On Perc. And on Trying Anew. And, Most Especially, on Ahimsa & Satya.

-Juliana Mitchell -

There’s a chemical so potently toxic, that our former President Bill Clinton compared it to Agent Orange. The noxious formula is a suspected carcinogen; being linked to numerous forms of cancer and is considered a likely contributor to infertility, among many other issues. Its use is illegal in some countries. Clearly, none of us wish to consume it! But unwittingly, many are.

I speak of perchloroethylene (aka “perc”) the traditional dry cleaner solvent used in America.

Two key things here. One: Perc “off gasses” - a description of which is below. Two: Perc then binds itself to fat molecules, where it remains.

Say a woman walks into a traditional perc cleaner, sipping a frappuccino. She hands a pink ticket to the attendant, and meanwhile perc residue clings invisibly to the garments hanging all around them. Some quantities of those perc molecules move, continuously and invisibly, off the fabric and into the air. This is off-gassing. The dry cleaning equipment at the back is full of perc too it off-gasses even more. The garment gurney rolls by, the attendant and customer exchange pleasantries. With each inhale, the perc in the air moves into their lungs, into their bloodstream and then binds to their body fat. Amounts of airborne perc bind to the milk fats in her frappuccino as well. The beverage is sipped, money is exchanged. Slurp. The perc moves through her digestive tract and into her fat stores. Transaction completed, and with an unwitting share of perc now residing within, she departs. At home, the pants are hung and off-gas for a time. She breathes. If the pants have proximity to her dining or cooking space, some off-gassed perc will bind to the fat in her food. She eats.

Things to ruminate on:

The trip to the dry cleaners described here is a weekly occurrence for some. Can you imagine the bodily accumulation of perc?

Some such dry cleaners occupy commercial space underneath a residential building, where the families are unaware that they and their children may be receiving perc off-gassing into their homes and bodies.

If our customer from the above example were a breast-feeding mom, some portion of the perc would bind itself to the fat in her breast milk and later be ingested by her baby.

Finally, let’s acknowledge the dry cleaning attendants who’re inhaling and ingesting the stuff all workaday long.

A decade ago I learned of the horrors of perc. It was painfully clear that patronizing a perc-use cleaner was harmful to me personally; to anyone I shared my home with and to anyone who came within sniffing distance of me once I donned the clothes. I felt deeply that it was injurious to the workers at the cleaners who, when working on my clothes, would have been ingesting unthinkable toxicity specifically because of me. I was fired up to make the necessary changes in my life. I switched to green cleaners (a green cleaner uses non-perc processes to care for fine fabrics.)

I was also jazzed to get the word out! Surely everyone would want to know and would stop patronizing traditional cleaners. Then our government would outlaw perc and create programs to assist traditional cleaners in transitioning to non-perc methods.

In actuality, most people didn’t want to know. Or, listened aghast, but went right back to using whichever cleaner. I continued to eschew traditional cleaners myself, but generally I stopped sharing this carcinogenic-news.

A decade has passed. Huge, unforeseeable shifts have occurred. I’m feeling hopeful to try anew. This time, I wish to begin with my Yoga community, from the vantage point of Ahimsa - to do no harm and Satya - impeccable truth. Satya and Ahimsa are our primary Yogic directives for balanced living.

I ask this: As Yogis, how can we tolerate and support the harmful nature of perc?

In deference to Satya, I acknowledge that some folk’s very employment depends on a well-fit suit and I’ve yet to find a perc alternative that doesn’t cause some shrinkage. Also, green cleaners tend to be more expensive and may be price prohibitive to some. Yep, some stains are beyond the scope of certain green cleaners. And finally, some people’s livelihoods - at this moment - depend on employment at a perc-use cleaner. Impeccable truth is a complex target.

This considered, it feels aligned with both impeccable truth and intentions of non-harming to return to this: How can we Yogis tolerate and support any perc use at all?

Looking for a perc alternative near you? Check out this site: http://departments.oxy.edu/uepi/ppc/cleaner_near_you.htm

Yoga Improves Mental and Physical Health in African-American Heart Failure Patients

INDIANAPOLIS – African-Americans with stabilized heart failure can reap a multitude of benefits from yoga, according to a study in the April issue of the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.


Researcher Paula Pullen and her team found yoga improved cardiovascular health, flexibility, markers of heart inflammation and quality of life.

“Yoga appears to be an effective, worthwhile pairing to standard medical care,” Pullen said. “Our study is one of the first on this topic and the results merit even more attention to these benefits.”

Forty heart-failure patients participated in the study, with 21 participating in the yoga program. All participants completed treadmill, flexibility and EKG tests, and they self-reported quality of life with a questionnaire. Patients had similar baseline levels in all areas at the start of the yoga intervention program.

Patients in the yoga program increased their aerobic capacity in treadmill tests by 22 percent, although it should be noted all 40 patients were instructed to begin a regular walking program. Flexibility also significantly improved, with all participants improving on sit-and-reach tests by at least four centimeters. Vascular markers of inflammation decreased and quality-of-life scores increased.

“It’s important to note the marked improvements in both physical and mental health with these patients, as around 25 percent of heart-failure sufferers experience severe depression,” Pullen said. “They often feel their lives are ‘over’ after a cardiac event and physical activity – in this case, yoga – can help curb those emotions.”

Pullen noted that incidence of heart failure among African-Americans has risen in recent years, giving even more importance to finding post-cardiac event interventions for this group.
 
NOTE: Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise® is the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine, and is available from Lippincott Williams & Wilkins at 1-800-638-6423. For a complete copy of the research paper (Vol. 42, No. 4, pages 651-657) or to speak with a leading sports medicine expert on the topic, contact the Department of Communications and Public Information at 317-637-9200 ext. 127 or 133. Visit ACSM online at www.acsm.org.


The conclusions outlined in this news release are those of the researchers only, and should not be construed as an official statement of the American College of Sports Medicine.

Night owl chitta vrtti; 1 Yoga teacher’s 2 cents on insomnia

-Juliana Mitchell-

A friend shares that she hasn’t slept, “I couldn’t stop my mind from spinning about.” When my husband can’t sleep it’s “Squirrels running around his head.” I heard one person explain their insomnia as “My brain on an all night roller coaster ride.” And still another as “Thoughts spiraling about.” Spinning. Running around. Roller coasters. Spirals. Insomnia has the nature of swirling.


A few thousand years ago a sage named Patanjali canonized a classical definition of Yoga, in a written work known as The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. He wrote Yoga chitta vrtti nirodha or Yoga is the containing of the swirling of the mind. ‘Chitta’ means Mind-state or Consciousness. ‘Vrtti’ can be understood as Spiraling. Chitta vrtti is the energy of our consciousness; which when unchecked becomes mental turbulence. ‘Nirodha’ is to quell, contain or soothe.

Yoga then is to quell the inner chaos, leaving our natural Peace-state to shine forth. If quelled chitta vrtti equals the peaceful Yogic-state, then I say Insomnia is a state of being painfully ensconced in uncontained chitta vrtti. The mind is swirling and agitated, like a little boat in a stormy sea. What’s needed are ways to contain, quell and direct ones energies toward the simplified mental patterns of sleep.

If night owl chitta vrtti has you down, some of these suggestions might help to quell (nirodha) that whoooshy mind-state (chitta vrtti) and usher in a space of deep true Peace (Yoga), allowing you to sink into the restful arms of sleep.


SELF DEFINITION

I was informed that the human brain is inclined to bouts of certainty. The moment I heard it, I knew it was true.

• Give up your self-definition as ‘an insomniac’. “But that’s the truth!” you might protest. Starting NOW, work with truth and burgeoning possibility. Redefine yourself “As someone rediscovering the path to restful sleep.” Watch your language as you describe your night’s sleep or your sleep patterns to others and especially watch the language you use inside your own mind to describe your sleep experiences to yourself.

• Consider whether you’re attached to ‘being an insomniac’. If you have a strong negative reaction to this suggestion, if it feels aggravating (aggravate is another translation of vrtti!) then REALLY consider it.

• Journal about this topic, and about your restful, newly re- emerging, sweet sleep patterns.


LIGHT/DARK & WAKE/SLEEP

We’re hardwired to sleep when it’s dark and to awaken to the light. This bodily cycle works in tandem with the subtly increasing then decreasing amounts of available sunlight each day, as well as with the actual angle of light shining into the brain via the eyes as the sun rises and sets. Slowly emerging darkness organically quiets the chitta vrtti, quieting the body-mind’s energies for the coming, passing of night. The light stimulates our mental and physical energies. Sleep-wake cycles are deeply coded into the body-mind in relation to light/dark and so our bodies can’t fathom an emerging nighttime in the presence of bountiful indoor lighting. Our body can’t make sense of it being evening when electronic devices or computer screens direct rays of light straight into the back of the eyeball.

• Expose yourself to daylight every day. If you have to be inside, try to be by a window. Take walks in the sun.

• Where possible, avoid nighttime work and graveyard shifts.

• Put indoor lighting onto dimmers and/or change your lamps to 3 way bulbs. At sunset, turn off or dim overhead lights and turn lamps onto the lowest setting. Switch to dimly lit lights that are close to the floor. This more closely mimics the angle and quality of light dipping toward sunset.

• Stop checking your e-mail, searching the net or looking at electronic devices after sun down. Just don’t stare into artificial sources of light when you want the brain’s energy to wind down.



ADDITIONAL TOOLS

• A regular meditation or Yoga practice tames unwieldy chitta vrtti. Restorative Yoga can be especially effective at this.

• Lavender oil dabbed onto your pillow before sleep is deeply soothing.

• After sundown, don’t strategize on logistics or finances or any topic that gets you ‘wound up’.

• See the prior post on Viparita Karani, a powerful and healing pose. Practice this before bed.

• Even color can stimulate the chitta vrtti. Consider an all white bedroom with pure white bedding. Keep your bedroom serene.

• Keep a regular sleep schedule.

• Cut out or cut down on caffeine and sugar.



Good night and best wishes for sweet dreams.

Chanting Om

- Lisa Goldstein Angerame (Instructor at New York Yoga Hot)

YS 1:27 Tasya Vacakah Pranavah

God is Om. 1

Yoga means union – union of mind and body, the self and the Self, personal and universal consciousness, the individual soul with God. To be one with God is to hear the “anahata nada or Om, which is primal, omnipresent and omnipotent vibration (notice the ‘om’ in omni from the Latin omnis meaning all or universally)…Anahata nada is the unstruck sound, the sound of silence, the sound of the void. You can hear it, but you cannot tell what it is. You cannot miss it, but you cannot make any sense of it. It is that which transforms the world of the senses back into the cosmos of pure energy.”2

In “An Offering of Leaves”, Ruth Lauer-Manenti tells us “Nadam is the sound of God, which can be heard by all when the mind is still.”3 To still the mind is to become quiet, to experience a sense of tranquility that transcends the mundane thoughts of our daily existence. Chanting is a practice that focuses the mind, leading to a still, meditative state in which we are open to hearing the sound of the universe. Chant the sound of Om and be transported to that place.

Om encompasses everything we know as living beings. The sound is made up of three parts –the A, the U, and the M. The A is the beginning, representing birth. The U is the middle, representing life. The M is the end, representing death. To truly experience Om is to experience the fourth part, the state of absolute consciousness (‘turiya’ in Sanskrit), the realm that is beyond the cycle of birth, life and death. It is outside of time and space. It is the hum of the universe that can be heard inside of the stillness after the M.

Begin by sitting up tall and lengthening your spine. Close your eyes and settle your physical body. By diminishing the distractions of the outside world, our awareness turns inward and we become present. Listen as the teacher chants the sacred syllable of Om, changing the vibrational level of the room. Immediately the energy shifts and the atoms in the room dance on a new plane. Our voices become an instrument, an instrument that is tuned to a higher frequency, elevating the mood. Raise your voice and your consciousness in unison with a community of yogis.

Take the opportunity to experience the A-U-M in your body. Sound rides on the breath. Take a deep breath in and feel the vibration as the A begins in your belly. As the sound rises up into your heart, feel the roundness of the lips as you transition from the A to the U. Then feel the hum, the mmm, you create by bringing your lips together for the M, and the sound vibrating in your head. Chanting this sacred syllable is a sweet and gentle way to become absorbed in a still, meditative state. Let the sound waves flow over your body and mind. Allow your entire being to relax and become one with the sound. When the chanting is no longer, hear the vibration you have created, the soundless sound, and the hum that is beyond the beyond. “Om is called pranavah, which simply means humming.”4 . There are no words to describe it; it is energy. It is the entire universe delivered.

To practice yoga is to desire knowledge of our true nature, to experience something beyond the limitations of our own body, mind, and senses. “The growing happiness manifested in the hearts of yogis…through attention to the sound current is beyond language…the Om current. By meditating with this nada, all other sounds are transcended. The yogi is absorbed in the universe of pure vibration…”5

Chant Om continuously. The vocalized sound will end naturally. Be still. In the stillness, hear the anahata nadam, the sound of God. Om.

1 Sharon Gannon, Jivamukti Yoga Chant Book (Jivamukti Yoga School, 2009) 14.
2 Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati, Nada Yoga (Baba Bhagavandas Publications Trust, 2007) 9 – 12.
3 Ruth Lauer-Manenti, An Offering of Leaves (Lantern Books, 2009) 18.
4 Sri Swami Satchidananda, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (Integral Yoga Publications, 2003) 42.
5 Saravasti, 67.

Help New York Yoga Help Haiti

Please Join New York Yoga in donating to the
American Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.

New York Yoga will be collecting cash donation at both studios
(New York Yoga and New York Yoga HOT) until Sunday, January 24th.

Thank you for your contribution.

Feeling Fabulous through Food Combining

- Juliana Mitchell

Food Combining is a way of eating based on the concept that certain foods digest well together - leaving you feeling nourished, energized and excellent, while certain foods digest poorly together - leaving you sluggish, bloated and depleted, and thereby desperately craving sugars, caffeine and junk-food in order to quick-fix the inner energy crisis.

Food Combiners simply eat their foods in optimal combinations, while eschewing those combinations that are non-optimal. As a veteran Food Combiner, it’s my experience that proper food combining increases metabolism, improves digestion and elimination, diminishes bloating, promotes appropriate weight loss, decreases cellulite, creates a healthy complexion, elevates moods, supports the immune system and heightens energy levels. For me, personally, choosing Food Combining is choosing to eat in a way that supports my feeling energized, focused and fabulous.

This way of eating works because it caters harmoniously to the body’s inherent, digestive capacities. However, in order to commence Food Combining, one must learn and memorize how to eat to support these proclivities. Because it can be a tad confusing to wrap one’s noggin around at first, I created a simple acronym – CLEANSE - to help teach the essential principles of Food Combining in a straightforward way. But first, three core concepts:

Our bodies release different enzymes to digest different foods. For example, we use given enzymes to digest proteins and totally other enzymes to digest carbohydrates. Certain combinations of enzymes work well together, helping you cull nourishment from your meals and leaving you vibrant. But certain combinations of enzymes – particularly the enzymes needed for carbs vs. the enzymes needed for proteins – actually cancel each other out. This leaves food putrefying in your digestive tract. In which case, the body can’t get the energy and nutrition it needs from that rotten food. Worse, the poor body now needs additional energy to deal with the indigestible ‘glut in the gut’. Hello indigestion and heartburn, hello snack food or sugar/caffeine cravings.

Differing foods digest at differing rates. For example, fruit digests quickly and proteins slowly. Food is best digested when it’s eaten in combinations of ingredients that digest at the same rate. Digestion is impeded when we eat combinations of foods that digest at different rates, as it blocks our body’s ability to get energy and healing from our food and instead forces the sensitive belly to cope with a confusing clog. Especially in the instance of fruits or any sugar laden foods ingested in tandem with more slowly digesting foods, what ensues is gas. Hello bloating, a protruding belly and expanded waist line, sometimes headaches, sometimes diarrhea and sometimes - ahem – painful intimacy for woman.

We want our digestive enzymes at their full strength. So they can break down our food efficiently, giving us prompt energy and keeping that metabolism humming along. Drinking fluids with our meals waters down the power of our digestive enzymes. Hydrate well between meals instead.

C ommit to eating in a way that makes you feel energized, focused and fabulous

L earn to categorize your foods as proteins, carbs, veggies or fruits

E at your veggies with carbs OR eat your veggies with proteins

A nd don’t mix your proteins with your carbs

N o drinks with your meals

S weets (fruits and fruit juices) are to be enjoyed on their own

E njoy a weekly ‘feast day’ - one day a week give it a rest & eat anything in any combination

All that said, I feel compelled to add that there is a lot of data out there to completely debunk the Food Combining theory. That said, I began Food Combining in 1997. Since that time, I’ve sometimes followed the principles to the letter, which always results in my feeling amazing and looking brighter. Sometimes I allow the principles to slip away for a time, and I always feel and look a bit poorly as a result. So I’ll continue I imagine. Maybe I’ll pick up some reading debunking the theory, maybe I’ll do some further reading that promotes Food Combining (both Suzanne Somers and Marilu Henner are Food Combining advocates with books out there for our perusal). Regardless of the external input and more importantly however, I’ll eat consciously and continue to listen to my body. My hope for you is that you do the same.

Namaste.

What are you waiting for?

Happy New Year to all!

As I sit and ponder 2010, I assess my current physical condition and the aches and pains brought on by age. I am in my forties and a regular yogi. As I set my goals, I only reinforce my conviction that after thirteen years of practicing Yoga is the closest thing I have found to the fountain of youth.

Like any regimen, consistency, dedication and patience are necessary to obtain your desired results. The difference is that on the physical side, yoga can not only keep you fit but over time it can reverse bio-mechanical issues in our body. Those issues being both hereditary and those obtained in life - from sport injuries to sitting too much.

That said, here's some food for thought as you make the big New Year’s Resolution.... Do you want to be the guy with the hunched over shoulders? Or the long distance runner who’s finishing his third knee surgery? How about the weekend softball player who’s sitting out the big game with a pulled hamstring?

So, you say, How do I get started? I can’t even touch my toes let alone keep up in one of those 90 minute classes! My answer to you is this: you didn’t get this way in one day or one year, so don’t expect to change it all in one class.

1.) First, find a place where you feel comfortable, a place where there are lots of classes all day long. As a busy New Yorker, you need a lot of scheduling choices so you can get to class even if you are stuck late at work.

2.) Second, find a place where you can get lots of personal attention, where the instructors are experienced and have several classes at times that work for you. Once you practice with the same teachers numerous times, they start to get to know your body and can make adjustments and corrections for you during class.

3.) Finally, get committed to practicing yoga at least three times per week. At most studios, If you sign up for an unlimited membership, it’s your most cost effective way to commit to your practice, and you are more likely to go if you commit. Immerse yourself in the practice and the process and you will start to: feel better mentally and physically, stand taller with better posture, be more nimble, be stronger and graceful.

What are you waiting for?