yogaforlife

Board Chair Honored by US Congress
We’re excited to share with you that Board Chair Teresa Kay-Aba Kennedy was recently recognized by the United States Congress as one of 18 “Women Who DareTo Be Different.” Presented by Congressman Edolphus “Ed” Towns and The Women’s Caucus on Saturday, March 15 in New York, the award recognized Kennedy for her commitment to health literacy and community development. The awardees were presented with plaques and their individual achievements were added to the Congressional Record.

"I am honored to be recognized by Congressman Towns, who is himself an inspiration for his commitment to the community," said Dr. Kennedy. "I am always amazed at the reception I receive. I could have continued with my career in media. However, the decision to take a leap of faith and use my voice to help others build successful lives has been the most blessedchoice of my life," she added.

YA On the Road In Depth
Congratulations to Melisa Krzysztof of Anaheim, CA and Guy Gabriel of Burbank, CA – the inaugural winners of a free year of Yoga Alliance registration. Melisa and Guy stopped by our booth at SYTAR in Los Angeles and we’re excited to recognize them as our first-ever winners. Don’t forget, when you’re at any of the events YA attends, please stop by for your chance to win a FREE year of registration.

Where We’ve Been
YA Board members Terri Kennedy and Virginia Cowen joined staff members Jeannine Frest and Amber Evans at the International Association of Yoga Therapist’s second annual Symposium on Yoga Therapy and Research (SYTAR), March 6-9, 2008 in Los Angeles. As past President of IAYT, Board member Veronica Zador was also there and did a wonderful job as one of the organizers. It was great to meet so many RYTs as we explored new research and discussed yoga as a therapeutic tool.

Where We’re Going
We’ll be participating in the Yoga Journal Conference in Boston held May 16 - 19. Jeannine and Amber once again will be there to meet you and field any questions or comments you may have. At the conference, Board Chair Terri Kennedy will have the honor of moderating the Continuing Education panel entitled, "Handle With Care: Ahimsa in Asana" on Friday, May 16. For more information on the conference, please go to www.yogajournal.com.

Don’t forget, Yoga Alliance registrants receive a $20 discount off registration! To get the discount when you register, please go to www.yjevents.com and mention promo code BOS20. We hope you’ll make plans to attend the conference and the Terri is moderating. Make sure introduce yourself to Terri afterwards!

We’re excited to announce that Yoga Alliance is participating in the National Institutes of Health’s first annual Yoga Week May 19 – 23 in Bethesda, MD. Highlighting the many aspects of yoga, this five-day series of events is open to the public and includes lectures about scientific research on yoga, free yoga classes, plus presentations by leaders in the yoga community, including our very own Board Chair Terri Kennedy who will heading up a program entitled, “Yoga as a Corporate Stress Management Tool” on Friday, May 23, at 11:00 a.m. If you are in the D.C. area, please stop by the YA booth and join Terri for her talk. For more details, including directions & parking instructions, please go to http://does.ors.od.nih.gov/fitness/yogaWeek.htm OR sign up for their listserv at listserv@list.nih.gov, and put SUBSCRIBE NIHYOGAWEEKMAY08 (exactly as you see it here) in the body of your email.

We’ll also be at the Yoga Journal conference in Estes Park in September, so sign up now to receive your Yoga Alliance discount. The promo code to get your $20 discount for the main weekend conference is EP12.

*Many of the sessions offered during the conferences and events YA attends throughout the year can be applied towards Continuing Education requirements. All Yoga Journal conferences and NIH Yoga Week are great CE opportunities.

We Want Your Input
Yoga Alliance is embarking on a comprehensive survey of our teacher and school registrants, as well as a communications audit, designed to assess where we are as organization and allow us to find out more about how we can work to strengthen our relationship with you.. Look for more in upcoming issues of Yoga Matters.

As more and more Boomers hit their 50’s and 60’s, they are looking for ways to stay youthful and healthy. Many are finding that yoga helps them to feel as though they have turned back the clock.

More and more fitness professionals who once spoke only of aerobics and weight lifting also are singing its praises. Recently on NBC’s Today show Bob Harper, a trainer on that network’s Biggest Loser program became the latest to refer to yoga as “the fountain of youth.” “It just makes sense to be more in touch with your body,” he said “the more agile you are, the easier it is to grown old gracefully.”

Many have gravitated to yoga classes on their own and still more are finding that their doctors are recommending yoga for its broad range of health benefits from helping to maintain strength and flexibility to keeping the mind nimble.

Yoga teachers and studios are seeing students not just in their late 50’s and early 60’s but well into their 70’s and 80’s. Of course, the needs of the latter group are very different and the demand for gentle classes designed just for seniors and chair yoga classes is rapidly growing.

And, while the classes may vary widely, from a gentle flow to an active chair yoga class with modified asanas, to deep breathing combined with stretching backs, arms, shoulders, legs, necks knees, fingers and toes from sitting position, seniors say they wouldn’t miss their classes and find them very relaxing.

Just 20 minutes of deep relaxation with a focus on breathing can vastly improve mental attitude. “My yoga keeps me motivated,” said one senior. “It helps me want to go further and do more.”

Yoga Alliance would like to hear from you about your experiences in working with seniors. What are the rewards and pitfalls your have encountered? What advice can you share with teachers who are just beginning to work with seniors? What style or techniques have you found most effective?

Please share your comments at share@yogaalliance.org. And be sure to participate in this issue’s YA Survey. We’ll share the results with you in a future issue of Yoga Matters. We look forward to hearing from you.

Veteran chair yoga instructor Lakshmi Voelker, RYT 500, leads one of her regular classes for seniors in Palm Desert, CA.

Enter my sister… you know the type – first born, "type A” successful, perpetually smiling, joyful, eager and energetic. After raising five children to become successful adults, my sister Mary Pat Schermerhorn began her yoga journey. Also an avid golfer and hiker, Mary Pat’s lifestyle was one of health, energy and enthusiasm.

Our family was devastated when at just 56, Mary Pat was suddenly disabled by a mysterious viral form of arthritis, Polymyalgia Rheumatica. It took doctors a full year and a variety of experimental treatments to diagnose her condition.

With every joint aching and immobile, my sister continued to practice her yoga. She persevered and fought back. Today, at age 68, she is strong and recovering. She continues to be a courageous example to all of us and, of course, practices her yoga philosophy daily. Mary Pat learned the truth of the saying that “your real yoga practice begins when you put your mat away.”

With a masterful balance of action and resolve, inner fortitude and faith, Mary Pat has overcome her disability. She found the true meaning of yoga in the union of her physical and spiritual strength when her illness forced her to adapt her active ways and focus on inner fortitude.

She remains active but is careful to balance her busy schedule with regular yoga classes, continuing to deepen her practice by focusing on balance, breath and precise alignment. Her in-depth knowledge about how to modify and adapt her poses has allowed her to keep her practice therapeutic and stress free. Mary Pat’s sunny attitude provides a fantastic example for us all on how to face life’s difficulties, both physical and mental.

Therese Abair and Jerry Jefferson (both RYTs 200) see Yoga Day USA as a great opportunity to build and strengthen the yoga community in their hometown of West Palm Beach, Florida.

“We wanted to bring local teachers together and share yoga with everyone in the community,” Therese said. They succeeded beautifully.

For Yoga Day USA 2007 they brought together over 125 people, ages 7 to 73 for a day-long outdoor celebration of yoga. They were so inspired by the results that they are deep in planning to more than triple the size of their event for the January 26, 2008 event.

Therese and Jerry, partners in their business Living Fit Today, will offer workshops for all levels from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Yoga Day and have invited local companies that share their commitment to a healthy lifestyle to participate with a variety of booths including fresh food products, music and clothing among others. Last year the City of West Palm Beach City Fit Committee helped sponsor the event and Therese notes that the partnership most likely will continue for 2008.

While all of us can’t offer an event in the Florida sunshine, we can help more people in our own communities begin to enjoy the benefits of yoga. January will be here before we know it so now is the time to get started. For ideas and help in planning your event, visit the “promotional packets” tab at www.yogadayusa.org. You can also visit Therese and Jerry’s website at www.livingfittoday.com to learn more about how they have put YA’s tips and materials to good use.

She’s on a mission to help teens discover that yoga can bring them a much needed respite from lives that often involve coping with mountains of homework, high parental expectations, peer issues, pressure to win in sports, family issues and more.

A mother of teenagers herself, Mary Kaye is acquainted with the strain that the demands of everyday life can place on kids. “I’ve got girls in my classes doing yoga for anxiety and depression, for self-esteem, for weight issues, for attention deficit disorder, so they can learn to focus better, and for athletics to get them stretched out and prevent injuries,” she said. “But mostly they come because they are just stressed out.”

Mary Kaye’s classes offer teens an opportunity to chill out, relax, tune in to their own bodies...and have some fun. She says she enjoys taking a playful approach to teen yoga and finds a little humor can go a long way in helping them to open up. The asana portion of her classes is a departure from adult classes. Instead of silence, she encourages the kids to share what is on their minds, often by using stories from her own teenage years and tips on everything from coping with a headache to eating right to avoiding gossip.

Time for meditation is also an important element in Mary Kaye’s classes. She teaches her students that even 10 or 15 minutes of meditation a day will be an invaluable tool in their lives, helping them to center and live in the present. "We need to make time for stillness," she says.

Surprisingly, for most savasana is their favorite pose. “The kids just melt into their mats. They just want a break – a big huge break,” Mary Kaye says. All this led her to realize that her approach might be helpful to a wider audience. She wrote Breathe: Yoga for Teens in an effort to reach kids nationwide. The book and accompanying DVD came out earlier this year.

The message at the heart of her practice for teens is about being positive and living with enthusiasm. “I try to teach them that like attracts like and that when they are surrounded by positive people, great things happen.” She encourages them to free themselves from “friends” who pull them down. “I don’t care how popular they are, I don’t care how beautiful they are, if the people they call friends don’t bring out the best in them, it’s time to move on.” One young yogini told her she had more friends since she began practicing yoga. “When I go into a party, I just remember how everyone in yoga class likes me and I try and take that feeling with me,” the teen said.

Mary Kaye believes that in addition to yoga’s benefits for body and mind, it is a great tool for spreading kindness and laughter. She firmly believes that in 10 years yoga will be mandatory in all our schools. Until then, she adds “My attitude is anything you can do to get teenagers hooked on yoga is worth it!”

Mary Kaye Chryssicas is and RYT 200. She lives in Wellesley, MA. She also has created a card deck titled “Yoga for Teens” that will come out in January. To learn more about her work, visit www.buddhafulkids.com.

Over the last few months we have seen the publication of several interesting medical studies that confirm the beneficial impact of yoga and/or meditation on a variety of conditions. Space limitations preclude us from summarizing every study but we have included those with broad interest.
Father and Son Yogis Meditating at Chicago's Garfield Park Conservatory, photo by Sedef Olcer, RYT® 200

Father and Son Yogis Meditating at Chicago's Garfield Park Conservatory, photo by Sedef Olcer, RYT® 200

We start with a fascinating study indicating that regular meditation may boost brain activity and thicken the cerebral cortex.

Brain gets a boost from meditation
Scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital studied people who practice Buddhist insight meditation and found that those who practice meditation have a thicker cerebral cortex than those who don’t. The researchers used Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to achieve the measurements.

The study included people who have practiced meditation for as little as one year and as many as 30. The longer they had practiced, the thicker the cortex. All practice meditation for an average of about 40 minutes a day. Sara Lazar, a research scientist at Massachusetts General and an instructor at Harvard Medical School, said some of the study participants also practice yoga and they also appeared to realize benefits from their yoga practice. She said it appears that it is not just one type of meditation that produces benefits. The most important thing, Lazar said, is to find a practice you enjoy and do it regularly.

Gentle Yoga Helps Relieve Back Pain
A study published in the December (2006) Annals of Internal Medicine and reported in The Washington Post, found yoga offered sustained improvement to people with chronic back pain. The study randomly assigned 101 adults (age 20 to 64) with chronic low back pain to 12 weeks of yoga classes, general exercise classes of self-treatment guided by the “The Back Pain Helpbook.” Those in the yoga and exercise groups attend a weekly 75-minute class and were free to practice at home. Most said they did. The book group did exercises, some back specific, at home.

The yoga and exercise teachers tailored classes specifically to address back pain. “Yoga poses included cobra, bridge, warrior, lunge and lying twist,” according to the Post article. Each class used five to 12 postures, each repeated three to six times, plus a period of deep relaxation. The exercise class included seven aerobic exercises and 10 strengthening moves that focused on leg, hip, abdominal and back muscles.

All of the participants reported some improvement. However, only the yogis demonstrated sustained improvement after 26 weeks. Seventyeight percent of the yogis improved significantly compared with 63 percent of exercisers and 47 percent of book readers.

Help for Breast Cancer Patients and Survivors
A yoga program that includes gentle asanas, breathing exercises and meditation offers benefits to women with metastatic breast cancer that include less pain and fatigue and more energy, relaxation and acceptance according to a study published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management in March of this year. Study leader Dr. James W. Carson of Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina said the study offers “the first tentative evidence for yoga’s potential benefits for this vulnerable population of women with limited life expectancy.”

Thirteen women with metastatic breast cancer participated in “The Yoga Awareness Program,” attending yoga classes one day a week for eight weeks. Each class included breath awareness meditation, gentle asanas, pranayama, lectures on applying yoga philosophy to everyday life and cancer symptoms, and group discussions about yoga and the women’s experience with cancer. To support home practice the women were given a yoga mat, blanket, audio instructions and an illustrated guidebook. Participants were an average of 59-years old and had first been diagnosed an average of seven years earlier. All said they would recommend the program to other women.

The study says the program was “helpful in significantly boosting daily invigoration and a sense of acceptance.” Researchers also reported “trends for improvement in pain and relaxation.” They also found that “greater practice on a given day was associated with improvements not only on the same day, but on the next day as well.”

A second study conducted at Washington State University found that yoga not only promotes psychological well-being but also seems to offer immune system benefits.

Lead Researcher Pamela E. Schultz reported that she and her colleagues randomly assigned 10 breast cancer survivors to eight weeks of Iyengar yoga (two classes and one solo session at home per week) and nine to a wait-list control group. The women’s average age was 61 and all were about four years out from their initial diagnosis and were being treated with hormone therapy. None of the women had any prior experience with Iyengar yoga.

Psychosocial tests indicated an improved quality of life for those practicing yoga. Researchers also reported that the improvements correlated with decreased activation of an important immune system protein called NF-kB which is a marker of stress in the body.

Migraine Aid
A study done in India has provided preliminary evidence that integrated yoga therapy can be an effective treatment for migraines, reducing both their frequency and intensity.

Seventy-two adults suffering from migraines were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One received yoga therapy including gentle asanas, breathing practices, relaxation and meditation. Participants practiced five days a week for one hour each day except on days when they were having a migraine attack or recovering from one.

The second group received education on managing their pain by avoiding migraine triggers and making diet and lifestyle changes.

After three months the yoga group showed an overall improvement in the frequency and intensity of their migraine attacks. The comparison group showed no change or worsened symptoms.

The researchers say that larger, longer-term studies should now be done to confirm the results. The full study can be found in the May 2007 issue of the journal Headache.

Promise in Easing Depression, Anxiety and Epilepsy
Practicing yoga may elevate an important brain chemical and should be explored as a possible treatment for depression, anxiety and epilepsy according to a study done at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and McLean Hospital.

The findings, which appear in the May 2007 issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, found that practicing yoga may elevate brain gamma-aminobutyric (GABA) levels. GABA is part of a family of neurotransmitters composed of amino acids. It is most abundant in the central nervous system, especially in the cerebral cortex which is largely responsible for high brain functions such as thought and interpreting sensations. Depression, anxiety disorders and epilepsy all are associated with low GABA levels.

The researchers compared the GABA levels of eight subjects prior to and after one hour of yoga, with 11 subjects who read for one hour. Results showed a 27 percent increase in GABA levels in the yoga group after their session, but no change in the comparison group following their reading session. The researchers were able to measure the GABA levels using magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging.

Researchers called the development of an inexpensive, widely available treatment with no side effects (such as yoga) that is effective in alleviating symptoms of disorders associated with low GABA levels a “clear public health advantage.”

Yoga, Walking Ease Menopause Symptoms
Moderate exercise such as yoga or walking may be able to make the transition through menopause a little easier, according to a study published in the April 2007 issue of the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

The study, done at Penn State University, included 164 sedentary women who had been suffering hot flashes, night sweats and other menopausal symptoms. For four months one group practiced yoga for 90 minutes twice a week, one walked for one hour three times a week, and the third remained inactive. While no clear evidence was found that yoga or walking eased specific symptoms, the women in both groups reported and emotional lift and improved quality of life. “Interestingly,” the researchers said, “yoga participants also appeared to benefit in the sexual domain.”

The researchers suggest that more studies should be done to determine if yoga, walking or other forms of exercise can diminish specific symptoms.

Yoga for Life Credits: Father and Son Yogis Meditating at Chicago's Garfield Park Conservatory, photo by Sedef Olcer, RYT® 200

II had been practicing “hot yoga” for nearly 5 years when my husband of 32 years passed away. To heal and meditate, to release my anger and frustration, and to handle the stress of separation, I started adding more days to my weekly practice session. It worked.

As my practice improved and became more consistent I knew that the door to a happy life was not closing. Yoga helped me see that a healthy, full life was ahead of me and that there were no limits to my flexibility. Because each posture addresses the “inner mind”, my adjustment to this new chapter was enhanced by a positive focus.

After a few months of reflection, I decided to participate in my teacher’s first yoga teacher training along with 60 other yogis from around the world. It was five weeks of intense training, six days a week, 14 hours a day. I did it. I completed my training and while not convinced that I would teach, I wanted to share my knowledge. I began sharing the message wherever I traveled. “Yoga can change your life!” became my theme song.

Through meditation and concentration, I sent a message to the universe that I wanted more than ever to consciously participate in this new life, explore my new freedom, and challenge my fears. The following year I attended yoga retreats in Brazil, North Carolina and Costa Rica and Santorini, Greece. I took advanced yoga training and began to teach both privately and as a substitute at my regular studio. I attended yoga conferences in Canada and Arizona and I supplemented my yoga training by visiting yoga studios from California to New York. When I was asked to teach at a day school in Miami Beach, I attended training for kids yoga in Italy. I was the only American!

Along with the yoga exploration I began sailing. I wanted to experience a taste of the sea. After assorted sailing classes and day sails, I participated in my first ocean passage with 55 other sailboats from Virginia to the British Virgin Islands. I meditated and relied on my Yoga to get through ten challenging days (including a major storm) on a 55 foot schooner.

Each day of the voyage I contemplated my position in the scheme of life. Peeling away at my personal layers of protection, I entered a place where fear and the unknown hold hands. It was a scary time. As the height of the waves and the speed of the wind increased, my mind began to let go. I realized that my contribution to the globe was not as significant as my contribution to the three other members of the crew on the sailboat.

Being present, being alert and aware of the moment to moment traverse across a seemingly endless body of water, was my focus. Taking care of the direction of my thoughts and my energy helped me and, I believe, my crew to find a peaceful presence. There is a wonderful sense of freedom in the middle of the ocean. It is an exhilarating feeling that anything can happen,, a sense that draws the soul. Once I knew how to ride the waves of anticipation and fear, adventure and the unknown took their places in my heart center and filled me up. What a sense of accomplishment to finally reach land! There is just no feeling that can measure up to that first leap from the boat onto the dock!

And once I hit the dock, I began to teach yoga on the beaches of the British Virgin Islands. With the crew members of all those boats, there were plenty of sailors ready to stretch out their bodies and feel the power of yoga under the intense sun and cloudless Caribbean blue sky. What a journey! Yoga has been a full passport to the adventures in my new life.

The loss of a loved one, and in my case my marriage partner, often leaves one in a state of confusion. Yoga has opened the window to a new beginning.

And, when I faced the much smaller loss of my office addition as a result of flooding, I turned the space outside into a meditation and butterfly garden and the space inside became a yoga studio. I use my studio as a place of meditation and personal practice. I have collected all my favorite yoga books and memorabilia from my retreats in that space. I know that when one door closes, another opens. I have survived great loss and received great reward... the yin and yang of life.

When I complete a practice with my students I always leave them with an affirmation. My favorite is, “No matter how dark the tunnel, it always leads to light.”

Melanie lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where she is a community activist and civic leader. She has served on numerous arts boards and been involved in fundraising for worthy causes for over three decades. She has her own publishing company and is a publishing consultant for authors. She is a certified yoga instructor and YogaKids associate teacher. Melanie is writing a book of yoga tips and affirmations from her travels around the world.

January/February 2007

Sharing my Immune Health Practices, A Yoga Teacher's Perspective

Teaching, working with large groups of people, partial dehydration and erratic eating schedules, etc. can all cause a compromised immune system. A weakened immune system leaves the body vulnerable to many types of illness and disease, especially during seasonal shifts. Fatigue, lethargy, repeated infections, slow wound healing, allergies, colds and flu are all signs for me that my body¹s immune system is functioning below par.

As yoga teachers it is crucial that we take care of ourselves, and this starts at home. Getting enough rest, eating healthy foods, avoiding excess alcohol or caffeine, exercising and practicing meditation and introspection all help me maintain health. Here are some practical tips that I use to stay healthy this time of year.

Stay Hydrated & Eat at Regular Intervals - I always have a bar of some sort with me. Hitting the grocery store for fruits, vegetables and protein should always be a priority. When I travel I always bring some apples, soy cheese and veggies packed in small plastic bags.

Emergen-C - I start my day with two packages mixed with 6 oz of water. A great source of Vitamin C and easily absorbed in liquid form. Try some of the new flavors like Tropical & Lemon /Lime. Great for kids too.

ProBiotics - Crucial for me in maintaining my good intestinal health. When my digestive system is working properly, germs have less of a chance to grab hold. I take 4 Primal Defense tablets daily with my Emergen- C. These are best taken on an empty stomach.

Echinacea - Almost everyone has now heard of this herbal remedy I use to help fight colds and flu.

Goldenseal - First discovered by the Aborigine healers in Australia, I use it not only to help prevent an infection if I am feeling low, but to reduce the inflammation of mucous membranes once I have a cough or cold.

Plain old Vitamin C - I will also reach for the vitamin C tablets at the first sign of a splutter. Don't underestimate the importance of consuming good food sources of this vitamin.

Vitamin E -This antioxidant & nutrient is touted for slowing down the symptoms of aging and strengthening body cells that fight infection. I eat foods rich in vitamin E or take supplements to have an added weapon against bacteria and viruses.

Zinc, Iron, B Vitamins - Other nutrients I rely on for a strong immune system include zinc, iron, and vitamins B6 and B12. I take a good daily multivitamin and mineral supplement providing 100-percent of the Daily Values ensuring adequate intake of these nutrients on top of a well-balanced diet.

Are You Dieting? -.Consuming adequate calories has always been beneficial for me as a yoga teacher in my recovery time and energy levels.

Nutrition – I stick with a high intake of fruits and vegetables and this pays off immune wise. Organic fruits & vegetables are always a sensible choice.

Balance physical exercise with rest - I find excess teaching and training can depress immune function. Combining intense training with work and not getting enough rest can stress your body and compromise your ability to fight infection. I try to stay away from individuals who have colds, especially if I am feeling run down.