Day 37  Strike That Pose!!!!!!

It is amazing to me how we develop beliefs and philosophies in life. Sometimes I stop and think, “Where did that come from”? It is kind of like the story about the young bride who cut off both ends of the ham before she baked it. When someone asked her why she did that, she answered by saying that was the way her mother baked a ham. When the mother was asked, she said that the hams she always bought were too big for her pan, so she had to cut it off on both ends to fit the pan. So some things we do just because someone else did it that way and we do not ask questions. That is all fine most of the time. But somewhere along the way, we have lost the passion for the word “why”---you know-- the word that our three year learned to say every time we made a statement? Well, I am bringing that word back into my vocabulary on this health journey. The first big hurtle I had to get over was the fact that doctors are not God. Just because they tell you something does not mean that it is true. It is true based on their own belief system, their training, their experiences, and we are not trained to question any of these. We question God, the Bible, our parents, our teachers—anyone who has authority over us, but the medical field seems to be off limits for some reason. I have two extended family members who took their doctor’s advice and ended up in very bad shape. They were stressed and having trouble relaxing at bedtime, so they were both advised to have a glass of wine or beer before bed to relax. One chose wine and one chose beer, and this was their nightly ritual. One died an alcoholic and the other died with cirrhosis of the liver, and that is just in my family.  Now in a previous blog, I told how I became addicted to sugar. Same principle here----the feel good hormone kicks in during stressful times--- and there you go. Addicts of anything want that “high” that makes them feel good or feel better.  That physiological fact has made me a lot more tolerant with people who have addictions and has made me realize that most additions are food and stress related. Which, by the way, addicts of all types are being healed simply by changing their diet and learning how to manage their stress level. So I have learned and am learning to say why and how? Why am I stressed? Why am I continuously hungry? Why do I need a pill to do something that my body is designed to do? How is my body designed to take care of itself? Yep, I’ve had the herd mentality way too long. I’ve cut off both ends of the ham way too long. But in asking the question “why”, I am learning two things----1) follow the money and that will explain a lot of the why’s and 2) look for consensus among holistic doctors who have unrelated medical practices to help me make my health decisions.  That will answer a lot of your questions. I said all of this to say this, I have discovered something for me that I previously taught was wrong and I did not question “how” or “why”. It is YOGA!!! I hope you do not have this hurtle to face.

 Somewhere along my non-health journey, I was taught that yoga was evil or should I say, I was taught that it would interfere with my Christian journey. I do not know where this teaching came from. I think it might have been because yoga is usually associated with meditation and meditation is associated with Eastern and some Western religions because many of them incorporate meditation in their rituals. And it is probably the word “ritual” that sent up a red flag in my spirit. I am very sensitive to the spirit world because I know both exist, the good and the bad. I was taught that yoga bordered on the bad, and since I’d rather not do anything that might cause me to consider the dark world, I chose to stay away from that influence.  As a result of this teaching or impression or whatever, I did not ever think I would be doing yoga, because I was afraid of the question “why”? I think it robbed me of learning to control my parasympathetic state. The meditation part, if that’s what you want to call it, is simply a way of controlling your mind to concentrate on what your body is doing, so that you will not become distracted and not use your muscles to their full potential. Yoga is not like walking or running on a treadmill something that you can do mindless. You can’t read a book and do yoga at the same time.  You have to concentrate on your body and especially your breathing.  Sometimes it does get religious to me when I say, “God help me to stand on one leg”.  I being silly of course, but I honestly can’t even imagine having the presence of mind to meditate on anything but controlling my body---and of course it is said that this is a form of meditation because this concentration clears your mind of stressful thoughts.  If you have ever done yoga, you know exactly what I mean---at least on the novice level, which is my journey. It is very important that you do yoga correctly. I thought yoga was just stretching and a very easy exercise. I remember thinking---why even bother? No one I saw was breaking a sweat (my old mentality of exercise). But I found out that it is a very intense exercise that takes a lot of practice to be successful. And successful is a relative term. Even bad yoga especially when you first begin, is good for you. You achieve success when you learn to use your muscles, not when you can do it as good as someone else. Yoga creates its own path of success, because you are not competing with others, you are competing with your own body---- saying for instance--- I had better balance this week than I did last week. So how did I become convinced that yoga was so good for me? First of all, very quickly before I get into the physical and mental benefits, it impressed me because it required no equipment and could be done in the comfort of my home. But I was really convinced when I found out the health benefits. These facts came from years of research tracking people who practiced yoga as basically their only form of exercise. Some of the people were patients with particular diseases and others who were doing it to relieve stress. But since we know that according to doctor’s, 85% of all illness is psychosomatic, then we know they were all stressed. I just think that the studies are amazing. I will list the benefits by categories: Mental health, physical health spiritual health and even the financial benefits. And this is all with NO pills!!!

• Mental Health:
  Reduces stress and stress-related illnesses
  Reduces anxiety
  Reduces depression up to 45%
  Improves sleep, mood, memory and PYSD symptoms

• Physical Health
  Reduces back pain up to 45%
  Reduces arthritis pain and pain from fibromyalgia
  Reduces weight
  Reduces blood sugar and blood pressure
  Increases flexibility, strength and balance
  Reduces asthma  attacks and allergy symptoms
  Reduces irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), improves digestion and elimination
  Improves pregnancy outcomes, sexual function and libido
  Increases longevity
• Spiritual Benefits  (by concentrating on healing powers of your own body)
  Increase quality of life and overall well being
  Inner peace and focus

• Financial Benefits:

     (based on patients who were hospitalized for various reasons)
     There was a decreased use of anti-nausea, antianxiety, sleep and pain medications which on
      average was $469 per patient                             

     (based on a small cancer unit with 24 beds)
     Saved the hospital $443,781, annually, which saves health care cost to all of us, because the cost  
     is passed down to us.

Other things that stood out to me were the benefits to our body as we age.

 Focus and  Concentration: As you age, this becomes an issue. As I age, I find myself chasing rabbits in my thought life. I understand that this lack of concentration adds to forgetfulness.

Balance: We see this probably more in older people than anything---falling. It certainly helps in this area. Conventional exercise (using machines) will increase strength but not flexibility or balance, and we need all three. Yoga does all three.

Relaxed State: Afterward you feel refreshed, light and relaxed, not exhausted, tired or stressed. That is when I like to lie down and meditate. This would all be based on your own spiritual needs. What I like to do is lie down, think of a person who I do not necessarily bond with, or tend to think of their negative traits, and begin to think of all the good qualities that I know about that person. It works really good on your family members. Since we are close to them, we tend to see their faults. We need to see them through Christ’s eyes. He loves us all regardless of our faults. This goes back to the scripture mentioned in a previous blog---“think on those things that are good”. If you do facial masks (more later), this is a good time to do that. Parasympathetic bodies have to be a thing of the past if we are going to achieve good health.

Now if you decide to take this journey with me there will be some obstacles, at least there were for me.

 1) How do I get started? That will be your journey. There are yoga tapes, YouTube videos ( 100’s of them), classes that you can enjoy with your friends---or like me us Wii Fit. (Remember me buying this to get the perfect exercise to get the perfect body?) Funny thing, though, was that I bought it for games, boxing, stepping etc.,----all the activities that would make me sweat. I totally ignored the yoga part----until I began my health journey.

2) Overcoming the idea that I could not do it. I watched the instructors and it made me want to quit before I even started. Just stick it out a few times a week. The stretching and movement using your own muscles and walking is all you need for your health and well-being. You will be sore because you are using muscles that you have not been using, but nothing is safer than working your own body against gravity. I would start with a routine of every other day. It would be great if you had an accountability partner, someone who will do yoga with you or will check to make sure you are staying with the program.  Yes, Larry is my yoga partner. We will not be posting any videos!!!!!! It was a small hurtle to talk him into it, but he wants good health also----‘cause he is getting old right along beside me!!!

I strongly urge you to try it. Don’t wait for the perfect video or YouTube session. Just pick one and try for a few minutes. You will probably say like me---I don’t think this works. Just give it time. You will begin to see your strength increase, your body shape up and a calmness come over your mind. I do have to say that I love the Wii Fit, because it beeps at you when you get off balance, and it also teaches you to deep breathe while you are exercising. I just know one thing. I am so much calmer now than I have ever been in my life. I do not let “things” worry me like I used to. And when I do get stressed over some jobs that I have to do, or some task I need to accomplish, I have learned to calm myself and trust in the Living God who made us all.

I guess my greatest fear is that some of my readers will say, “But you are retired and you do not live a stressful life”. Retirement just took me away from the job I was doing for money. It does not take away the stresses of life that everyone faces. The day I retired, I did not walk into a state of calmness. In fact a lot of new stresses came my way. I still have lots of responsibilities every day of my life. I still have family issues. I still have financial responsibilities. I face everything that you face. Remember life is full of choices every day. You may not choose yoga, but I encourage you to choose something good for you. Health, good or bad, is a choice, and it comes down to two things----what you put in your mouth, and what you do to relieve the stresses in your life. You can choose to be Healthy and Happy.  When you live that way, you can write your own prescription. Remember the sleep test I had? My prescription worked!!!  The next blog will tell you all about it.