Try Yoga For Glowing Skin!

The skin on someone’s face is one of the first things we notice, so it's only natural that we would desire healthy, beautiful skin. Sadly enough, our skin is also one of the first things to be affected by poor diet and stress. Beyond just covering up with makeup, or religiously applying face creams at night, there are other things that can be done to improve the look and feel of your skin.

Yoga is one of the most effective things we can do to help our skin to stay beautiful and glowing. There are a variety of different poses that will work to your advantage, each with different benefits, but first: what really causes your skin problems?

Skin problems and their causes

Acne is the bane of many individuals – it always seems to be a problem. Luckily, it tends to heal itself and, if treated properly, will not leave any lasting scars.

Oftentimes, a person’s health history has a lot to do with the way his or her skin looks now. If they spent a lot of time outdoors without proper sun protection, or smoked frequently, these things will probably affect their skin negatively.

A poor diet can also cause poor skin: leading to more breakouts and excess oil that clogs pores.

Yoga’s healthy skin benefits

What is yoga actually doing to help improve my skin? Yoga works to improve digestion and circulation. When your body has better blood flow, it naturally produces glowing skin.

Practice doing poses like wind-relieving posture and bow pose, and try alternating nose breathing. All of these practices will aid in digestion. Glowing skin comes with a digestion system that is working properly.

Other yoga poses, such as child's pose, fish pose and shoulder stand, are also extremely effective in increasing blood circulation throughout your entire body – especially the face and brain – thus stimulating the skin.

Skin loses its elasticity easily, so it is also helpful to do facial exercise which will strengthen and tone the muscles in your face. Stretch your lips and massage your jaw and brows to relieve stress. This practice will also help you to gain elasticity in your face.

What else can I do to get beautiful skin?

Of course yoga is not the only way to improve the look of your skin! In addition to making yoga a regular part of your routine, there are several other habits you can implement into your life so that you can enjoy radiant skin:

1. Drink more water than you think you need. Water flushes out toxins and gives your skin a healthy, lustrous glow.

2. Aim for eight hours of sleep a night. Although this sometimes seems impossible, due to the busyness of life, by being sufficiently rested, you will also look awake and alert. Over time, this will affect the health of your skin in a positive way.

3. Consider getting facials at a spa as part of your regular routine. Facials work to rid your skin of impurities and help to produce a youthful, healthy glow.

By starting to incorporate yoga into your everyday life, you will begin to notice a big difference in the way your skin looks and feels. It will look younger, more vibrant and have a nice glow to it that others will surely notice. When done in unison with the other tips I've mentioned, you will be well along your way to having younger-looking skin in just a few weeks!

By MARCELA DE VIVO

*Disclaimer
The sole purpose of these articles is to provide information about
the tradition of yoga and ayurveda. This information is not intended
for use in the diagnosis, treatment, cure or prevention of any
disease. If you have any serious acute or chronic health concern,
please consult a trained health professional who can fully assess
your needs and address them effectively. Check with your doctor
before taking herbs or using essential oils when pregnant or
nursing.

Mindfulness...An Alternative To Painkillers

According to a recent study in JAMA (the Journal of the American Medical Association), mindfulness based approach for stress-reduction and chronic back pain showed results "...may be as effective as cognitive therapy, or opioid medication for relieving chronic back pain".

Whether you're an instructor or yoga student, we've all felt the incredible benefits of yoga and the mindfulness the practice cultivates.  What's exciting is to see what we already know be proven by science.  

If you or anyone you know struggle with chronic pain of any sort, the article detailing this study, its findings, and how it works is a must read.  Click here to read the full article.

Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations) and Your Health

Read below to see what Yoga Journal is saying about Surya Namaskar!

It turns out, you don’t have to commit to a full hour of practice to reap yoga's many benefits. Just 20 minutes of flowing through Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations) have tremendous effects on wellness and can even get you out of a mental slump, according to a recent study in the International Yoga Journal.

Researchers divided 124 college students with high stress into a Surya Namaskar–practicing group and a control group that did not participate in yoga or any other stress-reducing activity or exercise. At the end of two weeks, the daily sun saluters reported a quiet mind, feelings of rest and joy, and less worry than the control group. A boost to your mood is only 20 minutes away.

BY YELENA MOROZ ALPERT 

In addition, Sun Salutations involve every system in the body while invoking the power of the sun. Just a few of the physical benefits of Sun Salutations are;

• Helps lose weight
• Helps strengthen muscles and joints
• Gives glowing skin
• Ensures a better functioning digestive system
• Helps cope with insomnia
• Ensures regular menstrual cycle
• Brings down blood sugar levels
• Reduce anxiety

So whether it's two rounds or 20, carve out time to honor the sun and ignite your fire within by performing Surya Namaskar daily.

*Disclaimer
The sole purpose of these articles is to provide information about
the tradition of yoga and ayurveda. This information is not intended
for use in the diagnosis, treatment, cure or prevention of any
disease. If you have any serious acute or chronic health concern,
please consult a trained health professional who can fully assess
your needs and address them effectively. Check with your doctor
before taking herbs or using essential oils when pregnant or
nursing.

Yoga And Respiratory Health

 

By: Nina Zolotow, RYT 500

Hatha Yoga is the combination of physical postures and yoga breathing practices that are designed to help the body and mind maintain overall equilibrium. The health of your respiratory system affects all the other systems of your body. Many of Hatha Yoga’s practices are especially helpful for maintaining the health of this vital system.

Both yoga asanas and yoga breathing exercises maintain the health of your respiratory system overall. In general, asanas that move your spine in all directions of movement, and that stretch and strengthen the muscles all around your upper torso, will help support your respiratory system by keeping respiratory muscles strong and flexible. And yoga breathing practices that lengthen your inhalation and exhalation, such as gradual lengthening of equal breath, or that include rapid inhalations and exhalations, like Kapalabhati (Skull Shining breath), can exercise your breathing muscles even more.

Yoga asanas, breath awareness, and pranayama can help with mild asthma and COPD by improving breathing efficiency and decreasing inflammation. Yoga teacher Baxter Bell’s students report that their regular yoga practice has been helpful for exercise-induced asthma, which can affect younger adults, but can also arise in older adults. 

CAUTION: Yoga has mixed reviews on its benefits for moderate to severe asthma. For this specific condition, we recommend working with a very experienced teacher.  

Yoga as Exercise 

In addition to keeping your respiratory muscles strong and flexible, you can use your asana practice to reverse changes to your body due to aging, physical habits, injuries, and scoliosis, that negatively impact your ability to breath. These include structural changes to both muscles and fascia of your chest as well as the chest wall bones and thoracic spine.

In general, yoga exercises can reverse changes by:

1. Improving your posture by strengthening spinal muscles.

2. Increasing movement in your chest and spine by regularly stretching your chest muscles all directions.

3. Improving the flexibility and strength of your respiratory muscles and fascia by regularly practicing a combination of well-balanced asana sequences and breath practices.

You can also use yoga asanas to target specific problem areas. For example, if you are developing a rounded thoracic spine, adding more dynamic and static back bending postures into your practice can help reduce the rounding. You can also use asanas to strengthen weak chest muscles around your lungs. For example, you can use Phalankasana (Plank), Side Plank, and Upward Plank poses to strengthen the muscles around your chest wall and active back bending poses, such as Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose) or Urdva Mukha Svanasana (Upward-Facing Dog Pose), to strengthen your back and front chest muscles.

Yoga for Breath Awareness 

Your ability to breathe in a healthy way can be compromised by unhealthy breathing patterns, such holding excessive tension in your abdominal muscles. However, by practicing breath awareness with special attention to the movements of your chest and belly, you can learn about your particular breathing patterns and potentially identify any problems.

In normal, healthy breathing, as you inhale, your chest and ribs will expand slightly and your belly will rise up or bulge forward, and as you exhale, your belly will relax back and your chest and ribs will relax back toward center. Although not common, there are two different breathing patterns that occur in some people that can be problematic: 

Chest Breathing. Instead of your belly expanding on your inhalation and relaxing back on your exhalation, there is no movement in your belly at all. All the movement during respiration is in your chest alone. 
Reverse Breathing. Instead of your belly expanding on your inhalation, it actually sucks in during the inhalation and your chest expands dramatically. And on your exhalation, your belly rises as your chest relaxes.

To observe your own breathing patterns:  

1.     Set yourself up in a comfortable reclined pose, such as Savasana (Supine Relaxation Pose) or Supta Baddha Konasana (Reclined Cobbler’s Pose), or a comfortable supported seated pose, such as Easy Sitting Pose with your back against the wall.

2.     Take a moment to relax completely and breathe naturally, with an easy, relaxed breath.

3.    Keeping your breath easy and relaxed, turn your awareness to your chest and belly as you inhale and exhale. Just watch. Is your belly rising/expanding/bulging with your inhalation and relaxing back with your exhalation? Or is something else going on?

If you do identify a problematic breathing pattern—or think that you have—unless you are a very experienced practitioner of pranayama, it’s best for you to work with your yoga teacher or yoga therapist to change your breathing habits. Your present pattern of breathing is likely to be a well-established one. And an expert will not only be able to observe your breathing with a trained eye but will also have techniques available to effectively coach you to change your ingrained habits. 

Yoga Breath Practices 

 A well-rounded yoga breathing practice that includes calming, balancing, and simulating practices, can promote the health of your respiratory system by improving the strength and flexibility or your chest muscles and fascia as well as improving the alignment of your ribs and spine. In general, you’ll benefit from actively challenging your diaphragm with practices that extend the length of the inhalations and exhalations, and that include inhalation and exhalation pausing.

In addition, recent studies have shown that pranayama is effective in improving lung function in those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD. For this condition, equal lengthening of the inhalation and exhalation is recommended.

Finally, yoga breathing exercises that calm your nervous system, such as extending the exhalation or pausing at the end of it, add the benefit of lowering overall stress, which can be particularly helpful to people who are challenged by a respiratory condition.

Stress Management with Yoga

Like the rest of your body, your lungs and the rest of your respiratory system need down time to rest and repair. In the rest-and-digest state, your respiratory system will get a good rest, because you don’t need as much oxygen in this state. Therefore, your lungs and respiratory system won’t need to work as hard! And, of course, spending time in the rest-and-digest state provides the optimal setting for the system to heal from problems and repair itself.

So spending time in the rest-and-digest state provides an important break that will foster the health of the entire system. In addition, reducing stress also has positive effect on your immune system, which could lower your chances of getting infections of the respiratory tract, from your nose and mouth all the way into the deep part of your lungs.

Because many people with chronic respiratory conditions experience ongoing anxiety or other negative emotions related to their condition, those who have breathing problems can improve the quality of their lives by practicing stress management. This will help quiet your mind and calm your emotions as well as resting your respiratory system. However, if you have respiratory system problems, meditating on your breath can actually cause stress if you worry about breathing. So if this is the case for you and you want to meditate, we recommend either choosing a different type of focus, such as a mantra, or using a simple guided meditation.

*Disclaimer
The sole purpose of these articles is to provide information about
the tradition of yoga and ayurveda. This information is not intended
for use in the diagnosis, treatment, cure or prevention of any
disease. If you have any serious acute or chronic health concern,
please consult a trained health professional who can fully assess
your needs and address them effectively. Check with your doctor
before taking herbs or using essential oils when pregnant or
nursing.

Low Back Pain? Doctors Say Try Yoga!

Try yoga and call me in the morning

Low back pain affects millions of adults each year, presenting a major global health burden. In a significant departure from traditional recommendations, the American College of Physicians (APC) has published new guidelines in the Annals of Internal Medicine encouraging non-pharmaceutical therapies like yoga, mindfulness meditation, tai chi, and massage as first lines of treatment.

Low back pain is one of the leading causes of physician visits, and the number one reason for missed work days. It can be acute, lasting up to 4 weeks, subacute, lasting between 4 and 12 weeks, or chronic, lasting 12 weeks or more. In spite of its considerable prevalence, low back pain is often attributed to nonspecific factors, meaning that there is no identifiable cause. This also means that there is no clear cut treatment.

Research has shown that low back pain may be attributed to a number of factors including obesity, depression and anxiety, injury and structural, anatomical and biomechanical factors. But this is only part of the story. We are now beginning to recognize low back pain as a biopsychosocial condition, rather than purely a medical one. This has lead to a greater acceptance of creative treatment strategies that move beyond the traditional use of pain killers, some of which are highly addictive. Unfortunately, given the ubiquity of potential causes, there is no single treatment that can cure low back pain.

The ACP guidelines are based on a review of randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews of noninvasive pharmacological and nonpharmacological therapies for back pain published in English language journals between January 2008 and November 2016. To be considered, studies needed to include the evaluation of the reduction or elimination of low back pain, and assess functional improvement, quality of life, work disability and the return to work, time between episodes, adverse effects, and patient satisfaction.

Based on these criteria, when it comes to acute or subacute low back pain the ACP recommends that physicians and patients opt for nonpharmalogical treatments that involve heat, movement, massage, acupuncture, or spinal manipulation as the first course of action. If pharmacological treatment is necessary, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or skeletal muscle relaxants may be used in lieu of opiates or other pain killers.

For chronic low back pain, the ACP recommends exercise, and treatments including mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), yoga, tai chi, progressive muscle relaxation, and/or psychological approaches like cognitive behavioral therapy and biofeedback. The report finds that yoga may improve pain and functioning relative to usual care and education, and be favored over general forms of exercise.

In the event that pharmacological options are warranted, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are again recommended, with opiates only being used when the benefits outweigh the risk. (Note: the US Food & Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control made stringent recommendations in 2016 limiting the use of opiate pain killers).

Of the mindfulness-based treatment options, MBSR has been found to have the strongest evidence in support of pain relief and functional improvement. MBSR uses a combination of mindfulness meditation, yoga, and attentional exercises that cultivate present-moment awareness and non-judgment to create a greater sense of acceptance and wellbeing. In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2016, researchers found that MBSR and cognitive-behavioral therapy were just as effective as pain killers in reducing the symptoms of low back pain.

A growing body of research of the use of yoga in the treatment of low back pain also confirms that yoga may be effective in relieving symptoms. This is consistent with a review and meta-analysis published in the Clinical Journal of Pain in which individuals participating in a yoga program reported significantly reduced short-term (roughly 12 week) and long-term (approximately 12 month) pain and back-specific disability compared to controls. There were no differences between groups for health-related quality of life.  No serious adverse events were reported.

ACP recommendations concur that yoga and other mindfulness practices may benefit those with chronic back pain, and provide a satisfactory alternative to general exercise and traditional forms of drug therapy. The report cautions that the quality of evidence is generally low due to methodological issues in the research, and emphasizes that therapies be administered only by those with sufficient training and experience.

By: 

B Grace Bullock, PhD, E-RYT 500