist was the first to notice this breathing cycle.
How it happens
The change of breathing pattern from one nostril to the other happens in an interesting manner. An erectile tissue present in the nostril [which most people are unaware of], gets swollen to block it.At the same time, the swollen tissue in the other nostril returns to normal opening up the nostril. The swelling and contraction happen gradually and for the brief period when the switch is on, we breathe through both nostrils. We also do so at dawn and dusk.
Also, usually we breathe through the same nostril every morning, for three consecutive days, after which, for the next three days, we breathe through the other nostril. This periodic alternation of the nostrils maintains the balance of our system.
How it affects us
Our nostrils are linked with our autonomic nervous system, the olfactory lobe and the hypothalamus, which controls emotions and motivation.Swara Yoga teaches that breathing through the right nostril increases acidic secretions leading to increased gastric acid production in the stomach, while the left nostril increases alkaline secretions. The natural alternation of breathing through the right and left nostrils helps balance acid and alkaline levels in our system.
Breathing through the right nostril also increases our blood glucose levels, which go down when we breathe through the left nostril [1988 study by Backon].
Further, we take in more oxygen when we breathe through our right nostril [as per a 1993 study]. As per a Vivekananda Kendra Yoga Research Foundation, Bangalore, study breathing through the right nostril several times a day for a month increases our oxygen consumption by 37 per cent.
Breathing through the left nostril four times a day for a month significantly increases the baseline level of volar galvanic skin resistance [GSR] resulting in increased sweat gland activity in the palm.
Since each nostril is linked to opposite sides of our cerebral hemispheres, breathing through the right nostril activates the left hemisphere [the logical side of the brain] and the left nostril activates the right hemisphere [brain's creative side]. When the pattern is changing, we change sides in our sleep. The side on which you lie is the nostril, which is dominant at that time.
Purposeful breathing
Although the alternate breathing is natural, sometimes it does not happen as smoothly as it is meant to.According to yogis, this causes behavioural and health problems. To regulate this imbalance, yoga prescribes pranayama techniques like Anulom Vilom or Nadi Shodhana, which involve deliberately breathing through alternate nostrils by blocking a nostril with your thumb.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
June Newsletter
Bikram Yoga Sugarhouse
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June
2013
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Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Tip of the Week: Yoga for Runners
Can yoga improve your running performance? We say YES! The strength and flexibility developed in yoga--namely in the core,
quads, hamstrings, and hip flexors--can help you run more efficiently
and stay injury-free. The following is an article by Baron Baptiste and Kathleen Finn Mendola called "Yoga for Runners" in Yoga Journal.
Although yoga and running lie on opposite ends of the exercise spectrum, the two need not be mutually exclusive.
During the course of an average mile run, your foot will strike the ground 1,000 times. The force of impact on each foot is about three to four times your weight. It's not surprising, then, to hear runners complain of bad backs and knees, tight hamstrings, and sore feet.
The pain most runners feel is not from the running in and of itself, but from imbalances that running causes and exacerbates. If you bring your body into balance through the practice of yoga, you can run long and hard for years to come. Although yoga and running lie on opposite ends of the exercise spectrum, the two need not be mutually exclusive. In fact, running and yoga make a good marriage of strength and flexibility.
A typical runner experiences too much pounding, tightening, and shortening of the muscles and not enough restorative, elongating, and loosening work. Without opposing movements, the body will compensate to avoid injury by working around the instability. Compensation puts stress on muscles, joints, and the entire skeletal system.
If you're off balance, every step you take forces the muscles to work harder in compensation. Tight muscles get tighter and weak muscles get weaker. A tight muscle is brittle, hard, and inflexible. Because muscles act as the body's natural shock absorbers, ideally they should be soft, malleable, and supple, with some give. Brittle muscles, on the other hand, cause the joints to rub and grind, making them vulnerable to tears.
Muscle rigidity occurs because runners invariably train in a "sport specific" manner—they perform specific actions over and over again and their focus is on external technique. This repetitive sports training or any specific fitness conditioning results in a structurally out of shape and excessively tight body.
Yoga's internal focus centers your attention on your own body's movements rather than on an external outcome. Runners can use yoga practice to balance strength, increase range of motion, and train the body and mind. Asanas move your body through gravitational dimensions while teaching you how to coordinate your breath with each subtle movement. The eventual result is that your body, mind, and breath are integrated in all actions. Through consistent and systematic asana conditioning, you can engage, strengthen, and place demands on all of your intrinsic muscle groups, which support and stabilize the skeletal system. This can offset the effects of the runner's one-dimensional workouts.
Awareness translates to daily workouts, too. You learn through the practice of yoga that each day is distinct, much like each run. Your energy levels fluctuate daily, even hourly, thus it's important to have a sense of your reserves. The calmness you glean from yoga practice allows you to manage and economize your energy. You can learn to intuit where you are on a given day and what resources you have to give. Therefore, you don't power drive through every workout mindlessly but rather respect your body's limitations.
You can, however, maximize those varying energy levels by focusing on another nonkinetic aspect of yoga: relaxation. When you're able to bring your body into a state of repose, you become more effective at using and conserving strength. If you're in a contracted state—tight muscles, limited range of motion, chronic pain—your body requires more energy for all activities, running included. Relaxation allows you to burn energy at a more efficient level. The resulting increased vigor means a greater freedom of movement and ultimately, more enjoyment of all your physical activities.
Tension is the athlete's downfall, and breath awareness is key to reducing it. Conscious breathing and Pranayama exercises, which soothe the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems and relax the entire body, can be of great benefit to runners.
Many runners know that improving VO2 Max—aerobic capacity—is vital for running and racing success. Runners with a high VO2 Max have the capacity to pump large amounts of oxygen-rich blood to working muscles. Maximum oxygen intake is a crucial physiological variable determining performance and endurance for runners. With pranayama and asana conditioning, you can maximize the size of your pump and the quantity of fresh blood coursing through your body. A somewhat vigorous yoga practice can increase your oxygen capacity.
The body is the sum of its parts and impairment of one affects them all. A bad back is going to affect your ankles just as weak knees can throw off your hip alignment. For example, shin splints are the result of a seemingly minor misstep: an uneven distribution of weight that starts with the way the feet strike the ground. Each time the foot hits the pavement unevenly, a lateral torque travels up the leg, causing muscle chafing and pain up and down the tibia known as shin splints.
Knee pain, too, is related to other parts of the body. If the ankles are weak or the hips are not aligned, that can put strain on the anterior ligaments in the knees. Meant to work like a train on a track, a knee thrown off balance is equivalent to a train derailing. Due to constant forward motion, hip flexor muscles shorten and tighten and can cause hyperextension in the lower back. This constantly arched position holds tension in the back and can hamper the fluidity of hamstring muscles as well.
What does this mean for the runner with pain in his lower back? Or a painful heel condition? First of all, don't ignore your body's signals. Take a break when your body needs one. Learn to intuit when rest is appropriate. Secondly, start incorporating yoga postures into the warm-up and cool-down portions of your workout. Think of running as the linear part of your workout and yoga as its circular complement.
There's no need to be sidelined by injuries and discomfort brought on by your running program. Chronic injuries can eventually self-correct through a gentle yet consistent yoga practice. Remember, your body is on your side. It has an inherent intelligence to bring about a state of equilibrium no matter how many times your feet hit the pavement.
Although yoga and running lie on opposite ends of the exercise spectrum, the two need not be mutually exclusive.
During the course of an average mile run, your foot will strike the ground 1,000 times. The force of impact on each foot is about three to four times your weight. It's not surprising, then, to hear runners complain of bad backs and knees, tight hamstrings, and sore feet.
The pain most runners feel is not from the running in and of itself, but from imbalances that running causes and exacerbates. If you bring your body into balance through the practice of yoga, you can run long and hard for years to come. Although yoga and running lie on opposite ends of the exercise spectrum, the two need not be mutually exclusive. In fact, running and yoga make a good marriage of strength and flexibility.
Striking a Balance
Runners who stick with running are most likely structurally balanced individuals who can handle the physical stresses of the workout with minimal discomfort. Yet, many runners don't survive the imbalances that running introduces. Often, they suffer from chronic pain and are sidelined by injury.A typical runner experiences too much pounding, tightening, and shortening of the muscles and not enough restorative, elongating, and loosening work. Without opposing movements, the body will compensate to avoid injury by working around the instability. Compensation puts stress on muscles, joints, and the entire skeletal system.
If you're off balance, every step you take forces the muscles to work harder in compensation. Tight muscles get tighter and weak muscles get weaker. A tight muscle is brittle, hard, and inflexible. Because muscles act as the body's natural shock absorbers, ideally they should be soft, malleable, and supple, with some give. Brittle muscles, on the other hand, cause the joints to rub and grind, making them vulnerable to tears.
Muscle rigidity occurs because runners invariably train in a "sport specific" manner—they perform specific actions over and over again and their focus is on external technique. This repetitive sports training or any specific fitness conditioning results in a structurally out of shape and excessively tight body.
Yoga's internal focus centers your attention on your own body's movements rather than on an external outcome. Runners can use yoga practice to balance strength, increase range of motion, and train the body and mind. Asanas move your body through gravitational dimensions while teaching you how to coordinate your breath with each subtle movement. The eventual result is that your body, mind, and breath are integrated in all actions. Through consistent and systematic asana conditioning, you can engage, strengthen, and place demands on all of your intrinsic muscle groups, which support and stabilize the skeletal system. This can offset the effects of the runner's one-dimensional workouts.
Body Wisdom
In addition to physically counteracting the strains of running, yoga teaches the cultivation of body wisdom and confidence. As you develop a greater understanding of the body and how it works, you become able to listen and respond to messages the body sends you. This is especially important in running, where the body produces a lot of endorphins. These "feel good" chemicals also double as nature's painkillers, which can mask pain and the onset of injury or illness. Without developed body intuition, it's easier to ignore the body's signals.Awareness translates to daily workouts, too. You learn through the practice of yoga that each day is distinct, much like each run. Your energy levels fluctuate daily, even hourly, thus it's important to have a sense of your reserves. The calmness you glean from yoga practice allows you to manage and economize your energy. You can learn to intuit where you are on a given day and what resources you have to give. Therefore, you don't power drive through every workout mindlessly but rather respect your body's limitations.
You can, however, maximize those varying energy levels by focusing on another nonkinetic aspect of yoga: relaxation. When you're able to bring your body into a state of repose, you become more effective at using and conserving strength. If you're in a contracted state—tight muscles, limited range of motion, chronic pain—your body requires more energy for all activities, running included. Relaxation allows you to burn energy at a more efficient level. The resulting increased vigor means a greater freedom of movement and ultimately, more enjoyment of all your physical activities.
Tension is the athlete's downfall, and breath awareness is key to reducing it. Conscious breathing and Pranayama exercises, which soothe the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems and relax the entire body, can be of great benefit to runners.
Many runners know that improving VO2 Max—aerobic capacity—is vital for running and racing success. Runners with a high VO2 Max have the capacity to pump large amounts of oxygen-rich blood to working muscles. Maximum oxygen intake is a crucial physiological variable determining performance and endurance for runners. With pranayama and asana conditioning, you can maximize the size of your pump and the quantity of fresh blood coursing through your body. A somewhat vigorous yoga practice can increase your oxygen capacity.
Pain Prevention
Even the most centered and relaxed runner can face injury—the bane of all athletes. Damage to a runner's body is often the result of overuse instead of collisions or falls. It all comes back to—you guessed it—balance, symmetry, and alignment.The body is the sum of its parts and impairment of one affects them all. A bad back is going to affect your ankles just as weak knees can throw off your hip alignment. For example, shin splints are the result of a seemingly minor misstep: an uneven distribution of weight that starts with the way the feet strike the ground. Each time the foot hits the pavement unevenly, a lateral torque travels up the leg, causing muscle chafing and pain up and down the tibia known as shin splints.
Knee pain, too, is related to other parts of the body. If the ankles are weak or the hips are not aligned, that can put strain on the anterior ligaments in the knees. Meant to work like a train on a track, a knee thrown off balance is equivalent to a train derailing. Due to constant forward motion, hip flexor muscles shorten and tighten and can cause hyperextension in the lower back. This constantly arched position holds tension in the back and can hamper the fluidity of hamstring muscles as well.
What does this mean for the runner with pain in his lower back? Or a painful heel condition? First of all, don't ignore your body's signals. Take a break when your body needs one. Learn to intuit when rest is appropriate. Secondly, start incorporating yoga postures into the warm-up and cool-down portions of your workout. Think of running as the linear part of your workout and yoga as its circular complement.
There's no need to be sidelined by injuries and discomfort brought on by your running program. Chronic injuries can eventually self-correct through a gentle yet consistent yoga practice. Remember, your body is on your side. It has an inherent intelligence to bring about a state of equilibrium no matter how many times your feet hit the pavement.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Tip of the Week: Make Time Your Friend
How often have you had a stressful day that has negatively affected your practice? Or wished there were more hours in the day so you could even make it to class? The following is an excerpt from an interesting article by Deepak Chopra called "The Best Aging Secret: Make Time Your Friend".
Right now, you have an up-and-down relationship with time. Certain things cause time to be stressful and nerve-wracking. Other experiences make time carefree and joyous. When asked to explain relativity for the ordinary person, Einstein pointed out that time drags when you're at the dentist but flies by when you sit with someone you love. We think we're just using words when we say, "I'm on a deadline," "I'm running out of time," "There aren't enough hours in the day." But every cell in your body is participating in those experiences. If your deadline is crushing, if you're running out of time to save your mortgage, or if you go to bed with a dozen unfinished items on your agenda, those extreme pressures have made time your enemy.
It isn't time's fault. All the damaging effects of running out of time—high blood pressure, imbalanced hormones, digestive problems, insomnia, increased susceptibility to disease, increased likelihood of anxiety and depression disorders—reverse themselves when your relationship with time turns from bad to good. When you make time your friend, hundreds of billions of cells will silently thank you, because a healthy body must run on time. When you make time your friend, hundreds of billions of cells will silently thank you, because a healthy body must run on time. Unseen by you, hundreds of biological cycles are being coordinated inside your body. The most basic life rhythms, like breathing and your heartbeat, are actually clocks that bring dozens of other rhythms into sync with them. In a fascinating way, your body has learned how to master time even as you struggle with it.
Here's a guide to the simple things you may often overlook when you neglect to make time the ally of your body.
Your ultimate goal, living as if you have all the time in the world, is functional immortality. It happens to be how every cell in your body is already living. Immortality comes naturally; giving in to time requires effort. As mundane as these points may seem, especially those early on in the list, they can be used to shift your awareness. It's not the mechanical doing that makes a difference but settling into life's rhythm naturally and with ease.
Bikram Yoga SLC student Sarah Nagel at the temple of Poseidon in Greece
Right now, you have an up-and-down relationship with time. Certain things cause time to be stressful and nerve-wracking. Other experiences make time carefree and joyous. When asked to explain relativity for the ordinary person, Einstein pointed out that time drags when you're at the dentist but flies by when you sit with someone you love. We think we're just using words when we say, "I'm on a deadline," "I'm running out of time," "There aren't enough hours in the day." But every cell in your body is participating in those experiences. If your deadline is crushing, if you're running out of time to save your mortgage, or if you go to bed with a dozen unfinished items on your agenda, those extreme pressures have made time your enemy.
It isn't time's fault. All the damaging effects of running out of time—high blood pressure, imbalanced hormones, digestive problems, insomnia, increased susceptibility to disease, increased likelihood of anxiety and depression disorders—reverse themselves when your relationship with time turns from bad to good. When you make time your friend, hundreds of billions of cells will silently thank you, because a healthy body must run on time. When you make time your friend, hundreds of billions of cells will silently thank you, because a healthy body must run on time. Unseen by you, hundreds of biological cycles are being coordinated inside your body. The most basic life rhythms, like breathing and your heartbeat, are actually clocks that bring dozens of other rhythms into sync with them. In a fascinating way, your body has learned how to master time even as you struggle with it.
Here's a guide to the simple things you may often overlook when you neglect to make time the ally of your body.
- Keep regular hours. Eat and sleep on a regular schedule.
- Avoid drastic changes in diet and activity.
- Set up an orderly work environment. Reduce distractions.
- Rest quietly once to twice during the day to let our body retune itself.
- Take yourself out of stressful situations sooner rather than later.
- Take your time; don't rush.
- Make decisions when they arise. Don't procrastinate or get distracted.
- Pay attention to what is directly in front of you. Focus on one thing at a time.
- Don't multitask. Dividing your attention leads to confusion and weakened focus.
- Protect yourself. Avoid the temptation to plunge into high-risk situations.
- Stay within your comfort zone.
- Put your house and finances in order.
- Address underlying anxiety.
- Release underlying anger. Learn to do this without losing control or hurting others.
- Renounce violence in thought and word.
- Become more resilient emotionally.
- Eliminate chaotic influences at work and in your primary relationship.
- Live as if you have all the time in the world.
Your ultimate goal, living as if you have all the time in the world, is functional immortality. It happens to be how every cell in your body is already living. Immortality comes naturally; giving in to time requires effort. As mundane as these points may seem, especially those early on in the list, they can be used to shift your awareness. It's not the mechanical doing that makes a difference but settling into life's rhythm naturally and with ease.
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