Inflammation Ideas

Over the past few months, many students have talked me about inflammation in the body.   First, inflammation is a natural response that the body uses to protect itself.  When inflammation becomes chronic - that's when it becomes a bit more complicated.  From my perspective as a movement person, I often wonder why does the body need protection in this area?   Following this query, we begin to explore new movement pathways that help alleviate the chronic condition.

It just takes time - and a whole lot of patience.

As I indicated in a post in 2011, inflammation is a current hot topic in the research world.  So, we'll be hearing more and more about it in the mainstream news.  As you hear more about this topic, remember that inflammation is a natural reaction to injury or infection.  Any organ or tissue in the body, internal or external, can become inflamed.

As I have worked with inflammation in my own body, I have explored many things over the years.  I have listed below what I have found to be extremely beneficial for my body.  I do not do them all at once.  I alternate or may do a few in combination.  This is my top 12 in random order!  I have more!  This is a good start to a long list.

1.  2 tablespoons of Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar in a glass of water

2.  Epsom Salt bath 

3.  Castor Oil - applied topically (rubbed on the skin) & as a pack across the liver.  Here's a video explaining how to prepare and apply the pack.  Please do not use Castor Oil during menstruation.

4.  Turmeric capsules (a cooking spice)

5.  Fresh Pineapple (can also explore Bromelain capsules which is the enzyme in FRESH pineapple)

6.  Boswellia Serrata capsules

7.  Milk Thistle capsules or drops

8.  Dry Brush (light stroke following the lymphatic system back to the center of the body)

9.  Ice & Heat alternating - as a heat source, I use a hot water bottle (most like our watery insides) instead of a heating pad. A now retired Chiropractor told me that there was once a study of chronic low back pain and the use of heating pads. And those individuals that regularly used heating pads as the source of heat had a significantly lower recovery rate.  He told me that the "why?" remains unanswered in the research.

10.  Elevation

11.  Acupuncture - especially Moxa (which I have a love/hate with!)

12.  Ultra Sound

Please know that you can support a healthy inflammation response with diet.  I recently read these words written by teacher, Lorna Sophocleous.

"FOODS TO AVOID THAT PROMOTE INFLAMMATION
• Processed foods: We live in an industrialized society where many foods are mass produced and highly processed, which means they lack the nutrients that the foods had in their natural form. The nutrients to sustain good health, and avoid inflammation that will ultimately lead to premature aging and disease are missing. Simply put, “If it’s made in a plant, don’t eat it, if it is a plant, eat it!”

Processed foods are toxic; this is compounded by the growth hormones given to animals and the pesticides sprayed on our fruits and vegetables. No wonder we are inflamed!

• Sugar: Sugar is also toxic, especially in large doses. It creates a gooey, sticky mess inside the body and clogs up hormone receptors. Over time, excess sugar in the body links up with proteins, causing tissue to harden. This can lead to arthritis and even contribute to premature wrinkling.  Sugar can make you look and feel old.  It gives you brain fog; your pancreas releases insulin to stabilize your sugar. The adrenals are overtaxed, which can cause insulin resistance or better known as Metabolic Syndrome, leading to Diabetes II.

• Certain oils: Olive oil does not have a high smoke point and is unstable under high heat, which causes inflammation. You also lose its health benefits. When cooking, it is best to use coconut oil, ghee, peanut oil, and toasted sesame oil. Be mindful that a majority of prepared foods, including restaurant food, uses canola, soy, corn, safflower, and vegetable oil, which are all highly processed oils and toxic. Fried foods in these oils create inflammation.

TIPS FOR AN ANTI-INFLAMMATORY LIFE, NATURALLY
• Avoid sugar. Eat things that have natural sugar in moderation. Sweeten things naturally with honey, molasses, Stevia, and date or coconut sugar.

• Avoid fried foods, refined carbohydrates and foods cooked in high temperatures.

• Use olive oil, hemp seed oil, sesame oil on salads and things without cooking them.

• Eat avocados, nuts and seeds for healthy fats.

• Omega 3’s are a must! Supplement from a high quality brand and eat wild salmon, sardines, which will also give you Vitamin D. Vitamin D should also be supplemented.

• If you smoke, quit now! It’s highly inflammatory.

• Eat organic fruits and vegetables.

• Maintain a healthy digestive system by incorporating fermented foods, such as sauerkraut, yogurt, kefir, kimchi.

• Drink plenty of filtered water.

• Get plenty of exercise."

Please continue to research inflammation on your own.  Talk with your health care providers and make wise decisions for you.  You will know "in your gut" what's right for you.  Listen to yourself and trust.

Our Interior Architecture

Here's a great link to see video of what's beneath the surface of our skin. This is the world I work with when teaching movement.  http://endovivo.com/fr/voeux2012.php

Another Good Anatomy Trains Article

Digital Moving X-Ray

Of Grace and Gravity Preview

Being a Donkey

If somebody said you were a donkey, I don't think you'd take it as a compliment.   I, however, would like to be a bit more like a donkey. It's not the stubborn part of the donkey that interests me.  Lord knows I've been working on softening my desire to dig in my heels and hold my position. So, the donkey quality that I'm fascinated by is the steadiness of doing the same work day after day.

This connection came to me after a great lesson from Certified Iyengar teacher, Betty Larsen. During one of her technique demonstrations, I commented on her phenomenal virasana.  She told me, "You are just praising the donkey."  I asked her what she meant.  And she said, "If you do the work every day, this is just the fruit of the practice."  "Alright," I said, "I am complimenting your ability to be the donkey and show up every day and do the work."  "Fair enough," she remarked.

I'll tell you, it's hard to show up and do the fundamental work. We all want to express our movement in the biggest form possible. We're thinking, "Super size me!"  and  "I want to look like the women on the cover of the magazine!"  The only way, I think, to safely move in that direction is to build a solid foundation focusing on fundamentals.  Baby movements - sometimes micro - connected to breath with total awareness - feeling the difference - is how the shape shift occurs.

It takes a long time to plow a field. The donkey does not know this.  It just keeps moving forward across the field of its existence. The donkey also does not know what seed is planted and if weeds or wheat will grow.  The donkey doesn't wonder about rain or sunshine.  It just steadily plods across the terrain. And when the donkey eats the wheat - the fruit of its labor - it does not make the connection to its dedicated work in the field.

As humans, we can make the connection. What we often lack is the patience to just keep walking in the same direction.

Working privately with students, I often get to witness their amazement of the power of the fundamental work.  This week, a very athletic gentlemen couldn't stop laughing from feeling his body in a new way - marveling at the contrast after only doing Supta Padanghustasana on one side - and then pausing to feel the difference before continuing on with his second side.

These moments of witnessing the light come on helps remind me to stay steady with the work in my personal practice.  And as my leg swelled to two times its normal size earlier this week - thanks to my joint disease - I offered gratitude to the donkey work that has returned me to my full potential within 2 days.

What we teach as movement therapists is powerful.  I am a living testimony to the work - even if it is donkey work.

If I Got a Tattoo...

Located at the beach, the gym where I've taught for over 15 years has phenomenal diversity.  And we all rub off on one another.  It's cool to witness not only how the generations influence one another, but also how folks from all walks of life make connections.

Last week, when I popped into a mat Pilates class taught by a good friend & teaching colleague, I was beside a long time fellow "gym rat"- a woman who's taken good care over the decades and continues to move with amazing grace combined with internal strength. As I unfurled my mat beside her, I noticed peeking out from beneath the hem of her paints - a vine - tattooed - and wrapping around her ankle.  I asked her how far the vine traveled up her leg because I envisioned how awesome it would be if it followed one of the Spirals of Anusara Yoga.

Living and working in the beaches area has allowed me to see some amazing body art - especially at the gas station where folks are often filling their tank in not much more than their underwear or a bikini that covers even less!

So, after teaching this morning, I'm wondering if I ever get a tattoo - where and what would it be?  This morning, one of the ideas we worked on is that the arms both draw into center and expand out. And in Anusara Yoga, we specifically draw into the heart space - the essence of who we are.  This energy body idea also connects fully with anatomy and how we are structurally designed. You will totally get this if you study the arm lines via Tom Myers' Anatomy Trains.

From my studies, I know that the work of my hands is a reflection of my heart.  As we joke in class, the more you connect with this idea of "the hands being the 'doers' of the heart" - the less apt you are to hit someone - the less likely you are to give them the finger.  Because, really, truly - that is not your heart's work - that is not who you are.

So, here's where my tattoo would be placed.  A pink heart - for the color of transformation.  A green one for the color of the heart space in the energy body.  And a blue heart - so my words also reflect the essence of my heart more fully.

Also from my studies, I know that the palm of our hands has incredible sensory perception.  We feel a lot through our hands.  We easily discern weight, texture, and temperature.  I've heard that if you placed a quarter on your hand, there are more sensory nerve endings in that space than there are in your entire back.  Our hands are meant to feel.

So, really, could I tolerate the sensation as the tattoo was designed on the palm of my hand?  Am I really willing to feel that much?  If I tattooed this place, would the sensory overload then lessen my ability to feel in my hand and eventually my heart? On the advice of respected tattoo artists, I think I'll pass.

May we lovingly hold our hearts in the palm of our hands.  May the work we do in this world reflect our heart-felt desire. As we breathe, may our hearts feel the ever-present connection to the Great Heart.