I started taking yoga classes in a New Beginners Ashtanga class at Yoga on High. That was five years ago. I continued with weekly classes for a year and a half. I practice at home now for a variety of reasons. There a plenty of studies to tell you what yoga can be clinically proven to increase, decrease, suppress, or emphasize.
What I present here is a completely unscientific, anecdotal piece about what yoga did for me and why I keep practicing it.
- Yoga made me taller! I stopped growing vertically around age 12–left at a shorty 5 ft 1 in. For 20 plus years, whenever I went to the doctor, no matter what shoes I wore, I measured at 5 ft. 1 in. In 2006, after a year of ashtanga yoga, I went to the doctor for a physical and the nurse said, “5 ft 2 in.” My theory for how I grew an inch has to do with the stretching and strengthening from the poses. The forward bends lengthen muscles in the spine and the twists strengthen those same muscles and additional ones that most of us don’t even know about. These are tiny little muscles called multifidi, rotatores, and intertransversarii, connecting vertebra to vertebra.
- Yoga made me stronger. I didn’t come out ripped, with an excellent six-pack. What happened is that I could feel strength in my body from the ground up. My feet, my hips, my abs, my back, my arms were all stronger. My body was balanced, stretched, and strengthened, making me feel healthier.
- Yoga burned away the need to drink. I don’t know really how to explain this one. I wasn’t a drunk. I drank as much as anyone else on a weekend. I would think I deserved a drink after the week I went through. I would go to yoga class on Saturday or Sunday morning and sweat out the wine from the night before. Then one week I realized I didn’t long for that drink, I didn’t think I deserved that drink. What I felt mostly was that I liked how my body felt when I drank water better.
- Yoga helped me appreciate my life. When I started yoga I was incredibly stressed out by many things. I was dealing with being a new mom, dealing with money issues, dealing with having lived in three cities within a year and a half. Stress was a major component of every single day. Yoga opened up a space in my life, if only brief and once a week, to allow in a bit of grace. I would say that all those hours of yoga were worth that one minute in the car when I felt completely ok with everything about my life.
This is what yoga did for me. Something else might have made this kind of difference in my life, but it didn’t. Yoga did. I think the practice of moving your body in a time-honored healthy way leads to more than physical benefits. It leads to mental and emotional benefits. It’s all connected together. My body is my vehicle for getting through this world. I honored, strengthened, and moved into my body more solidly through yoga.
I don’t need a scientific study to prove to me that it was worth it.
Categories: life · mind/body · yoga
Well, it looks like neither aikido nor Pilates are getting the kind of scientific attention that tai chi and yoga have gotten. I found mostly anecdotal reports on the benefits. Maybe it’s time to see if the self-reported benefits are measurable in scientific terms. Granted, I think anecdotal evidence is enough for some situations, but people like the scientific studies, too.
Aikido
- Increases strength, flexibility, and balance
- Decreases anxiety
- More advanced practitioners experience greater aerobic fitness
For article about history, see American Fitness; Mar/Apr2005, Vol. 23 Issue 2, p24-26.
Pilates
- Increases core muscle strength and flexibility
- Increases stability and balance
- Tones and strengthens pelvic floor muscles
Can Pilates Do It All (this is a direct link to a PDF file) from American Council on Exercise
Aikido in Columbus
Pilates in Columbus
Neither of these lists is comprehensive. Classes can be found throughout the city, at YMCAs, community centers, hospitals, fitness centers, etc. If you’re just starting out with either of these, I feel it’s best to go to a studio that is solely focused on that practice. When you do that you are more likely to receive teaching that enhances your experience.
Categories: Columbus · explanation · mind/body
The lists below show the benefits of these practices. What’s great is that Columbus has many competent, experienced teachers. Find your form and enjoy!!
Tai Chi
- Increases lower and upper body strength
- Increases lower and upper body flexibility
- Improves balance
- Has shown positive improvements for people suffering from ankylosing spondylitis, breast cancer, stroke, and hypertension, as well as other diseases and disorders.
From Harvard Women’s Health Watch; May 2009, Vol. 16 Issue 9, p2-4.
Yoga
- Decreases anxiety and depression
- Increases pain tolerance (a measure of ability to deal with stress in general)
- Increases flexibility and strength
- Has shown positive improvements for people suffering from breast cancer, HIV, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, symptoms of menopause.
From Harvard Mental Health Letter; Apr 2009, Vol. 25 Issue 10, p4-5, and Massage Magazine; Oct 2008, Issue 149, p94-94.
Tai Chi in Columbus:
Yoga in Columbus:
Neither of these lists is comprehensive. Tai Chi and yoga classes can be found throughout the city, at YMCAs, community centers, hospitals, fitness centers, etc. If you’re just starting out with either of these, I feel it’s best to go to a studio that is solely focused on that practice. When you do that you are more likely to receive teaching that enhances your experience.
Categories: Columbus · health · mind/body · yoga
A friend shared this link with me back in November and I’ve been making the syrup ever since. It’s really quite tasty, unless you’re six years old. Then you drink it and make faces about it:
Mountain Rose Herbs: How To Make Elderberry Syrup
I like to make the syrup and then with the leftover berries make tea.
The elderberry has many health benefits. It contains compounds that improve eyesight, provide much needed antioxidants, and, best of all, boost immunity.
There are some products out there that sell the extracted compounds for around $12 or $26, depending.
I buy the elderberries at the Clintonville Community Market, where they are sold in bulk for about $13 a pound. I get about a cup and it costs maybe $2.
Categories: health · home · natural
Checking in on my Twitter stream, I found out there’s a Holiday Trail of Lights at Lake Hope State Park. I didn’t know where Lake Hope was or anything else about it, but walking a trail at night and having motion activated lights turn on sounded fun.
Some research showed that Lake Hope was nestled southwest of Nelsonville and pretty darn close to Athens, too. That’s a decent day trip.
Then I found out they have cottages … that are open all year round.
On a whim I reserved one of the Furnace cottages. And we were set for a trip on Saturday.
We left town in the late afternoon after taking care of the Saturday stuff. High Street was packed. As we drove past Target, my 6-year-old son asked, “Why are there so many cars at Target?” When I told him, his response was, “I wouldn’t want to be *there*!”
Neither would I.
As it turns out, getting out of town into the hills of southeastern Ohio was a great idea. As soon as we hit Lake Hope Rd., I felt a relaxation that I didn’t know was missing. Just trees to look at. All bare so you can see the rise and fall of the hills.
The cabin was warm when we got there and we could see the sun setting over the hills from the living room. The next morning we walked down to the lake to watch the steam roll around on the surface.
Getting to see trees out the window, spot a pileated woodpecker, and try to guess what critter made the only ripples on the lake, moved me to silence and contemplation rather than towards the next item on my to-do list.
That’s a good day.
BTW, we skipped the Trail of Lights. We’re not list-checkers when it comes to relaxing.
Categories: adventures · mind/body
