Balancing Your Emotions with Your Breath

by Nina

Close-Up of the Falls by Melina Meza

As I wrote in Your Breath: The Key to Your Nervous System, while you cannot tell your nervous system directly to slow your heart beat, digest your food more quickly or to start relaxing right this minute, you can control your breath. And because your heart rate tends to speed up on your inhalation and your heart rate tends to slow on your exhalation, this enables you to consciously access your nervous system. By intentionally taking in more air (either by speeding up your breath or by lengthening your inhalation) you can stimulate your nervous system. And by taking in less air (by slowing your breath or lengthening your exhalation), you can calm yourself down.

Last week, I wrote about emotional counter-poses that you can use to balance your emotions. You can use various yogic breath practices in the same way. You can use breath practices when nothing serious is wrong but you’re just feeling slightly hyper (see anxiety or stress) or slightly down (see clinical depression). And you can also use them as a supplement to other treatments if you are suffering from anxiety, agitated depression, clinical depression or chronic stress.

(Note that yogic breath practices have evolved over thousands of years as yogis experimented on themselves and passed on discoveries their students. And while some schools of yoga teach yogic breath practices (pranayama) to beginners, the type of yoga that I’m trained in, Iyengar style, considers breath practices to be so powerful that pranayama is introduced very gradually. So if you start experimenting with breath practices to balance your emotional condition, do take it easy.)

Anxiety and agitated depression. Because anxiety and agitated depression—which is anxiety based—are so often related to an overactive sympathetic nervous system, for these two conditions it’s best to focus on your exhalation. You can simply work on exhaling completely or lengthen your exhalation a beat or two (by pausing after your exhalation is complete). Or, you can try a more formal practice that focuses on lengthening the exhalation, such as Viloma with interrupted exhalation, where you actually pause twice during your exhalation and once at the end. This is the practice that Iyengar himself recommends in Light on Life in his “Asanas for Emotional Stability” practice.

If manipulating your exhalation causes you to feel any agitation whatsoever, stop the practice. In addition, practices that lengthen your inhalation or even that bring your awareness to the inhalation (which can cause you to unintentionally lengthen or deepen your inhalation) may aggravate your condition, so you may want to avoid them.

If you’ve noticed that you are a chest breather—a type of breathing that seems to be associated with anxiety—and it doesn’t make you feel more anxious to work with your inhalation as well as your exhalation, you could practice abdominal breathing. In abdominal breathing, you focus on slowly inhaling into and exhaling from your belly rather than your chest, as you intentionally keep your abdominal area relaxed. You could lie on your back, and place a block or other light weight, such as a 1 pound bag of rice, on your belly to bring awareness to your abdomen, and keep your abdomen relaxed as you slowly inhale and exhale. Or, if lying on your back makes you anxious, you could lie in Crocodile pose (on your belly with your arms out to the sides, elbows bent, and forehead resting on stacked hands) so you can feel your abdomen moving toward and away from the floor as you slowly inhale and exhale.

You can also use any of these techniques if you're just feeling mildly hyper and want to calm down.

Clinical depression. For clinical depression, which tends to make people feel heavy and lifeless, focusing on your inhalation or breathing more quickly can stimulate your nervous system and bring you out of your lethargy. This is one reason why an active vinyasa practice, such as the Ashtanga series or Sun Salutations, can be helpful to those with clinical depression because when you move with your breath, you tend to breathe more quickly and take in more oxygen. So for you, it may be helpful to focus on your inhalation. You can simply work with inhaling more completely or lengthen your inhalation by holding it for a beat or two. Or, you can try a more formal practice that focuses on lengthening the inhalation, such as Viloma with interrupted inhalation, where you actually pause twice during your inhalation and once after. In Yoga As Medicine, Timothy McCall recommends Ujjayi breathing, which tends to lengthen both the inhalation and exhalation, as well as the version of Viloma with interrupted inhalation

Some people who are depressed tend to have a slumped posture, with a collapsed chest, so focusing on opening your chest and inhaling into that area can be beneficial. In Yoga As Medicine, Timothy quotes Patricia Walden, who herself has suffered from clinical depression, saying:

“When you start focusing on your breath, and taking the breath into your chest and breathing deeply, you begin to feel the presence of your breath. What comes with that is a feeling of life returning, a feeling of warm that percolates throughout your chest at the beginning, but then throughout your entire body.”

You can also use any of these techniques if you're just feeling mildly depressed or blue.

Because stress is often a trigger for clinical depression, it’s possible that working with your exhalation as described for anxiety rather than your inhalation, could be helpful for you. So don’t hesitate to give it a try if you feel so inclined. As I said in my post Anxiety, Yoga and the Front Body, when it comes to emotional balance, anything that makes you feel better is working.

Stress. Because chronic stress is the result of an overactive sympathetic nervous system, it makes sense to focus on pacifying your nervous system by working with your exhalation as I described for anxiety. However, from my observations of people doing pranayama, some people find any kind of pranayama relaxing (I, myself, do not, by the way). If you do find all breath work relaxing, go ahead and do whichever breath practice quiets your mind and relaxes you. Simply slowing your breath in general, with long, slow inhalations as well as exhalations, could be helpful in reducing stress. Practices where you speed up your breath will no doubt stimulate your nervous system. So if you are doing an active vinyasa practice to burn off your excess energy, end your yoga practice with a calming breath practice or an emotional counter-pose (see Balancing Your Emotional Body With Counter-Poses) that triggers the relaxation response.

Balancing Your Emotional Body With Counter-Poses

by Nina

Last week in my posts about anxiety Anxiety, Yoga and the Front Body and Soothing Yourself With Supported Forward Bends, I discussed yoga poses to rely on when you’re feeling anxious (supported inversions and forward bends) and yoga poses to avoid when you’re in that state (backbends, twists, and Sun Salutations).

It makes sense if you’re in a crisis period to practice the poses that calm you down and avoid stimulating poses that might exacerbate your condition. However, if you’re in a state of chronic anxiety, avoiding backbends, twists, and many of the active poses for a long period of time will move your body toward imbalance. The same is true if your practice is focused on any emotion-based condition, such as agitated depression, clinical depression, or even just chronic stress.

In this case, I feel it is better to return to a more well-rounded yoga practice (see A Week of Yoga Practice) but consider how you end your practices. By choosing an appropriate counter-pose to end your practice, you can counteract any negative emotional effects of your practice without negating the beneficial physical ones. That way, you can move on to the rest of your day with your nervous system and emotions more in balance. Some people with anxiety or agitated depression even find that beginning with a very active practice can help burn off excess energy, which makes the soothing or relaxing counter-poses at the end of the sequence more effective (or even possible, as it can be hard to stay still when you’re feeling very anxious).

My post Yoga and Your Emotions describes the emotional effects different types of poses have on most people. So if you’re interested in practicing for balancing your emotions, take a look at that and consider how a given practice (standing pose, Sun Salutation, twist, backbend, forward bend, restorative) might affect your current emotional state. Then choose one or more counter-poses—especially passive poses that can be held for long periods of time—that you can add on to the end of your practice to counteract the poses that were the main focus of the practice. For example, if you’re already feeling anxious or hyper yet need to practice backbends for the health of your body, you can end your backbend sequence with a long supported inversion, such as a Chair Shoulderstand or Legs Up the Wall pose, to calm yourself down. 

Anxiety and Agitated Depression. We’ve already said that supported inverted poses and supported forward bends are the best poses to counteract anxiety. These may also be helpful for agitated depression as that is anxiety based. So at the end of a more active sequence, try resting in Supported Child’s pose for a few minutes and then practice Legs Up the Wall pose (Viparita Karani) for 10 minutes or more. If Child’s pose is uncomfortable for you or you can’t kneel for some reason, try a Supported Seated Forward Bend with a chair (see Soothing Yourself With Supported Forward Bends), with a straight back. If Legs Up the Wall pose doesn’t work well for you, try Easy Inverted Pose (Featured Pose: Easy Inverted Pose). If having your front body exposed makes you feel vulnerable, try covering yourself with a blanket. 

Clinical Depression. On the other hand, for people who are suffering from clinical depression, forward bends, with their inward turning quality, can cause you to brood. For you, therefore, a couple of mild, active backbends, such as Purvottanasana (Reverse Plank pose) or Bridge pose, would be good counter poses after practicing a forward bend sequence. Generally speaking, an active practice is best for those with clinical depression, especially one that includes backbends, because that helps counteract feelings of lethargy. But if you are tired and want to practice restorative poses, focus on passive backbends rather than forward bending poses, and be sure to end your sequence with a backbending position, rather than a forward bending one. Rather than doing Savasana flat on your back, try doing it with your torso supported by a bolster or stack of blankets, so your chest is open and your back is in a slight backbend. Or, maybe even reverse the typical pattern of a practice, begin your sequence with resting poses and moving slowly onto more active ones so you are left feeling a bit energized. Often I'll end a restorative sequence by standing in Mountain pose and inhaling as I raise my arms overhead into a slight backbend and exhaling as I return my arms to my sides. 

Stress. For people who are suffering from chronic stress, standing poses, Sun Salutations, backbends, and twists can be over stimulating. So try to end a sequence that is focused on any of those types of poses with any long supported inversion, such as Legs Up the Wall pose or Easy Inverted pose, or any restorative pose that you enjoy.

Even a long Savasana of 10 minutes or more, with a mental focus, such as your breath, would be helpful as an emotional counter-pose (see Savasana Variations) or any form of yoga nidra (see Audio Tracks tab above). Stressed out people tend to skip these ending poses because they think they don’t have time and that restorative poses are not “productive.” However, when you’re suffering from chronic stress, the most beneficial practice for you is some type of conscious relaxation (see The Relaxation Response and Yoga). As with anxiety, you may need to first burn off excess energy with a more active practice, but always leave time for conscious relaxation at the end of your sequence.

 I, myself, have been practicing like this for many years, with focused, nervous-system pacifying sequences during particularly challenging times, and balanced sequences with emotional counter-poses the rest of the time. But what if you, like many other people, do not practice often at home and do most of your yoga practice in classes or with videos? In this case, there is no reason why you can’t do just the counter-pose after the class or video. For example, if an evening backbend practice has left you feeling agitated or even just hyper (I can’t tell you how many people have told me that backbends at night cause insomnia), there’s no reason why you can’t just practice a supported inverted pose or conscious relaxation on your own before bed. This will help pacify your nervous system and may even lead to better sleep.

Yoga is a great thing but...

by Nina 

Stop Sign by Brad Gibson

“Yoga is a great thing but it is not everything or the only thing.”

That’s the sentence that popped into my mind while I was practicing yoga yesterday afternoon (a very enjoyable backbend practice, by the way). In the back of my mind, I was obviously mulling over a post I read on the It’s All Yoga Baby blog (see when the yoga doesn’t work: depression, failure & the purpose of practice), in which Roseanne talked about her depression and her feeling that she is “failing” at her yoga practice.

“Underneath it all, however, is a vague sense that I’m failing at my practice, that I’m as broken and fucked up as I was before I committed to yoga (chronic and clinical depression was what drove me to practice in the first place), that the practice isn’t working. There’s also the vague sense that I’m not allowed to be feeling this way – there are many stories of miraculous healing from depression (and everything else) through yoga, but nobody talks about the relapses. I feel like I’m doing something wrong.”

I’ve already mentioned in a couple of previous posts (see Practice As Many As You Can and Authentic Yoga) how reading Yoga Body by Mark Singleton brought home to me once again that most of what we consider to be “yoga” these days was developed in the 20th century. This means that, contrary to what some teachers claim, the yoga we know and practice these days is not some thousands-of-years-old practice that is the answer to everything, including depression and anxiety, as well as physical injuries and illnesses (though it can definitely help with those things for certain people). And I think those in the yoga community who promote it as such, do us all a disservice. Because the result for people like Roseanne is that when yoga doesn’t provide the answer for them, they feel as if they are at fault, that they are doing something wrong, or that they have “failed” in some way. And the truth is, yoga was probably only used to treat depression and anxiety starting in the 20th century.

When I teach yoga for emotional well-being (including depression, anxiety, stress, etc.), I always add that I while I consider yoga to be a powerful tool for improving mental health, it may not be the only answer for you. In fact, you may need to use it as a supplement to western medicine, including drugs and/or therapy. And I recommend that if you are in a crisis, you should consult with your family doctor or a mental health professional. You need to do whatever it takes to help you get better. And, please, no guilt or shame about this!

The truth is, many years ago, before I became serious about yoga but while I was taking regular classes, I had two nervous breakdowns (the diagnosis was agitated depression), within a five-year period. And I’m convinced that, especially during the second breakdown, that my family doctor and the drugs she prescribed for me prevented me from being hospitalized. Later on, life style changes, including a regular home yoga practice, helped me reduce the stress in my life that seemed to be the main trigger for my illness. And I’ve been well since then. But just as important, I believe that yoga has also helped me come to a state of self acceptance regarding my condition. And this included both overcoming my feeling of shame about taking medication for depression (my therapist encouraged me to stay on a low maintenance dose) and starting to talk—and write—about my experiences as a way of possibly helping others.

I want to be very clear that I’m not here giving any medical advice here. This post is not intended to tell anyone what the best way is to heal from depression. I just felt that it was very important to state that as wonderful as I feel yoga is, I believe it has its limits. And there's no shame in that. Really, all I’m trying to say here is summed up by the sentence that I opened this post with:

“Yoga is a great thing but it is not everything or the only thing.”

The Effect of Yoga Poses on Your Mood

by Nina

“To sit in Lotus Pose and gaze at one’s nose is said to be a spiritual practice; to do Lotus Pose and concentrate on the coccyx or elsewhere is said to be a physical practice. Where is the difference? How can Hatha Yoga be only physical and Raja Yoga only spiritual?” —BKS Iyengar

Iyengar sounds a bit cranky in that quote, doesn’t he? I think that’s because back in the 60s he was getting tired of explaining his somewhat radical point of view that doing yoga poses was a form of meditation. Traditionally yoga poses were seen as physical exercises to purify and strength the body for meditation and other spiritual practices. But Iyengar argued that the poses themselves were a spiritual practice.

“A posture can be considered as much a mantra or as much as meditation.” —BKS Iyengar

I thought of this recently when I read an interesting article about a study about the affects of meditation on moods (see Meditation Induces Positive Structural Brain Changes). When I first heard about the article, I thought it was going to be about a study of traditional seated meditation, and I was excited about the possibility that there was proof that traditional meditation helped improve our moods. Instead, I found the study was done using a special form of Chinese meditation called Integrative Body-Mind Training (IBMT) that “differs from other forms of meditation because it depends heavily on the inducement of a high degree of awareness and balance of the body, mind, and environment. And the study found:

“Building on results from a study they published in 2010, investigators found that healthy college-aged volunteers who practiced IBMT for 4 weeks showed significantly improved mood changes compared with those who did not practice the meditation technique.

The researchers note that these mood changes coincided with improved axonal density and expansion of myelin in the anterior cingulate part of the brain, a region that is implicated in self-regulation. Previous research has linked deficits in this brain area with attention deficit disorder, depression, schizophrenia, dementia, and addiction.”

Orchids in the Mist by Michele Macartney-Filgate

Exciting results, certainly. But doesn’t IBMT sound like Iyengar yoga? I mean, isn’t the practice of yoga poses with a mindful focus on alignment and physical sensations the same as “awareness and balance of the body, mind, and environment”? So it’s pretty easy to extrapolate from this study that Iyengar yoga would have similar effects as this Chinese meditation technique.

Of course I don’t really need a study to tell me what I know from personal experience. My asana practice definitely affects my moods. I usually feel better after practicing almost any sequence, and when I’m feeling depressed or discouraged or stressed, I can intentionally design a practice that can improve my mood. But it’s always nice to find out about studies that back up what I know intuitively because, well, it seems I’m on a mission: I want you, whoever you are, to start practicing, too. Your moods will improve and your stress levels will be reduced, and your overall health will benefit as a result. And now there is the intriguing possibility the practice could also help with dementia (as well as attention deficit disorder, schizophrenia and addiction)!

“Yoga is the harmony of the body, senses, mind, and intellect. That’s why there is no difference between physical and spiritual yoga.” —BKS Iyengar

For Tamasic Depression: Moving with Your Breath

Light in the Mist by Michele McCartney-Filgate

by Nina

Last week in my post Tamasic and Rajasic Depression, I mentioned how moving with your breath can be very helpful for people with tamasic depression (or for all of us on those days when we're just feeling blue). We don’t have scientific evidence to prove this, however, many long-time yogis have experienced the enlivening and uplifting sensations of vinyasas and mini vinyasas. And I'm here to testify to that! Some possible reasons why this works are:

• Moving with you breath engages your mind, providing you with temporary respite from depressing thoughts. Coordinating movements with your breath doesn’t give you time to brood or let your mind wander.
• Consciously breathing as you move improves your breathing in general, which can reduce lethargy and fatigue.
• Exercising in general can actually change your mood, possibly by changing your body chemistry.

You can use a vinyasa or mini vinyasa as a way to start a longer practice or as a mini practice on its own. If you’re too depressed to contemplate a challenging practice, try some simple movements. Just starting to move, however modestly, can sometimes get your energy flowing and may even motivate you to move onto a longer practice.

Practicing a vinyasa with a backbending movement may be the most helpful for depression. For most people, backbends are energizing and uplifting. Patricia Walden, who teaches yoga for depression, says that backbends “let in the light.” In Gary Kraftsow’s sequence for chronic depression in Yoga for Wellness, he includes a mini vinyasa with Bridge pose, a sequence that includes Warrior 1, and second mini vinyasa with Upward-Facing Dog pose, probably for the same reasons.

Today I’m just going to offer up a few ideas for poses you can use to start a practice or to do on their own as mini practices (and, hmmm, now that I look at the list, I realize you could actually do them all, in the order below, as a short sequence). Some of these ideas come from Patricia Walden, some from Gary Kraftsow, and some are my own.

Cat pose: If you can’t even bring yourself to stand up on your yoga mat, whether because you’re depressed, discouraged, or just tired, try starting on hands and knees. Move into your backbend on an inhalation (what some people call Cow pose and what I like to call Purring Cat) and arching your back into Cat pose on an exhalation. Repeat any number of times. Who knows, maybe you’ll feel like going into Doward-Facing Dog pose next or perhaps even standing in Mountain pose on your mat. By the way, you can even do this pose in a chair, as we described in our post Chair Cat Pose, anywhere and in any attire.

Mountain Pose: The easiest standing mini vinyasa is to move in Mountain Pose. Start in Mountain pose, with your arms by your sides. On an inhalation, bring your arms overhead as you bend slightly into a backbend in your upper back. On an exhalation, release back to your starting position, bringing your arms back by your sides. Repeat six times.

Warrior 1: Moving from Warrior 1 stance to full Warrior 1 pose as we illustrated in our post Warrior 1 and Warrior 2 Mini Vinyasas is a more challenging vinyasa. But the fact that it takes more concentration and effort may bring you more powerful results. Repeat six times.

Bridge pose: This is the deepest backbend of the group, which provides the benefits of a good chest opening along with the benefits of moving with your breath. Start by lying on your back with your knees bend, your feet about hips-width apart and your arms by your sides. On an inhalation, press down with your feet as you lift your pelvis off the ground, open your chest, and raise your arms overhead and down toward the floor behind your head. On an exhalation, return to the starting position, dropping your pelvis straight down to the floor as you bring your arms back by your sides. Repeat six times.

I hope that some of you out there will give these a try and let me know how it goes!

Tamasic and Rajasic Depression

by Nina

I can’t seem to face up to the facts

I’m tense and nervous and I can’t relax

I can’t sleep ‘cause my bed’s on fire

Don’t touch me I’m a real live wire
—from Psycho Killer by the Talking Heads

At one point in my life, I felt those lyrics from Psycho Killer described me perfectly. If you are suffering from depression or just feeling “depressed,” how exactly would you describe your feelings? Because the type of depression you have—whether it is tamasic or rajasic—will determine how you can use yoga to relieve your depression. The same thing is true if you want to help a student who has depression or is just feeling depressed. You’ll need to question your student about his or her symptoms and feelings, and use your powers of observation, to determine the right approach you should take to help them.

The term “tamasic depression” comes from the Sanskrit term “tamas.” Tamas, one of the gunas, which are the three primordial qualities of matter that make up all of creation, is responsible for inertia. So tamasic depression describes the type of depression where lethargy, fatigue, and hopelessness predominate. People with tamasic depression may have slumped shoulders, collapsed chests, and sunken eyes, and may look as if they are barely breathing. That tamasic feeling of not being able to get out of bed is evoked for me by the Blind Melon song “No Rain.”

And I don't understand why sleep all day

And I start to complain that there's no rain.

And all I can do is read a book to stay awake,

And it rips my life away but it's a great escape.

Escape, escape, escape.

Because of the lethargic aspect, people with tamasic depression need energizing as well as uplifting. Active poses, such as standing poses, backbends, and sequences where you move with your breath are all helpful for tamasic depression. However, people with tamasic depression also suffer from stress, so they may need to include relaxation in their practice. (Yesterday’s post Warrior 1 and Warrior 2 Mini Vinyasas mentioned that the two Warrior mini vinyasas can be helpful for depression, and in that case we were thinking mostly of tamasic depression, where moving in and out of the standing poses with the breath is energizing as well as uplifting.)

The term “rajasic depression” comes from the Sanskrit term “rajas.” Rajas, also one of the three primordial qualities of matter that make up all of creation, is responsible for activity. So rajasic depression describes the type of depression where agitation and anxiety predominate. People with rajasic depression may have stiff bodies and racing minds, with a hardness around their eyes, and may suffer from relentless insomnia. Even in Corpse pose or restorative poses, their eyes may dart and their fingers won't stay still. Some of these people report difficulty in exhaling fully, a symptom often linked to anxiety. That rajasic feeling of not being able to rest is evoked for me by the Talking Heads song “Psycho Killer.”

Because of the agitated aspect, people with rajasic depression need calming and soothing, rather than energizing. So inverted poses, forward bends, passive backbends and restorative poses are helpful for rajasic depression. However, people with rajasic depression may need to release the physical tension in their bodies first before they are ready to relax, so they may need to include some active poses in their practice.

The third guna is satva, which is the primordial quality of matter that is responsible for “being” or “existence,” and which has also been translated to mean balance, order, or purity. This is the quality we’re aiming for in our yoga practice, moving away from being too tamasic or rajasic toward a more satvic state. A person who is primarily “satvic” would be someone who is neither too tamasic or rajasic and is therefore in a more healthy mental state.

But the truth is that even those of us who are mentally healthy feel out of balance some of the time, and we can experience mildly tamasic or rajasic days, even if we don’t have a full-blown tamasic or rajasic depression. So all the techniques I’ll describe in future posts for helping with tamasic or rajasic depression can be beneficial for anyone who is simply, like that kid, Alexander, having a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Yoga Sutra 1.2: Restricting the Whirls of Consciousness

by Nina

My young cousin asked me last night about the history of the form of yoga that she’s been practicing lately. I told her that it was a very recent form of hatha yoga, but added that all the hatha yoga we’ve been doing in the United States was developed in the 20th century. We then talked about the part of yoga that was, indeed, very ancient, and I tossed out some of the definitions of yoga from the classic scriptures. One of them was this from The Yoga Sutras:

Yoga cittavritti nirodha

Yoga is the restriction of the whirls of consciousness.

I like this particular translation of sutra 1.2 because it translates the compound word “cittavritti” as “whirls of consciousness.” I not only find that very poetic, but also very accurate in terms of how the mind works. The word “vritti” has many definitions, including "waves" and "fluctuations," but whirls reminds me of the revolved yoga poses that also contain the word “vritti,” such as Paravritti Trikonasana and Paravritti Parsvakonasana. So for me, whirls evokes revolving, turning, and circling. And when we’re depressed or anxious or mentally stressed out, aren’t we tormented by the our whirls of consciousness, by negative thoughts and emotions that cycle over and over? What if I miss my deadline? What if the plane crashes? What if I can’t fall asleep tonight? Or, if only my lover hadn’t left me. If only I wasn’t so helpless/afraid/overwhelmed. If only my parents had loved me more.

In Andrew Solomon’s wonderful book on depression The Noonday Demon, he describes the difference between clinical depression and agitated (or anxiety based) depression, saying that clinical depression is an obsession with the past or, as I like to put it, all those “if only” thoughts. On the other hand, he says that agitated depression (or anxiety for that matter) is an obsession with the future, or as I put it, all those “what if” thoughts. Do either of those states of mind sound familiar? And if so, don’t you think it would wonderful to be able to “restrict” or “cease” or “quiet” those whirls of consciousness?

Spring Blossoms, Clouds by Nina Zolotow

Yoga was initially developed (or perhaps “evolved” is a better word) for that purpose. Thousands of years of different kinds of yoga practice have resulted in a lot of different methods for “restricting the whirls of consciousness” or quieting the mind, including meditation, breath practices, and chanting, as well as asana practice.

And, for me, this concept is the basis for using yoga for your emotional wellbeing. When I teach workshops on this topic, I always talk about this translation of sutra 1.2. Because my general principle for using yoga for emotional wellbeing is simply this: Start by becoming aware of the vrittis, of the way your mind gets caught up in them. And then observe how different yoga practices affect them.

Featured Pose: Simple Chair Backbend

by Baxter and Nina

Another one of our five essential office yoga poses, the simple chair backbend is the perfect antidote to the typical postural habits of slumping forward that we develop from sitting all day at our desks, in cars, and airplanes, and from the many everyday activities where we are bending forward, such as gardening or washing dishes.

The basic back-bending shape re-establishes the natural curve of your lower back, correctly aligning your spine in its natural curves, which helps to keep your back healthy. The backbend also lengthens the front of your body, allowing many of us to breath in with greater ease. It helps release stress from your upper body, especially the upper chest. And while stretching the front of your body, the pose strengthens your back body muscles, which tend to be overstretched and weak if they are ignored.

Because backbends in general tend to be uplifting, you may even find this pose helps encourage a more positive mood as you take deep inhalations and exhalations.

The pose can be done almost anywhere. Although a chair without arms is preferable, you can use almost any chair, as long as the back is low enough for you to rest your shoulder blades on.

Baxter prescribes this pose for:

•    Kyphosis of the upper back
•    Chronic lower back pain
•    Head forward syndrome
•    Scoliosis
•    Carpal tunnel syndrome (when symptoms are coming from the shoulders)
•    Sore back from traveling or sitting at your desk
•    Depression
•    General digestive concerns (such as heart burn and acid reflux)

Instructions: If possible, try to find a chair with a back that touches you near your lower shoulder blades. Then move your chair away from the wall or other furniture so you leave some space behind you.

Next sit on the chair, either it the center (if you’re shorter) or near the back (if you’re taller) so the soles of your feet are flat on the floor. If you’re small, you might need to add some support on the chair seat and/or underneath your feet. Align your feet below your knees, with your thighs parallel to the floor. Now, reach your hands around to grab the lower sides of the chair (where it meets the seat) or, if this is not possible, rest your palms on the back of the chair seat.

Root down through your feet and arms, lengthen up from your tailbone to the crown of your head, and mindfully arch your spine up and back until your upper rib cage touches the chair back and rests there lightly. Keep your chin tucked toward your chest.

If you are very comfortable deeply bending your neck, you can take one or both hands behind your head for support as you allow your neck to follow the backbend of your spine, as shown below.

As you inhale, encourage the lift and arch of your spine. As you exhale, maintain your lift and arch. Continue for four to six breaths, working your way up to 12 to 16 breaths as you become stronger in the pose. Come out with a strong exhalation.

Take a moment to notice how you feel. You should feel stretched, strengthened and alive, not painful and miserable. If you experience any pain afterwards in your neck or back, this backbend variation might not be for you.

Cautions: Not all forms of low back pain (such as, spondyolisthis, facet arthritis, spinal stenosis or disc herniation) will be helped by the chair backbend, so you have a back condition, check with your doctor before doing this pose. If you have cervical spine or neck issues, be careful with the position of your neck, keeping your chin tucked toward your chest as you go into the backbend. If you have osteoporosis, adding padding to the top edge of the chair so there is less pressure on your spine is recommended.

Featured Pose: Locust (Dynamic Version)

by Baxter and Nina

Locust pose (Salabasana) is a simple backbend that strengthens the entire backside of your body, from the nape of your neck to the backs of your heels. Baxter loves this pose because it’s helpful for such a wide range of problems, including lower back pain, postural problems, and weakness anywhere along the chain of your back body, including your , including hips and hamstrings. And because the backbend is shallow and doesn’t put pressure on the wrists, it is accessible to almost everyone.

We’re recommending two versions of this pose: one with your hands on the floor and the other with your arms parallel to floor and hands lifted. The version with your hands on the floor provides more support, making the pose less demanding. The version with arms raised increases the amount of strengthening in your arms and shoulders.

Baxter prescribes this pose for:

•    lower back pain (it strengthens the muscles along the sides of your lower back)
•    hamstring injuries
•    arthritis of the knees (it strengthens the leg muscles)
•    postural problems (such as excessive rounding and head-forward syndrome)
•    arm strength (in the version where you lift your arms)
•    depression (accessible even when your energy is low)
•    general weakness

Instructions: Lie on your belly, with your head resting on the floor, your arms resting at your sides, hands palm down, and your legs stretched evenly back behind you, toes gently pointed. If your lower back feels vulnerable, press your hips gently down to the floor.

Think about your right leg being a bit longer then your left, and on an inhale, lift your right leg up a few inches off the floor without bending your knee knee, while also lifting your head and chest up a few inches. As you lift your chest and head, be careful not to overextend your neck (throwing it back) because this could cause neck strain. If you wish, raise your arms and hands so your arms are parallel to the floor and your palms are facing the floor.

Exhale and release back to the starting position. Repeat the process with your left leg.

Alternate right and left with every round of breath. Do about six times, side to side. Then rest.

Cautions: As with any pose, Locust might aggravate an existing problem or condition. In particular, if you have a pronounced lumbar curve, your back problems could be aggravated. Consult your favorite teacher for an alternative is you have any trouble. If you have asthma or any other breathing difficulties, this pose might make you short of breath. If this happens, come out of the pose and rest.

CHRONIC STRESS: AN INTRODUCTION

by Nina

An ongoing theme that we’ll be exploring in depth on this blog is the negative effects of chronic stress on long-term health and the need for stress management as an important aspect of healthy aging. So perhaps it’s a good time for me to define exactly what we mean by “chronic stress” and to let you know a little about why it is such a serious problem.

I learned about dangers of chronic stress the hard way. Back in the early nineties, I had a job as the documentation manager and lead technical writer at a software start-up company, while at the same time I was raising two children. As you might imagine, the pressure was intense as our small company struggled to meet our first deadline, the first test of the product by real customers (who needed my manuals to teach them how to use the product!). As the deadline approached and I started working overtime, I began having difficulty sleeping. I also started losing weight because the stress made me so feel nauseated that I lost my appetite. Eventually I was so anxious, exhausted and nauseated that even though I met my deadline (and the company went on to success), I couldn’t bounce back to normal health. It took a year and half of therapy, medication, and lifestyle changes to recover completely.

Wounded Bird by Brad Gibson

Feeling stressed is not always a bad thing, however. It’s your body’s normal response to perceived danger or extreme physical activity (often called the “fight or flight response”), which is vital in keeping you safe and active. When you encounter a stressful situation, whether it is a grizzly bear or a stack of tax forms, your body releases hormones (adrenaline and noradrenaline) to provide you with the energy and alertness needed to cope with the situation. And anyone who has almost been run over an SUV knows the feeling: heart racing, rapid breathing, gut clenching. This is because in stress mode, your nervous system stimulates your organs and mobilizes energy by:

• raising your blood pressure
• increasing your heart rate and the blood supply to your skeletal muscles (and away from your gut)
• dilating your pupils and bronchioles, providing improved vision and oxygenation
• generating needed energy by breaking down sugar and fat stores for immediate use

Between stressful situations, your body needs to rest, recover, and acquire new energy, so your nervous system responds by:

• lowering your blood pressure
• reducing your heart rate, diverting blood back to the skin and gastrointestinal tract
• contracting your pupils and your bronchioles for reduced oxygenation
• stimulating your salivary gland secretion, accelerating digestion, and promoting normal movement of food through the gut

But what if the stress is long term? When you almost get hit by a car, escape from a bear or finish your taxes, the incident is over quickly and you bounce back to normal soon after. But if the stress is ongoing or “chronic,” maybe because of continuing job pressures (like mine at the software company), marriage problems, health problems, and so on, your nervous system is continuously on the alert and this can overtax your body potentially causing:

• heart disease
• hypertension (high blood pressure)
• insomnia and/or fatigue
• digestive disorders
• headaches
• chronic anxiety or depression
• weakened immune system

(Hmm, I just counted, and it seems I developed almost half of those symptoms, rather impressive in a weird sort of way.)

Of course, these symptoms are not only unpleasant but will seriously compromise your long-term health if you can’t manage to bring them under control. In addition, several age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Diabetes are exacerbated by stress, and some theories of aging itself (such as the telomere theory I discussed last week) propose stress as a factor in the aging process itself.

I hope you’re not getting too stressed out by reading all of this! I credit yoga with helping me stay well since that breakdown. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be offering many different alternatives for managing your stress even as you take on the many challenges that life has to offer.