Good Posture is Bad for Your Back

An article from the New York Times from January 5, 2012 has been hotly debated in the yoga community.  It’s called “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body” by William J. Broad, and it describes injuries from yoga practice to the lower back, shoulders, knees, neck, and ribs, and even hip replacements and strokes believed to be due to yoga.

The teacher mentioned in the article, Glenn Black, attracted clients with yoga injuries to his bodywork and yoga classes.  He didn’t teach any inversions (such as headstand or shoulderstand), because he felt they were dangerous.  Black says that “…the vast majority of people should give up yoga altogether.  It’s simply too likely to cause harm.”  He feels that it’s better to focus on exercises that increase range-of-motion and strengthen weak parts of the body.

What Causes These Injuries?

People come to yoga with their own physical limitations, and in Western culture, we often sit all day and then push ourselves in a strenuous workout or yoga class.  The article mentions that in India, many people do different postures throughout their day, such as squatting, which can better prepare them for yoga asanas.

There were no mentions of injuries from yoga in the early books written on yoga in the 20^th century, including “Light on Yoga” by B.K.S. Iyengar.  Since then yoga has become incredibly popular, with a 5-fold increase in yoga practitioners between 2001-2011.  There are lots of yoga studios, and not all teachers may have had sufficient training to prevent injuries.

The article also mentions ego-driven teachers who push their students to do more, more, more, which tends to encourage students to push more, and possibly go too far.  This is also common in American culture in general, where the urge to compete can be really strong, and can lead people to disregard their own inner guidance and better judgment.

In some yoga poses the head is dropped back, which can be risky.  An Oxford neurophysiologist named W. Ritchie Russell found that there was a rare danger of strokes from “excessive extensions of the neck, such as occur in whiplash.”  Taking the head and neck into extreme positions “could wound the vertebral arteries, producing clots, swelling and constriction.”

That’s a scary thought!  And yoga was supposed to be so good for you!  There has been a belief that yoga only has benefits to practitioners, and no dangers.  I myself have been injured in yoga classes.

In one teacher training I was in back in 1991 we were to sit for about 45 minutes in Virasana (a pose where your knees are bent, the pelvis is seated on the floor and the feet are on either side of the pelvis) while listening to lectures.  My legs would fall asleep repeatedly, and it was hard to get up afterwards.  The article mentions a student who did a similar pose for hours daily and developed nerve problems in his legs that made walking difficult.

I also hurt my back doing a deep backbend in another yoga class, and had 2 other injuries, all of which happened when I was being assisted by the teacher or other students in the class to go deeper into the pose.  When I was younger, I loved to attend advanced yoga classes, and I would do anything the teacher proposed.  You can get away with a lot when you’re in your 20’s that may not work so well a few decades later!

Making Yoga Safer

After I met Jean Couch in 1994, I changed my yoga practice completely.  Since Jean had studied with Noelle Perez-Christiaens from Paris, she had given up practicing and teaching advanced yoga poses.  Noelle is the author of many books (most are in French), including, “Attention! Le Yoga peut etre dangereux pour vous; pathologie du yoga.”  My best translation of this (helped by Google Translate) is “Attention!  Yoga can be dangerous to you; pathology of yoga.”

This book was published in 1980, many years before yoga hit the big time.  Noelle studied with B.K.S. Iyengar for decades before that, and feels that she ruined her body by doing extreme yoga poses that were better suited for Indians.  Urged by Iyengar, she studied posture around the world and discovered that less industrialized cultures had a different and healthier posture than Western industrialized countries.  They also had less back pain.  Noelle’s and Jean’s work is the basis of my teaching (the Balance Posture Method).

Man in Balance in Oaxaca, Mexico

When I began studying with Jean I had to let go of many poses that I practiced regularly, and I started over with doing yoga in a safe way, with a precise focus on alignment of the spine.  I have had no yoga injuries since then.

It is essential to respect the limits of your body, to know when to push and when to stop.  It can be fine to feel that burn in a muscle when you’re on a long bike ride or hike, or a deep stretch in a yoga asana/pose.  But there are also warnings to pay attention to – any sensations of ripping, popping, strain, joint pain, or just a sense that you shouldn’t go any farther.  Trust yourself!  It’s better to be safe than sorry!

Should You Do Yoga?

So, can yoga wreck your body?  If done aggressively, competitively, and without paying attention to your body’s needs – YES.  If you do poses where you drop your head back – yes.  If you come from a culture like ours where our daily posture is misaligned – yes.  But, you can also use yoga to heal from those injuries.  I teach classes focused on this and I’ve studied with other teachers who specialize in this as well.

For some tips on how to practice yoga safely, check out these previous blog posts:

http://www.sonomabodybalance.com/blog/2011/02/3-tips-for-a-safe-yoga-practice/

http://www.sonomabodybalance.com/blog/2010/03/how-to-do-yoga-without-back-pain/

Just to counterbalance all that other information, the article in the NY Times also states that “yoga can lower your blood pressure, make chemicals that act as antidepressants, even improve your sex life.”  I have experienced many benefits from doing yoga, from increased relaxation to strength and increased flexibility, especially since I’ve changed my way of practicing.

To keep yourself safe and experience the positive side of yoga, find a teacher with training in healthy alignment.  Listen to your body.  Go slowly at first.  And do it for yourself, not to compete with someone else.

By the way, the teacher in the article, Glenn Black, had to have back surgery eventually.  He had done enough damage at that point I suppose.

If you learn to have healthy posture in your daily life (see my classes at www.sonomabodybalance.com), you can support the health of your spine and other joints throughout your entire day, every day, not only in a yoga class.  And that really can help you prevent injuries, in yoga and anywhere else!

References: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/magazine/how-yoga-can-wreck-your-body.html?scp=1&sq=how%20yoga%20can%20wreck%20your%20body&st=cse

© Dana K. Davis, 2012

Is stress making you sick?  People are under a tremendous amount of stress these days and are searching for strategies to cope with it.  While alcohol and anti-anxiety medications may provide some relief, they can also have serious side effects, such as addiction, headaches, and dizziness.  Restorative Yoga is an alternative method of dealing with stress that has no negative side effects.

The Effects of Stress

Modern life is stressful.  According to the Centers for Disease Control, 40% of workers rate their job as very or extremely stressful.  People with heavy job stress have 50% higher health-care costs.  We also can experience stress from family conflicts, illness, unemployment and distressing events in the daily news.

According to Dr. Bruce McEwen, prolonged or severe stress weakens the immune system, strains the heart, damages the memory cells and deposits fat at the waist – a risk factor for various diseases.   Stress is also implicated in aging, depression, heart disease and diabetes, among other conditions.  Stress is worsened by the fact that we live in a world where we are “always on”, and our systems never get a chance to return to a baseline level of relaxation.  Because productivity is highly valued in this culture, relaxation can be viewed as time wasted.

Dr. Andrew Weil states, “I must say that as a practitioner, I’m more and more convinced that stress is the primary cause or the aggravating cause of the majority of illness, the majority of reasons that people consult physicians; and if that isn’t taken into account, you’re very limited in your therapeutic options.”

The Relaxation Response

When a stressful event occurs, we usually go into what’s called the “fight-or-flight response“.  This is characterized by increased heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and blood flow to muscles and brain activation.  The sympathetic nervous system controls these kinds of reactions.

In contrast to this is the “relaxation response“, a term coined by Dr. Herbert Benson, who wrote a book by this same name.  When this occurs, heart rate and blood pressure decrease, and the parasympathetic nervous system is activated.  This system is responsible for things like digestion and repair of the body, which are not top priorities when you’re faced with a stressful situation.  You want to enhance the relaxation response, and restorative yoga is designed to do exactly that.

Restorative Yoga

Restorative yoga grew out of the teachings of the yoga master BKS Iyengar, and specifically the therapeutic poses he gave to those with illnesses or injuries.  It was popularized by Judith Lasater’s book, Relax & Renew.

Restorative yoga is done mostly on the floor, supported by many props, such as blankets, bolsters, yoga mats, and chairs.  The intent is not to feel stretching or do any “work” in the pose.  Rather, you relax, let the props support you, and allow the healing properties of the pose to work on your body and mind.  These poses are accessible to even the stiffest individuals or those with chronic illnesses.  Some poses are of general benefit, while others focus on stimulating specific organs.  The poses are held for several minutes, up to 30 minutes or so, because it takes time for the stress chemicals to decrease in the bloodstream.

What benefits can you expect from restorative yoga?  It enhances the relaxation response, so it can help to lower blood pressure.  It reduces anxiety, relaxes the muscles and quiets the mind.  It also can improve energy levels.  It gives you a way to return your body to a baseline state of relaxation rather than living with chronic stress.  Research has shown that relaxation training can positively influence physical problems like high blood pressure and heart disease, according to Dr. David Spiegel.  Dr. Dean Ornish has also written about the benefits of relaxation in treating heart disease.

Though stress has a profound effect on our bodies, relaxation is innate in us.  We just need to create the conditions for relaxation and allow it to unfold in time.  Restorative yoga sets up the conditions for relaxation so your body can heal itself.  So, the next time you feel your stress level rising, why not go to a restorative yoga class and give yourself the gift of renewal?

© Dana K. Davis, 2011

Can practicing yoga help relieve your back pain?  An interesting study was published this month in the Annals of Internal Medicine (for more information, see http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/236902.php#post)

It showed that Iyengar style yoga was helpful for chronic lower back pain – more helpful than only conventional medical treatment.  The study was done in the UK and lasted 12 weeks.  Participants who did yoga in addition to conventional medical care experienced improved back function and more confidence in performing daily movements, compared with those who did not do yoga.

More than half of the participants in the study kept up their yoga practice after 9 months, and the benefits continued for 9 months.  It’s really important to continue to practice, because you can lose gains you’ve made if you stop moving your body in healthy ways.  As the familiar saying goes, “Use it or lose it!”

The Yoga of Daily Life

If you blend Iyengar-style yoga with the postural alignments of the Balance Method, you can have even more impact on your pain and discomfort.  If you are changing your daily posture (how you sit, stand, bend, and sleep) as well as practicing yoga with healthy alignment, you can make a powerful difference in your comfort level.  Bringing healthy postural guidelines into daily movements gives you the leverage of many more hours per day to relieve and heal your back.

Not every style of yoga may help.  Be careful which classes you attend if you have back pain.  You can see previous posts on my blog for more information.  Just go to www.sonomabodybalance.com/blog and search for “yoga” under the Categories index.  In those posts I’ve given you tips for practicing yoga without hurting your back.  Here are a few more tips.

3 Tips for a Safe Yoga Practice

1) Don’t push past your limits.  Yoga is not a competition, though in our American culture it’s easy to get competitive about everything.  One of the “yamas” or ethical disciplines in traditional yoga is called “ahimsa”, which means “non-violence.”  This can be applied to how you treat your own body.  Do you treat it like an object which you try to force into whatever position you want it to do?  Or do you treat it lovingly, and create a partnership with it, working with both its strengths and weaknesses?

2) Be very cautious with rounding of the lumbar spine.  While deep forward bends may be impossible without some rounding of the lumbar (lower) spine, people with Balanced posture keep the spine elongated even while in forward bends.  They also have a “universal curve” in the spine where the curve is evenly distributed throughout the spine rather than having a sharp apex in one spot.  Rounding of the lumbar spine, especially when lifting or twisting, is a very easy way to hurt your back!

3) Feel your stretch in the “belly” of the muscle, not in your joints.  It’s fine to feel a stretch in your thigh or calf, but if you feel pain in a joint, it’s best to come out of the pose.  Pain in your knee, in your hip joint, in your shoulder joint, or in your spine signals a potentially dangerous situation.  Back off until you feel the stretch in your muscles rather than pain or pulling at these joints.

If you don’t do yoga, you can practice some simple stretches to maintain or increase flexibility, and bending in “Balance” (at the hip joints) will help to keep your hamstrings flexible over the years.  So remember to use your body wisely, keep it moving, and include your daily movements as part of your practice.  Bringing this awareness to your body movement will really pay off for years to come.

© Dana K. Davis, 2011

Do you suffer from painful hands, knees or hips? If so, you may have osteoarthritis (OA), a condition characterized by pain and stiffness in the joints. OA is distinct from rheumatoid arthritis, which is an auto-immune disease also affecting the joints, which can lead to redness and swelling of the joints.

What Causes Osteoarthritis?

Causes of OA include sports injuries, some types of work, genetic predisposition and unhealthy posture. When the joints are misaligned, the cartilage at the end of your bones can get worn down, so that eventually you may have bone rubbing on bone. This cartilage, when healthy, allows the bones to glide easily in the joints, cushioning your movement.

According to dictionary.com, cartilage is “a firm, elastic, flexible type of connective tissue of a translucent whitish or yellowish color.” You have cartilage in many parts of your body, including the intervertebral discs in your spine. You also have cartilage at the ends of bones, where they meet other bones to form joints (such as your knee joint).

Stress can also aggravate OA. Stress can lead to tight muscles, which then pull on the joints in an unhealthy manner. This can lead to loss of range-of-motion, and then you may begin to limit your movement more and more, so that it becomes a vicious circle.

How Yoga Can Help

Yoga can be beneficial for OA sufferers. It helps to reduce stress, increase body awareness, increase flexibility and improve range-of-motion.

Movement is essential for joint health. Synovial fluid is secreted into the joints to reduce friction. As there is no direct blood supply to cartilage, movement is required to get nutrients in and old fluid out. Healthy synovial fluid aids in ease of movement of the bones in the joint, preventing the wear and tear of bone on bone. Practicing yoga brings increased range-of-motion and circulation to the joints, which can help your cartilage stay healthy.

Timothy McCall, MD, in Yoga as Medicine, states, “Most people who aren’t actively working to maintain flexibility in their muscles and other tissues, and range of motion in their joints, become more restricted in their movements as they age.”

Of course, it’s essential to practice yoga with healthy alignment. Otherwise you could make matters worse by stressing joints or causing flare-ups. If your joints are painful and stiff, start slowly with short, gentle movements, working up to bigger movements or longer held postures.

Marian Garfinkel did a study on yoga for arthritis that was published in the Journal of Rheumatology in 1994. She found that with 25 patients, “a program of adapted Iyengar yoga and relaxation resulted in significant reductions in pain and an increase in range of motion.”

Other Components of Healing

Acupuncture can be helpful for pain relief from OA. Aerobic exercise is recommended, though you may need to start slowly if you haven’t been active recently. Yogajournal.com suggests massaging your wrists with sesame oil. Drinking enough water is important for optimum health of your joints as well.

Diet is another important component of healing OA, particularly eating foods that reduce inflammation. Click here to read nutritionist Julie Halpin’s dietary recommendations for optimum health of your muscles, joints and bones.

The Importance of Healthy Posture

One of the main things I focus on as a teacher of the Balance Method is healthy joint alignment. In my yoga classes I carefully check knee alignment in poses to ensure that students aren’t stressing their joints. In my posture classes I teach healthy joint alignment in sitting, standing, bending and other daily movements. How you hold and move your body during the course of your day has a huge impact on the health of your joints.

The Balance Method is based on studying populations of people with natural, healthy posture, like the posture of young children. In American culture, our joints are so misaligned that we have an epidemic of joint replacement. While you may not be able to completely erase the damage of decades of misalignment (I had it too!), changing your posture to align your bones with gravity can make a huge difference in your comfort and long term health.

An Exercise to Help Painful Wrists

If you have painful wrists, start with some simple movements such as wrist circles. When I was a Flamenco dancer, I learned how to do these “flores” movements with my wrists.

• To do this, relax your arms down by your sides with your palms facing your legs.
• Now bend your wrists, bringing your fingers towards your inner wrists.
• Now turn your fingers to face behind you, then out to the sides.
• When they’ve gone as far as they can in that direction, bend your wrists the opposite way, so that your inner wrists are stretched.
• Continue by bringing your fingers to point forward.
• Now you can start the cycle again, moving slowly at first, and then gradually making smooth and continuous circles with your wrists. Your left hand is moving clockwise and your right hand is moving counter-clockwise.

Try a couple first, see how you feel afterwards, and then if you feel good, you can build up to doing 5-10 circles in each direction (each wrist goes clockwise and counter-clockwise).

If you’d like some guidance in healthy joint alignment, come to my “Yoga for a Healthy Back” class or to one of my introductory Balance Method workshops. For the schedule, visit www.sonomabodybalance.com. Taking good care of your joints will really pay off as you get older, and can help you stay active and comfortable for many years to come.

© Dana K. Davis, 2011.

Sources:

McCall, Timothy, M.D., Yoga as Medicine: The Yogic Prescription for Health and Healing, Bantam Books, New York, 2007.

Monro, Robin, M.D., Dr. R. Nagarathna, Dr. H.R. Nagendra, Yoga for Common Ailments, Fireside/Simon & Schuster, 1990.

www.yogajournal.com/for_teachers/2694

Lots of people ask me if I have any suggestions for leg cramps. These tend to occur in the calf, the hamstrings or the quadriceps muscles. The hamstrings are on the back of your thighs, and go from your sitz bones (what you sit on) down to your knee. Your quadriceps muscles are on the front of your thighs. Leg cramps can occur during the day, or they might wake you up at night, which can be really frustrating.

Causes of Leg Cramps

No one knows exactly the cause of leg cramps. Dr. Andrew Weil says they may be caused by “inadequate stretching and muscle fatigue” (http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA307009). Other potential causes are muscle atrophy due to aging & inactivity, dehydration, circulation problems, low iron levels, smoking, low levels of minerals (such as potassium, magnesium and calcium), pregnancy, hypothyroidism and other medical conditions. According to the Mayo Clinic, these cramps are usually harmless, but in some cases could indicate diabetes or peripheral artery disease. For information about when you should see a doctor, you can go to http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/night-leg-cramps/MY00410.

Prevention

So what can you do to prevent or relieve leg cramps? Both Dr. Weil and the Mayo Clinic suggest stretching. I’ll give you a couple stretches that could help below. You might want to stretch briefly before going to bed if you’re worried about leg cramps waking you up. It’s important to stay hydrated, so make sure you’re drinking enough water during the day (most nutritionists recommend 8 glasses per day). Remember that beverages containing caffeine and alcohol act as a diuretic, causing you to excrete more water, so don’t include these in your 8 glasses a day.

Some other suggestions from Dr. Weil include taking warm baths, massage, acupuncture, exercise, and quitting smoking. Once you’ve got a cramp, you can try flexing your toes toward your face or massaging your foot with your hands or some ice. Walking may also bring relief. Make sure you don’t tuck your sheets in too tight at the foot of your bed.

How important is diet?

Dr. Weil suggests taking a calcium/magnesium supplement, as does Julie Halpin, a Certified Nutrition Consultant (www.thefoodworks.com). She recommends one supplement to clients that also includes the herbs valerian and passion flower for their calming effect.
Julie suggests eating foods high in minerals like calcium, magnesium and potassium. Some of these foods include:

dark leafy greens like kale and spinach
nuts and seeds, especially almonds and sesame seeds
whole grains
potatoes
bananas

Rather than relying on dairy for calcium, sesame seeds and leafy greens may be a better choice, as some people have allergies to dairy.

Foot Alignment Matters

The Mayo Clinic also states that flat feet may be a cause of leg cramps, and suggests wearing shoes with support. Posture is very important in keeping your feet healthy. The typical American posture with pelvis thrust forward puts too much weight toward the front of the foot, which causes the arches to collapse. In my Balance Your Body Foundations program, I teach students to stand “in Balance”, so that the weight goes mainly into the heels, which keeps your arches healthy. I also teach people how to realign the feet to help reduce bunions and other foot problems.

Stretches to Prevent Cramps

Before bed, you can try a calf stretch. Face a wall and bring your right foot to the wall, so your toes are almost touching it. Take your left foot back about 2 feet. Your right foot points straight ahead and your left foot can turn slightly out. Check that your hips are squarely facing the wall. Place your hands on the wall and bend your right knee directly over the middle of your foot (not towards your big toe). Your left calf will get a big stretch. For a deeper stretch, take your left foot farther back. Relax your back and make sure you’re not lifting your chest. Remember to breathe. Hold the pose for 30-60 seconds and then reverse.

For healthy hamstrings, bending in Balance is essential. This means to bend from your hip joints, not your waist. If you make it a habit to bend this way all the time, your hamstrings will stay much more flexible. We see people in less-industrialized countries able to easily bend down to pick up things off the ground with their backs very straight. In this country, many people have trouble putting on their shoes and socks as they get older, due to increasingly tight hamstring muscles. So relax your belly and bend from your hip joints to stay flexible, and this may also help you reduce leg cramps.

To sum up (you’ve heard most of this before), eat a healthy diet, drink plenty of water, exercise regularly, stretch regularly, and learn healthy, aligned posture to prevent leg cramps.

UPDATE:
This is a response from one of the readers of this blog which you might find helpful:

“Re leg cramps: if you’re running into people who are really suffering, I do have an answer. A company called Hylands has an OTC homeopathic product called “Leg Cramps with Quinine.” I was desperate and this did the trick. I get cramps so bad I end up in tears and one pill works immediately. I only take them when I have a cramp so I don’t overuse them. They have saved me from excruciating pain.”

© 2011 Dana K. Davis

One of our Balance method teachers, Janet Cook, sent this link to a very funny video:

http://laughingsquid.com/women-pose-awkwardly-in-public-as-satire-of-fashion-photography/

I think you’ll get a good laugh, as well as see many examples of unhealthy, “out of Balance” posture! Enjoy!

Check out these historical photos from Belle Isle, an island in the Detroit River. The pictures are from 1901 up to 1982. You can see how posture has changed over the years.

Photos 2, 3, and 5 are great examples of healthy posture. Photos 56 and 61 show the modern, not-so-healthy posture.

http://multimedia.detnews.com/pix/photogalleries/historygallery/BelleIsleHistoric/index.html

I often get asked, “What is the best kind of chair to sit on at my desk?” Lots of people ask me about sitting on exercise balls while working at their computer. The theory is that back pain is caused by weak muscles and that if we work our back muscles all day long at the desk, we will get stronger. Unfortunately, I don’t find this to be true.

When we study healthy, Balanced people (usually in less industrialized countries), they are always using the least amount of effort to do things. When they sit, they sit. They don’t try to exercise while sitting. When sitting upright at a desk, if you sit on an exercise ball, it requires your back muscles to be in chronic tension. That isn’t good for the muscles.

Healthy muscles have tone and resilience. They are not chronically contracted. It’s fine to exercise your back muscles, but don’t do it for 8 hours in a row! Otherwise, you’re likely to get sore and exhausted, as well as endanger your spine from overly curving it.

There is a healthier way to sit at your computer, which I teach in the Balance Your Body Foundations Series. You can learn how to place your pelvis so that you are resting on your bones rather than relying on your muscles to hold you up. Of course, there are postural muscles that will always be engaged when you are upright, but when you sit in Balance, you will be using less energy and less effort.

Is this a bad thing? I personally like to save my energy for more important things, rather than using it all up sitting at my desk. Just think: then you may have the energy you need to exercise after work, rather than feeling exhausted.

I sit on a chair with a fairly flat seat, and I don’t lean back against the chair back. You could lean back, if the chair has a slight recline to the back, and isn’t curvy. This works well if your keyboard is in your lap. I prefer to sit forward using a wedge, and find that this position has been comfortable for many years now. It allows freedom for the arms and shoulders as well. Armrests can be an interference, especially if they aren’t adjustable.

Some of the most “ergonomic” and expensive desk chairs can be the worst. They can be extremely curvy, taking your back into an artificially curved shape that is extreme. I also don’t recommend lumbar supports in most cases, for the same reason. The good news is that you can often get a desk chair that is very comfortable for a reasonable price. One store that has some good options is Scandinavian Designs. They have stores in Santa Rosa and San Rafael.

If you’re new to the Balance Method and want a quick lesson in pain-free sitting, you can watch my 5 minute video to get started right away (http://www.sonomabodybalance.com/blog/2011/03/new-video-on-pain-free-sitting-posture/).

If you’d like some personal guidance in buying your next desk chair, check out my “Furniture for Pain-Free Living” or “How to Buy a Great Chair” workshops. For information on upcoming workshops and classes, visit www.sonomabodybalance.com.

© 2011 Dana K. Davis

Summer is here and I’m enjoying the hot weather we’ve been having lately in Sonoma County. It’s so wonderful to be able to walk around outdoors at night without a jacket, and my muscles are more relaxed in the heat.

Summer is a great time to bring some more relaxation into your life. Children have summer vacation, and get to play outdoors and enjoy the sense of freedom and spaciousness of those days free from school. What about you as an adult? Most people I know say they are too busy (and I’ve said that many times too!). You may try to be more efficient or multi-task in order to get it all done.

“There is more to life than merely increasing its speed” – Gandhi

This is something I’ve struggled with for many years. I have many interests, and this keeps me involved in a few too many things. It’s hard to fit it all in sometimes. I’ve been relieved more than once when something I planned to do got canceled. Ah – some free time!

How to Slow Down

I asked a friend to help me take more time for rest – down time. I am a Certified “Relax & Renew Trainer” – a teacher of restorative yoga. Yet I wasn’t doing much of it recently. My friend gently reminded me regularly of my desire to rest more. Those reminders persuaded me to schedule time for restorative yoga. In the past, I would say I was going to do it, but then get too busy. Now I am scheduling this into my week and doing it, and it feels wonderful!

The amazing thing is that even 10-15 minutes can make a big difference! On a busy day, this amount of time can lead to greater relaxation and a sense of spaciousness in the day.

When I was a Flamenco dancer, on some days I would attend several hours of dance classes, a rehearsal, and then have a performance that night! On some of those days I thought, “There’s no way I can do this show.” Then I would spend 15-20 minutes in a pose called Viparita Karani (also known as “legs up the wall pose”), and feel totally refreshed and regenerated afterward, ready for the show. I was amazed at the power of this practice.

Another option is to take 5 minutes to just sit and do nothing. It can be difficult if you’re used to trying to be productive all the time. But it can be just the break you need to release tension and prepare for whatever is next in your schedule.

“Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.” – Ovid

Relaxation in Movement

People who are “in Balance” (in natural postural alignment) are always in maximum relaxation. Jean Couch, director of the Balance Center in Palo Alto, noticed that in Mexico, workers never overloaded their wheelbarrows, while it seemed that they could always fit just a few more rocks in. But they have to work all day, and probably for many years to come, so they take the load that they can carry with some ease.

People in Balance are very efficient in what they do because of their postural alignment and movement patterns. They find relaxation in movement. When I changed my posture and learned to walk in Balance, I found that I was always getting ahead of others I was walking with. I realized that my new way of walking was more efficient, and with the same amount of energy, I was going farther. I just adjusted my pace and used less energy in order to match the pace of others.

Sitting and standing in Balanced alignment will use less effort. When you learn to realign your posture like those in less industrialized countries, your muscles will be less tense and you’ll have less need to recover after working, driving, etc. (which saves you time, too).

Emotional Benefits of Relaxation

Taking a moment to realign your sitting posture in Balance can help you feel more relaxed emotionally as well (see previous posts and my video on pain-free sitting for how to do this). When I was performing in a Flamenco show, I noticed that after I learned how to sit in Balance, I could practice this while sitting on stage doing palmas (clapping) for another dancer. As I aligned myself and consciously relaxed my muscles, I noticed that my nervousness about my upcoming solo would decrease dramatically.

So, consider some ways to explore relaxation this Summer: sit on your porch and just rest, align your posture in Balance to relax your muscles, or take a restorative yoga class (offered one Friday a month at Sonoma Body Balance). You may be amazed at what a difference it makes in your quality of life.

“Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.” – Chinese Proverb

Resources for Relaxation and Slowing Down:
“Sabbath: Restoring the Sacred Rhythm of Rest” by Wayne Muller
“In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed” by Carl Honore
“Rhythm of Peace: Cultivating Peace in Daily Life” by Deborah Aikens, Ph.D.
“Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology” by Eric Brende
Create the Good Life Blog: www.create-the-good-life.com

© 2011 Dana K. Davis

On April 25, 2011, National Public Radio did a story on how sitting is bad for your health. The conclusion of a study by epidemiologist Steven Blair was that men who had more sedentary lifestyles (time spent doing things like sitting, driving, and watching TV) had a higher risk of dying from heart disease.

The men who reported more than 23 hours per week of sedentary activity were 64% more likely to die of heart disease than those men who reported less than 11 hours per week. Some of the more sedentary men exercised regularly. So the story says that even if you exercise, that may not be enough to counteract the negative effects of lots of sitting.

A Depressing Conclusion

I think this conclusion is extreme and discouraging. Yes, exercise more! It has so many positive effects on your health. Health officials recommend 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise (like brisk walking).

But don’t get paranoid about how those hours at the desk are going to kill you. One commenter on the story pointed out that the study didn’t include women, so more research may be needed. Also, nothing was mentioned about nutrition, so those that exercised more may have also had a healthier diet.

I’m sure many of you have had relatives who lived to a ripe old age and didn’t spend hours and hours exercising every day.

I’m skeptical of the “less than 11 hours a week of sedentary activity”. That’s less than 2 hours a day of sedentary activity – including working, sitting at the computer, watching TV, eating, etc. Are these people exercising 14 hours a day (24 hours in a day minus 8 hours of sleep and 2 hours of sedentary activity)?

Get Moving

Considering all this information, what can you do to have optimal health if your job requires you to sit a lot?

The article suggested getting up to stretch every hour, putting your printer farther away so that you have to walk to get to it, and taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Those are great ideas, especially for those that work in an office. You could also ride your bike more (which helps reduce air pollution as well). You could go to a yoga class and get the added benefits of increased strength, flexibility, balance and stress reduction.

Exercising at your Desk

They also recommended sitting on an exercise ball. I don’t recommend this. While you may use more muscular effort and burn a few calories, it’s not a good option for a healthy back. I’ll write more about that and other types of chairs in next month’s article.

Another suggestion was using a stand-up desk rather than sitting at work. That could indeed keep your body more active, but healthy posture is really important here. The typical American posture which leans backwards causes compression in the back, so make sure that you are standing in alignment with gravity.

Take a Stretch Break

The NPR story mentioned how hard it can be to get people to exercise. If you would like to put more movement in your day, how about making a plan right now? Schedule a 10-15 minute break at some point in your day to take a short walk or do some stretches. You could set a timer to go off every hour that you’re sitting, and then get up and stretch for 1-2 minutes.

Here’s a nice stretch I like to do: stand up and raise your arms overhead, without lifting your chest. With your left hand, clasp your right wrist. Inhale and lengthen your right side up. Exhale and take your torso over to the left. Your hips can move slightly to the right. Make sure your pelvis is not thrust forward. This is VERY important. Take a couple breaths here and then inhale to come back up. Now clasp your left wrist with your right hand and stretch to the right.

Here’s another way to get more exercise – I am offering a walking workshop on June 25. Come learn to walk pain-free, with relaxation and ease. Visit www.sonomabodybalance.com for details.

© 2011 Dana K. Davis