Forbes Magazine Gives Yoga a Thumb Up

by Baxter

View From Above by Melina Meza

I love it when capitalist magazines find something good to say about yoga, even if it is how it is making someone lots of money. But in this case, Forbes says yoga might save the US trillions of dollars in lost productivity for our economy. How so, you ask? Why, for a start, by reducing the dropout rate from high schools in this country, rates that shockingly range from 30% in most places to over 50% in our urban “war zones.” (I call them war zones because of the continual violent backdrop that these children are subjected to day in and day out; where just walking to and from school, let alone being in school, is a constant cause for anxiety and worry about getting hurt or killed.)

What was a delight to see is one of the featured yoga experts quoted frequently in the article, BK Bose, in whose Niroga Institute in Berkeley, CA, I have had the great pleasure of teaching for the past several years. Bose, who started his career as a software engineer in the high tech industry in Silicon Valley, has more recently focused his work on bringing yoga to under-served communities, and training teachers to work with these special populations. These include classes at the Alameda County Juvenile Hall, low-income public schools and low-income senior centers, to name just a few. His work, as with most small operations around the country, is done as a non-profit venture. Even on its smaller scale, the results of the yoga classes are significant.

And after all, if we can influence the health of our youngest at an early age, that should lead to a longer, healthier life as they age (and, of course, many of our readers have school-aged children). The key underlying factor that Bose identifies as the culprit in so many of the challenges our young face is chronic stress. We have written on many occasions about the ways in which yoga can help us deal with stress. But what about in our kids, and in the growing number of kids that have to deal with gangs, substance abuse, and crime in their neighborhoods? This adds a whole new twist on doing straight up mindfulness techniques. These techniques can work quite well for children who don’t have the kinds of violent communities that Bose’s programs work with, as you will see below.

For me, as I read the article, I found one concept that comes from mind-body research defined in a new way that I could relate to from my own yoga teaching.  I often refer to the mind’s background chatter as “monkey mind” or “restless mind,” and the tendency is for this kind of thinking to have a background feeling of anxiety or stress associated with it. The following paragraph from the Forbes article talks about what mindfulness practices do to the brain, including the new phraseology “default mode network (DMN)” which I find confirming of my own observations:  

“In 2011, a Harvard study showed that mindfulness is linked to increased gray matter density in certain cortical areas, including the prefrontal cortex and regions involved in self-referential thoughts and emotion regulation. There seems to be a strong connection between mindfulness and the brain machinery involved in self-regulation. Other work has shown mindfulness to be linked to relative de-activation of the default mode network (DMN), the brain system that’s active during mind-wandering and self-referential “worry” thoughts, which are generally stressful in nature.”

Mindfulness practices, then, help us change the way we are thinking, or at least the way we are focusing our minds, which changes our stress response. For a young person, this might equate to changed behavior, in which he or she has more control over emotional reactions that might lead to trouble. Bose, however, notes that in his students who live in violent communities and are more often directly or indirectly victims of trauma, mindfulness is not going to work.  As the article points out:

“This is all well and good, Bose adds, but there’s an obvious caveat. When they’re in the midst of stress and trauma, few kids have the ability to sit still enough to take part in a sitting practice. “If you’re not ready to sit in classroom,” says Bose, “you’re not ready to do sitting meditation. If you have drugs and gangs and violence all around you, you simply can’t sit still. Teachers tell us that they often yell at kids 100 times a day to sit and pay attention. It doesn’t work. And to ask them to do this in the context of meditation can have a worse-than-neutral effect – it could be disastrous.”

He says that you have to go beyond mind-body research to trauma research, which tells us that physical activity can help the brain deal with stress and trauma.

“Trauma research tell us that we hold trauma in our bodies… Neuroscience says mindfulness; trauma research says movement. All of the sudden you’ve got moving meditation or mindfulness in motion. Mindfulness alone isn’t going to cut it for these kids.”

Even for adults who carry a lot of anxious energy stored up in their bodies, we here at Yoga for Healthy Aging have advocated for the necessity of movement practices, sometimes more vigorous yoga styles, as an initial stage in leading to deeper relaxation and stress reduction in your daily practice. Turns out to be true for kids with trauma, too.

The take-away from this Forbes exposure of yoga to a larger audience in the US and for us yogis here as well is that it may prove invaluable to teach young and old alike to do yoga, combining active asana and quieter mindfulness practices for maximum benefit. And that it would be a good idea to change policy on a national level to fund such ventures, so everyone at least has access to trying yoga, to see if it works for them. What an interesting, and possibly wonderful, world that could be! 

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Friday Q A Whats Your Yoga Story

Woman in a Bookshop by Aubrey Beardsley

Every once in a while we turn the tables on our readers here at Yoga for Healthy Aging, and instead of answering a reader’s question, we ask a question ourselves. Today, because Baxter and Nina are starting to write a sample chapter for our Yoga for Healthy Aging book, we’d like to ask you to tell us something about yourselves.

Q: How old were you when you started practicing yoga? And what kinds of benefits have you seen from your practice?

A: We know your stories will inspire us! So write your answer in a comment, post it on our Facebook page, or send an email to Nina: nina at wanderingmind dot com.

Nina shared part of her yoga story in her post Yoga for Emotional Wellbeing: An Epiphany earlier this week.

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Mental Yoga Thathaasthu

by Nina

So she came down from the tree.... by Marc Chagall*

I’m stressed out this morning because early this morning a whole bunch of people from the city were outside my house arguing about our street tree. It’s a huge, beautiful old camphor tree with enormous roots that have for the third time ruined the sidewalk, wrecked our sewers, and are destroying our walkway as they inch their way toward the foundation of our house. The city took out the sidewalk on Monday, so now everyone was looking at the tree roots trying to figure out what to do. The city department and the contractor repairing the sidewalk think the tree is very dangerous and should be taken down—that’s a bit scary. The city’s arborists think the tree is worth preserving at any cost—I get that—but this means shaving down the trees roots and removing some of them in order to put a level sidewalk on top of them, and they claim there are no risks to be concerned about (though shaving the roots will result in some dead branches). And unfortunately we ourselves have no say whatsoever in the matter, even though the city is charging us to repair the damage that the tree did to the sidewalk—yes, really. My long time next-door neighbors are having the same problems with their street tree, and in their case the roots are destroying their water line, which needs to be replaced before the sidewalk can be repaired. 

It looks like what is going to happen is they are going to try shaving the roots of our tree and then re-evaluate after that. Weirdly the thing that really upset me is something that didn’t happen. The contractor told me that one plan the arborists had was to move the sidewalk onto our property to make more room for the street tree, while destroying part of our beautiful front garden. Are they even allowed to do that?  Whoa, even though they decided not to go for that plan, it’s making me angry that they were even thinking about it and talking about it behind my back! 

After that great start to my day, I came back to sit at my desk and work on the blog, not having any idea of what I was going to write about. Meanwhile, they’re now attacking my neighbor’s tree and making a lot of noise—and, oh, now the doorbell is ringing again! You know what it is time for? A little mental yoga. So—hahaha—I actually started reading some of my old posts to remind myself of how just pausing to notice your own thoughts can be helpful in quieting your mind.

I’ve written about samskaras, or patterns of reactivity, several times, including Meditation and Brain Strength, A Pathway in the Mind, and Changing the Brain’s Stressful Habits.  So first, I’ll take a moment to notice how upset I am at not having control over a decision that affects my life and my pocketbook as well as my confusion about being told completely contradictory things by various experts. I’ve registered my concerns, the decision has been made by the powers that be, and there is nothing more I can do. Yoga teacher and therapist Stephen Cope believes that with tapas, which he defines as “the energy of restraint,” we can start to avoid some of our harmful patterns of reactivity or samskaras. So for now, I’m going to try to just let it all go. Furthermore, can I just laugh about how upset I got over something that DIDN’T EVEN HAPPEN? 

But now the noise! It’s especially irritating hearing it when I’m already stressed out and I’m supposed to be writing a post this morning and don’t even have a topic yet! But I am quickly reminded of Ram’s post Achieving Stillness in Turbulent Times, in which he wrote about how his grandfather taught him to meditate in a train station. He concluded by saying:

"The goal of meditation is to be at ease, relaxed and at peace with our surroundings. It is important to not resist the disturbing/distracting influence that comes in the way of your meditation practice (in your case traffic or the cold environment). So do not try to ignore the influence or to block it out, for if you try, you will only meet with stiffer resistance, ending in frustration. Instead, simply let it be (“thathaasthu” in Sanskrit) and continue with your meditation. Everything is a part of meditation, all the influences including the noise, the thoughts, the emotions, and the resistance from the mind. Treat everything that arises in meditation the same way—let it be and just be there!"

Well, if Ram can meditate in train station, I can write a blog post with people arguing outside and making the kind of invasive noise that only large machines are capable of (thank you, Ram, for teaching me so much). And since my neighbors have no water, I’ll bring them a pitcher of drinking water and offer them the use of my bathroom for the day. 

Thathaasthu.

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Help Wanted Stories About Real People and Real Yoga

by Nina

A Lady Writing by Johannes Vermeer

Want to help us out? I’m nearing the end of my work on the Yoga for Healthy Aging book, but I’m still looking for a few stories about real people and real yoga that I can use to illustrate certain concepts. It’s always more compelling as well as more interesting to hear about real people as examples rather than just reading a hypothetical example. And many of the stories I heard so far (and that I’m including) are very moving and inspiring. If your story is long enough, I can even turn it into a post! 

So have any of you been influenced in a life changing way by yoga philosophy or any aspects of yoga besides asana? I’d love to hear your story, however brief. I’m specifically looking for stories on the following topics: 

Ignorance: What’s a before-and-after story of your life before learning something about yoga (other than asana) and than after. An example is Beth Gibbs (see Enough) learning about santosha (contentment), which allowed her to change her feeling of never being “enough.”  

Yamas: Are any of the yamas your guiding light? Did learning about any of them change anything for you? 

Niyamas: Are any of the niyamas your guiding light. Did learning about any of htem change anything for you. Interested in any except santosha (which I have covered). 

I also have one topic left that involves asana practice: 

Immune System: Do any of you practice yoga to support your immune system? Or do you or does one of your students have an autoimmune disease that is helped by yoga practice? 

Feel free to either leave a comment for me on this post, message us on Facebook, or email me at nina at wanderingmind dot com. 

Thanks everyone!

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Available on Video Yoga for Healthy Digestion Practices!

by Baxter

Since I last wrote on subject of yoga and your digestive system (see Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Yoga), I completed two live one-hour lectures on the topic for YogaU Online, which are now archived and available on their website if you had hoped to join me live but could not. See yogauonline.com to access these lecture.

And, in addition to the information-packed talks, I completed a one-hour video practice on Yoga for Healthy Digestion in August! It is part of the package you get if you purchase the sessions from YogaU, and it is the first significant video practice I’ve produced in a long time, so I am pretty pleased to have it to share with you! To give you a sense of how I came up with the practices on the video, I wanted to share a bit about how yoga is applied to imbalances in the digestive system.

As I discuss in my talks on yoga and the digestive system, when you have an imbalance in your digestive system, it can often be classified in one of two ways: either a condition of excess digestive energy, such as with heartburn or reflux disease or a condition of deficient digestive energy, such as with chronic constipation. This way of looking at digestive imbalances comes from the work of TKV Desikachar, which I was exposed to back in 2005 when I studied at his center in India. Addressing these imbalances can then be done by applying a particular yogic quality to the practice you design to bring the situation in to better balance, towards homeostasis. 

If a condition is one of excess energy, you’d address it with a calming, cooling, restorative approach. The word we use in the world of yoga therapeutics to describe this is Langhana. On the other hand, if the condition is one of deficiency, you’d address it with a more stimulating, active or heating practice, known as a Brahmana practice. There is a slight paradox here however, for if your deficient condition is really causing you to be depleted, you can always start with a more Langhana style approach, and as your energetic reserves improve, switch to a more Brahmana style practice.  So, you can never go wrong going with the quieter, calming, gently grounding yoga practices, which include gentle asana, restoratives, pranayama (such as a 1:2 ratio inhale:exhale breathing), and guided meditations, to name a few of the Langhana tools.

In the video, you will get a 30-minute practice that exemplifies Langhana practice for conditions of excess and another 30-minute practice that exemplifies a Brahmana practice or conditions of deficiency. I hope you find both the talks and the video helpful as you attempt to get your digestion into optimum balance! You can find them both at yogauonline.com.

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Interview with Anna Guest Jelley of Curvy Yoga

by Nina

I’m excited to welcome a special guest today here on the blog, yoga teacher, author and activist Anna Guest-Jelley of Curvy Yoga. I’ve been admiring her from afar for some time now because of her work as a champion for women’s empowerment and body acceptance. Recently I finally got up the courage to approach her. And guess what? She was as warm and welcoming as I imagined her to be, and she agreed to let me interview her so you can find out more about her mission and her work.

Nina: Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got started with yoga.

Anna: Hi, everyone! I’m excited to be here because I love this blog!

Chronic migraines brought me to the mat a little over 15 years ago. I was desperate for anything to help, and several people recommended yoga.

At the time, I was also completely disconnected from my body. I hated it and wanted it to change – less pain, less weight. I eventually tried over 65 diets before yoga helped me realize that body acceptance is a much better and happier way to live life (even though body acceptance is the last thing I was expecting, or even wanting, from yoga at first!).

Nina: Why did you start Curvy Yoga?

Anna: I started Curvy Yoga because for about the first 8+ years of my practice, I always thought something was wrong with my body during asana. Since my teachers never talked about how to adapt poses for bigger bodies, and I almost never saw any other bigger-bodied students in class, I assumed (incorrectly, thank goodness!) that the problem was me.

Over time, though, as I began my journey towards body acceptance, I had the thought: “Hey, maybe the problem isn’t my body! Maybe the problem is there’s just not enough information about how to adapt yoga for curvy folks.”

Once I realized that, indeed, the latter was the case, I set out to see what I could do about changing that.

Nina: Which yoga practices and/or yoga poses do you think are especially helpful for body acceptance?

Anna: I believe that the way yoga can move people towards body acceptance is by helping them (re)connect with their bodies. So many of us are disconnected for various reasons, and it’s quite hard to accept, much less love, something that you can’t feel or connect with. 

For me, once I began to be able to feel what was going on in my body physically during asana, I was then able to slowly extrapolate that to noticing my breath, my mental and emotional states, etc. It was only from that place of embodiment that I began to be able to know and meet my body’s needs from a place of love, not misplaced, unhealthy and (in my case) disordered approaches to weight, eating and exercise.


I see the whole path of yoga as one of body acceptance because of how each of the limbs teaches us to connect with our body and self in a holistic way.

Nina: Do you have anything else you’d like to tell our readers?

Anna: I’ll just add that for anyone reading this, student or teacher, that making yoga accessible for people of all shapes and sizes doesn’t have to be complicated. Whether through pose modifications, props, sequencing, body positive theming, or some combination, it’s all very doable.

Yoga has a profound ability to connect us with our bodies and empower us when it comes from a place of acceptance, not shame that a body is not this or that seemingly ideal way. You never have to change your body for yoga! 

Anna Guest-Jelley is the founder of Curvy Yoga, a training and inspiration portal offering classes, workshops, teacher trainings, retreats, a virtual studio and lots of love and support to people of every size, age and ability. She is also the author of Permission to Curve: Inspiring Poses for Curvy Yogis & Their Teachers and the co-editor of Yoga and Body Image: 25 Personal Stories About Beauty, Bravery and Loving Your Body (forthcoming Fall 2014, Llewelleyn). Visit Curvy Yoga online at CurvyYoga.com.

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Learning About Yoga for Depression

by Nina

Terri Alexander, Age 55 
(Backbends can be uplifting for people with depression)

This morning I received an email from new reader in Japan who wants to introduce yoga for depression to the Japanese people and add the choice of yoga “in their pocket.” What an admirable goal! This has been one of my areas of interest for a long time because I feel yoga has so much to offer in the area of emotional wellbeing. So because I can’t teach this woman what I know in person and there is apparently no one teaching on this topic who lives in Japan (correct me if I’m wrong), I started thinking about how I could coach her a bit from a distance.  

I realized quite quickly that there were some basic things anyone needs to start by understanding before they can really study yoga for depression, and since I was going to write them down for her, I thought I should share them with you as well.  

Learn about Yoga for Stress Management

I feel the first place to start is to learn about the functions of the autonomic nervous system and chronic stress. The reason for this is that stress is one of the things that can cause depression, and for people whose depression has other causes, being stressed can exacerbate the depression (and being depressed can cause you to stress out!). So it is important to understand what chronic stress does to your nervous system and how you can use yoga to help manage your basic stress levels. Personally, as someone who has suffered from two bouts of agitated depression, this knowledge has been extremely valuable, enabling me to keep myself healthy for the past two decades.

So start by learning about the autonomic nervous system in general by reading my post Life-Changer: Understanding Your Autonomic Nervous System. Then, after you’ve learned about the nervous system itself, learn about the difference between acute and chronic stress by reading my post About Stress: Acute vs. Chronic. Finally, learn about how to use yoga for stress management by reading The Relaxation Response and Yoga. And if you are not doing so already, try practicing yoga stress management techniques on a regular basis so you are really familiar with them and the differences between them. (This is because while stress management in general is beneficial for all, some techniques will work well for various people with depression while others may not. For example, Savasana with eyes closed can be very challenging for people with depression while a supported inverted pose with eyes open could work very well. And meditation may even be harmful—see Friday Q&A: Depression, Medication, and Meditation.)  

Learn About the Types of Depression

Another very important subject area to study is the two types of depression, which are very different and need to be addressed differently with yoga. In my post Tamasic and Rajasic Depression, I discuss the differences between clinical depression (tamasic) and agitated depression (rajasic), and describe the different approaches you need to take for the two. Generally, because of the lethargic aspect of clinical depression, people with this form of depression need energizing as well as uplifting while because the anxious/agitated aspect of agitated depression, people with this form of depression need calming and soothing, rather than energizing. The more you understand about these two different forms of depression, the better you will be able to help someone (or yourself) who is suffering from one or the other. 

Some other posts with information about yoga for depression that you might find useful include: Balancing Your Emotional Body with Counter-Poses and Balancing Your Emotions with Your Breath.

I also highly recommend reading the book The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon as a way to learn even more about the different types of depression. (Even though—bad Andrew—the only thing he says about yoga is snide and ignorant.)

Yoga is Not a Standalone Cure

Finally, always keep in mind that yoga is a supplementary treatment for depression, not a standalone cure. You can use it to help someone who is recovering from depression or to help someone who has once suffered from it to prevent its recurrence. But serious depression (as opposed to, say, just feeling mildly depressed about life) can be a life-threatening disease and someone with serious depression should be under professional care. While yoga teachers can work with someone who has serious depression, the teacher should always make sure the student is also seeing a trained professional. See Drawing a Line in the Sand: Where Yoga Teachers Should Not Go and No Shame, Please! (Western Medicine and Yoga are Complementary).

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Yoga for Occasional Constipation

by Beth

Nervous People Eating By Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Fortunately for me, my digestive health takes after my mother’s, daily bowel movements first thing in the morning, every morning. This remained true for her until she passed at the age of 102. It is still true for me but occasionally it isn’t. When my son was a baby, the stress of being a wife, a new mom, and a “working girl” did throw things off balance from time to time. Missing a day or two raised the yellow flag of caution, but when one or two days became three or more the red flag of alarm and discomfort flew high and stayed there until the situation resolved itself or I resolved it by taking a laxative.

After I began practicing yoga and understood more about the interrelationship of digestion, stress, and overall health (see Why You Should Care About Your Digestive System), I began to pay closer attention to my occasional bouts of constipation and wanted to find a yogic way of dealing with them instead of taking laxatives. Today I’m going to share with you what I’ve learned.

But first let me distinguish between occasional and chronic constipation. According to the Mayo Clinic, constipation is generally defined as having fewer than three bowel movements a week. Occasional constipation is very common but chronic constipation is infrequent bowel movements or difficult passage of stools that persists for several weeks or longer and may require medical attention.

Now, in a nutshell, here is what I learned about the relationship between stress, overall health, and digestion: 

• Our emotional reactions and our digestive systems are linked. Our intestines are lined with smooth muscle coated in mucus, rich in neuropeptide receptors (protein-like molecules that influence the brain and the body in specific ways). When we are under stress these mucus secretions in the digestive system are reduced, reducing our capacity to eliminate. 
• Stress can cause a contraction of the smooth muscles of the digestive system and shunt needed blood from the digestive system to the extremities to prepare the body to fight, flee, or freeze. 
• The body will do this in light of good stress, bad stress, severe danger (“Lions, tigers and bears, oh, my!”) or everyday situations (work or relationship stress, holidays, or a stalled car). 
• Research is finding that the stress associated with unprocessed negative emotions can inhibit the natural digestive process. We have language that illustrates this relationship between digestion and stress, including “gut wrenching,” “nervous stomach,” and ‘gut reaction.” 
• Ayurveda, the sister science of yoga and the oldest known medical system in the world, teaches that health and well being depend upon our ability to digest everything we take in. This includes not only food and drink, but also our experiences, emotions, and the impressions we take in via our five senses. Agni is the Sanskrit term for the “digestive fire” that breaks down food and other things we ingest from the environment, assimilating what is useful, and eliminating the rest. 
• Yoga can play a major role in helping us promote and strengthen the health of our digestive system. The overall approach to choosing yoga tools for healthy digestion has two primary goals: 1) stress reduction through movement and meditation and 2) strengthening the ability to witness and digest (accept, adapt, or change) situations and habits that may contribute to our personal stress response patterns. 

In terms of my ability to witness and digest, now that I have no K.P.P.P. (Kids, Partners, Pets, or Plants) at home, I realized that my current bouts of constipation occur most often during the holidays. Given the major changes in my daily routine at this time, it not surprising. Social gatherings of family and friends (functional and dysfunctional), changes in diet (more sugar, alcohol, fat, and carbs), decrease in exercise (the gym is closed, I’m too tired, my to-do list is too long, etc.), shopping (crowded malls and loud music), and travel (driving in traffic or dealing crowded airports and long security lines). 

So I now practice yoga tools that help me prevent or shorten my occasional bouts of constipation, and I am happy to share them with you. Caution: If you suffer from chronic constipation, please consult your doctor or medical practitioner first.  

Seated Spinal Rotations 

This asana enhances digestive fire by increasing heat and compression, massages the internal organs, and increases peristaltic motion in the intestines. Contraindication: diarrhea. 

I’ve been teaching this technique to my students for year and after trying it on their own, they say things like:

• “Did you hear toilets flushing all over town after last night’s class?” (this one is my favorite) 
• “I’ve been blocked for days. Thank you!”
• “It really works.” 

Instructions: 

1. Sit in a comfortable position on the floor or in a chair with your spine comfortably aligned. 
2. With your hands on the knees or thighs, begin rotating your torso in circles. You can imagine that you are drawing circles on the ceiling with the top of your head. Your circles can small and tight or large and easy. Let your breath come and go naturally and pick a pace that feels comfortable for you: slow medium or fast. 
3. Continue for 3 minutes in one direction and 3 minutes in the opposite direction. 
4. Rest for a few rounds of breath before getting up. 
5. Repeat one or two times during the day if needed.

Hakini Mudra and Affirmation 

This technique helps you set a positive intention for a healthy lifestyle and witnessing; puts a focus on releasing negative emotions and managing stress. The mudra and affirmation can be practiced separately or together. The quality realized here is balance and integration, excellent goals to work toward when dealing with occasional constipation. Contraindications: none. 

Affirmation: “I take in and take on only what I can digest.” 

Hakini Mudra Instructions: 

1. Sit with your spine comfortably aligned, and soften your chest and shoulders. 
2. Hold your hands facing each other a few inches away from your solar plexus. 
3. Touch the tips of the fingers and thumb of your left hand to the corresponding fingers and thumb of your right hand, and create space between your hands as though you are holding a ball. Relax your hands in your lap, with the pinky sides of your hands, your wrists, and your forearms on your thighs or in your lap. 
4. Close your eyes, or keep them slightly open and gaze down at the floor.
5. Hold the mudra and sit quietly for 2 - 5 minutes as long as you are comfortable, focusing on your natural breathing process. 
6. If you are combining the mudra with the affirmation, repeat the affirmation silently or out loud for a long as you are comfortable. 
7. When you are ready, release the mudra and stretch your body in any way that your body needs to stretch.

 For more information about mudras, affirmations and their uses, I recommend Mudras for Healing and Transformation by Joseph & Lilian LePage.

General Awareness 

One key to managing occasional bouts of constipation is the ability to consciously: 

• Recognize when you are stressed. 
• Understand what the stressors are, for example, food choices, work, relationship, or environment.
• Choose the right response instead of the wrong habitual reaction.

That’s my yoga groove for a smooth move. Here’s hoping you find yours!

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Friday Q A Reflux GERD and Yoga

Q: I have a student who has reflux, has been to a doctor and has been told it is because the valve in her stomach is too small to keep acid from leaking out. After class she started feel the reflux and nausea. For her to safely and comfortably participate in a group class, what asanas should she avoid or modify? I'm guessing any inversions, along with being careful with twists that typically compress the digestive organs?

A: Reflux, or more accurately gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD), is actually quite common. The name itself gives you some information about what is going on: fluid from the stomach sack (gastro part) is “refluxing” or backwashing up into the esophagus, the tube that connects the mouth to the stomach sack. Food and fluid is supposed to be on a one-way trip, but with GERD, something is going on that allows the stomach fluids, which are quite acidic, to move up in the wrong direction back into the esophagus. The acidity of the stomach juices, essential to digesting and breaking down your food, can burn and inflame the lining of esophagus, which is not designed to handle stomach acids. Sometimes GERD is a result of the esophageal sphincter, the muscular valve that separates the esophagus from the stomach and normally allows one-way traffic, being too loose and relaxed (not tight). It then permits the backflow. In addition, the opening in the diaphragm, the main breathing muscle, that permits the esophagus to travel from the chest area into belly area, can sometimes be too large, which can allow for the stomach sack to slide up, or herniate, a bit into the chest area. This tends to make the esophageal sphincter less effective in its job, too. 

Someone with GERD can have a variety of symptoms, but by far the most common is heartburn. Your relationship to gravity can improve or worsen the symptoms of GERD. If you are standing upright, gravity works to keep the stomach acids down in the stomach and not up in the esophagus. However, if you are lying flat on your back or on your belly, or even worse, upside down, gravity will work against the normal flow and can contribute to worsening symptoms.

Therefore, the first thing I have done for my students with active GERD symptoms is to use blankets to create as slight ramp for them to lay on when we are doing floor work on the back or belly. This keeps just enough of a gravitational gradient that they can tolerate 15 minutes on their backs without stimulating symptoms. You can modify some partial inversions, such as Uttanasana, Prasarita Padottanasana, and Adho Muka Svanasana, to keep the chest and belly parallel with the floor or higher. For example, Half Downward-Facing Dog pose at the Wall is as a good alternative for full Downward-Facing Dog pose. 

You can do Legs up the Wall pose (Viparita Karani) with a ramp for the head, chest, and belly, and with no support under the hips. However, full inversions, such as Headstand and Shoulderstand, usually need to be put in mothballs until the practitioner’s GERD symptoms are treated adequately with the help of their doctor.

As for twists and side-bends that might increase the pressure inside the abdominal cavity and contribute the backflow into the esophagus, I have not seen this as a big deal for my students with GERD, although it is theoretically possible. My advice with these kinds of poses is to do them dynamically, for example, with a seated twist, entering on the inhalation and exiting on the exhalation, without holding it. Or, enter the twists or side bends gradually, shy of your maximum, and observe the effect on the GERD symptoms. If all is quiet, then consider going a bit deeper and observing again. You get the idea! 

And mentally focusing on your breath in certain ways can sometimes help to keep your body more relaxed and, theoretically, according to the yoga tradition, keep your body juices flowing downward. I encourage my students with GERD to visualize the energy of the body moving from head to pelvis on the exhalation. This would encourage the inward wind known as the apana vayu to move in its desired downward direction. Although this technique subtle, some students report it to be helpful.

The good news is that you can effectively and easily modify your own practice or that of your students with GERD so all of the great benefits of a well-rounded yoga practice are available without aggravating the GERD! For any of our readers out there who have GERD, what works and does not work for you? We’d love to hear!

—Baxter

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Two Week Vacation for Yoga for Healthy Aging

One Open Door, One Closed Door by Marie Lossky
(@Marie.Lossky on Instagram)

We'll be taking two weeks off this year: the weeks before and after Christmas. Yes, we're taking our own advice and will be resting up after a long year of writing a Yoga for Healthy Aging book (due out next fall!) and keeping up with the blog.

See you next year!

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PTSD Veterans and Yoga

by Ram

Soldiers by Marc Chagall

On Veterans Day, November 11, we honor the brave men and women for their patriotism and willingness to serve selflessly (aka karma yoga) and who risk their lives for the common good of our country and to protect our freedom. Their selfless service comes at a price: lost limbs, unseen wounds, suicides, PTSD, depression, isolation, and aggression, among others. The statistics speak for themselves: there are a reported 22 veteran suicides each day, 39% alcohol abuse, 19% have traumatic brain injury (TBI), and 20% of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans and 30% of Vietnam veterans are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

PTSD is an anxiety disorder that develops typically after an acute trauma, but can also occur after long-term, chronic stress, especially in cases where the person is exposed to a traumatic event. With PTSD, a person’s nervous system is reacting to the traumatic event rather than responding to present circumstances. Generally, people who are exposed to a traumatic event have difficulty adjusting and coping for a while but the symptoms get better with time and good care. However, if the symptoms worsen and become protracted and interfere with daily tasks, the individual may have PTSD. Symptoms may include: recurring flashbacks and nightmares of the event, hyperarousal, severe anxiety, difficulty concentrating, becoming easily startled, insomnia, self-destructive behavior, or withdrawing from social relationship. Women in general are more likely to develop PTSD and war veterans are at particularly high risk for PTSD. 

When we are exposed to a dangerous situation, the inherent fear triggers the Fight or Flight response in the body to defend against the incoming danger or to evade it. This is a normal and healthy response of the body to protect the individual. But in PTSD, the Fight or Flight response is abnormally altered and as a result the individual may feel stressed or frightened even when they’re no longer in danger. The normal treatment for PTSD is psychotherapy in combination with suitable medication, including antidepressants and/or anti-anxiety medications. The drawback is that these medications have the potential for abuse and patients complain of several non-specific side effects. So, non-pharmacological remedies could serve as a perfect add-on treatment. Fortunately, there are now nearly a dozen research studies describing mind-body intervention therapies, including yoga and meditation, for management of PTSD symptoms. 

A recent pilot study A Yoga Program for the Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans  studied the effectiveness of a yoga program for improving PTSD symptoms among twelve war veterans who suffered from military-related PTSD. The veterans participated in a six-week yoga intervention that was held twice a week. The yoga intervention for this study was developed and taught by three certified yoga teachers and was based on the yoga tradition of the Krishnamacharya Healing and Yoga Foundation (KHYF), which employs a therapeutic approach of breath, movement, and a specific meditative focus. This approach was designed to enable the veterans to experience focus, peace, calmness, and self-awareness. The yoga intervention was held for one hour twice a week for six weeks (12 sessions total), and each session was structured to include about 3 minutes for self-awareness by “checking in” with the body, mind and breath, 40 minutes of postures with breath awareness, and 5 to 10 minutes of full body relaxation with a focus on extending the exhale and a guided visualization. At the end of the 12 sessions, participants were tested for several biological and behavioral parameters. The researchers noted a significant improvement in a subset of PTSD symptoms, including anger, hyperarousal symptoms, overall sleep quality, and daytime dysfunction related to sleep.

One may question the significance of the study owing to a small sample size. But more studies reporting similar benefits provided validation for such interventions. Another randomized and controlled (though small) long-term study Breathing-Based Meditation Decreases Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in U.S. Military Veterans: A Randomized Controlled Longitudinal Study, which monitored the effects of yoga over the course of a year, provided the scientific support for the benefits of yoga’s breathing techniques. This study focused on the effects of sudarshan kriya yoga, a practice of breathing-based meditation, in war veterans with PTSD. The study included twenty-one male veterans who had served in Iraq or Afghanistan and were diagnosed with PTSD. Eleven of these veterans enrolled in a seven-day program involving daily, three-hour sessions of sudarshan kriya breathing technique, including meditation, stretching, and group discussion, while ten others who served as the control group did not enroll in this program. The PTSD symptoms were assessed one week before the beginning of the program and then a week, a month, and a year after its completion. Seven of the 11 in the active group continued the yoga program even after completing the experimental study. 

The study found that the group who had done yoga demonstrated fewer or less intense PTSD symptoms in comparison to the control group. Those who took part in the yoga sessions showed lower anxiety and lower respiration rates, and performed better in behavioral tests measuring hyper-arousal and emotions. The researchers also noted that despite patients reporting re-experiencing the trauma, the impact of the traumatic memories was far reduced. The researchers concluded that the beneficial effects were due to:

1. The increased ability to focus on breathing and on the present moment.
2. Focusing on the present moments helped to reduce the severity of the negative traumatic thoughts.
3. An increased ability to ignore the rising negative imprints. 

Several other similar studies have shown such remarkable positive results that more VA hospitals have been making yoga classes available for the veterans. In addition, a number of organizations have developed programs to educate teachers on safe and effective yoga practices for veterans. Life after active duty is drawing several veterans to their yoga mats at VA centers around the country. At these VA centers physicians use a “tool box” of psychological assessments to determine the cognitive and emotional status of a veteran to prescribe a most effective and individualized treatment for that individual. And one of those tools could be yoga.

Note from Nina: We're still fundraising this week for the Veterans Yoga Project in honor of both the fallen and surviving veterans. If you want to contribute, we have a page set up just for our Yoga for Healthy Aging community! Go to veteransyogaproject/YogaForHealthyAging, where you can “light a candle” to honor someone by donating any amount. Let’s see what our community can do to support this wonderful organization! 

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Yoga for Tremors

by Baxter

Humming Bird by Melina Meza

On a recent teaching trip, I met with a yoga teacher from the community for a private session. She was hoping I might have some helpful suggestions for a problem she was having with her hands and arms, but also sometimes with her legs. The problem was that when she attempted to do her home practice or demonstrate poses for her yoga classes, her limbs would shake, sometimes barely noticeably, and at other times more so. This was not so worrisome to her regarding the home practice, but she was very self-conscious about it during her teaching times, feeling slightly embarrassed about what her students would think of her. The shaking, which is medically referred to as a tremor, and more specifically “essential tremor,” had also affected her hand writing negatively. It also was worse when she was tired or stressed out. She had been to the doctor, who sent her for evaluation and had determined her situation was not a mistaken case of Parkinson’s disease, which early essential tremor can mimic. Other causes of tremor had also been ruled out, medications suggested and initiated. And the meds did help a bit, which became apparent when she went off them for a bit and her symptoms worsened.

Turns out this student works with mostly seniors in her classes. We talked about the fact that some of those students might also be dealing with shaking of the limbs at times. In fact, my dad developed this kind of tremor in his 60s, and it made drinking his daily coffee quite a chore. Had I known then what I know now, I’d have suggested my dad get off the full-strength coffee, as caffeine can worsen essential tremor!

So, let’s learn a bit more about essential tremor. According to the Mayo Clinic online:

“Essential tremor is a nervous system disorder (neurological disorder) that causes a rhythmic shaking. Essential tremor can affect almost any part of your body, but the trembling occurs most often in your hands — especially when you try to do simple tasks, such as drinking from a glass, tying shoelaces, writing or shaving. Essential tremor may also affect your head, voice, arms or legs.

"Although usually not a dangerous condition, essential tremor worsens over time and can be severe in some people. Other diseases don’t cause it, although it's sometimes confused with Parkinson's disease. Essential tremor can occur at any age but is most common in people age 40 and older.”

They go on to say that the signs and symptoms of ET include gradual onset, worsens with movement, usually "starts in one or both hands, can include a nodding yes or no movement of the head, and is aggravated by emotional stress, fatigue, caffeine, and extremes of temperature." Thank goodness my student lives in warm southern Florida!

As for the causes of ET, 50% of cases are due to a genetic mutation that can be passed from parent to child. As for the other 50% of cases, it is not clear what the cause is. You are at a greater risk of developing it after the age of 40. And although it is not life threatening, symptoms, like shaking when holding a cup or shaving yourself, to mention just a few, can get worse over time. And sadly, there is not specific test to diagnose ET, so you will need to rule out other conditions that mimic it and do have diagnostic tests. The western approach to treatment, if your symptoms are disruptive enough to your lifestyle and work, includes medication (such as, Beta-Blockers, anti-seizure meds, tranquilizers and Botox injections, all of which may help but also have significant side effects), physical therapy to teach exercises to improve muscle strength, control and coordination (which yoga asana could also help), and in rare severe cases a surgical procedure called Deep Brain Stimulation. Lifestyle changes are also recommended, beyond what we have already mentioned, including limiting or eliminating alcohol consumption, which may lessen tremors while drinking, but often worsen after alcohol wears off.

So what recommendations did or could I share with my student? Since the symptoms of shaking in the arms and legs typically occur when she has them out in space and not bearing weight, I suggested she play with a strap between her hands in poses such as Warrior 1 and 2, and pull outward on the strap to create some tension in the strap. This almost immediately decreased or eliminated the tremor in her arms. We discussed a similar concept for the legs when one is up in the air, as in Reclined Leg Stretch pose or Warrior 3. An 8-10 foot strap, looped, would be on the sole of the foot and around the opposite thigh or lower back, tightening it so that when your foot pushes into the strap, the strap would be tense. She still has to try this and report back on its effect.

Regular readers of YFHA know well the beneficial effects of yoga practice on stress, so you will not be surprised that I encouraged my student to vary her home practice to include other yoga practices that would help decrease her stress response, especially quieter forms of practice, such as gentle yoga, restorative yoga, and reclining guided meditations. And to assist with quieting the tremors, I suggest using sand bags on her thighs and shoulders or elbows when in Savasana or other reclining poses.

The same recommendations for stress would also help address the fatigue she says can aggravate her symptoms. And part of her yoga practice should be aimed at improving her moment-by-moment awareness of her fatigue level via setting a goal or sankalpa to do so each day, and by pausing a few times during the day and doing a simple breath awareness meditation for 5-10 minutes, after which she asks herself the question “What is my level of fatigue now?” Even setting a timer on her watch or smart phone as a reminder to assess her energy level periodically could help her identify when she needs to address her fatigue.

As for the embarrassment she is experiencing—which can be quiet distressing—I suggested she consider sharing some information about condition with her regular students at the start of one class, explaining the nature of the condition, that she is not in pain, under the influence of any substance that could cause shaking, and even talk about how her yoga practice is helping in some ways to address the challenges of essential tremor. I shared my own experience of letting my student’s know of health issues I have had, and the overwhelmingly positive responses and appreciation I have received from my students. It can help to remind them that we are all human, subject to change and illness and injury, trying our best under difficult circumstances. And, given the senior students she often works with, I suspect a few of her students will confess to the same condition and appreciate any guidance she can offer from her own experimentation with yoga.

To learn more about Essential Tremor, check out the Mayo Clinic online and also essentialtremor.org, an organization dedicated to essential tremor.

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Practicing Yoga Mindfully Rerun

by Nina

Raindrops and Reflections by Nina Zolotow

Although it’s a rather new concept, approaching yoga poses as a mindfulness practice is a very powerful tool for improving your physical and mental health. Whether you are trying to change your eating habits, reduce your stress, or heal from disease, learning to listen to your body is crucial. In his wonderful book Full Catastrophe Living, Jon Kabat-Zinn points out what happens if we simply operate in automatic-pilot mode:

"One very important domain of our lives and experience that we tend to miss, ignore, abuse or lose control of as a result of being the automatic-pilot mode is our own body. We may be barely in touch with our body, unaware of how it is feeling most of the time. As a consequence we can be insensitive to how our body is being affected by the environment, by our actions, and even by our own thoughts and emotions. If we are unaware of these connections, we might easily feel that our body is out of control and we will have no idea why."

Kabat-Zinn goes on to say that physical symptoms are the messages your body is giving you that allow you to know how it is doing and what its needs are.

"When we are more in touch with our body as a result of paying attention to it systematically, we will be far more attuned to what it is telling us and better equipped to respond appropriately. Learning to listen to your own body is vital to improving your health and the quality of your life."

And one of the best ways to pay attention to your body systematically is to bring mindfulness into your asana practice. I, myself, have learned to recognize certain physical symptoms that tell me when I’m overstressed (for example, a burning feeling in my chest). When I experience those sensations, I know it’s time for me to scale back temporarily and practice the yoga poses that calm me down. In my interview with Elizabeth (see Meditation and Healthy Eating) about mindfulness and eating, she talked about learning, from both meditation and asana practice, to recognize when she was actually hungry versus thirsty or had low potassium and that has helped her lose and keep off 50 pounds.

So how you make your asana practice a mindfulness practice? Kabat-Zinn writes:

"We practice the yoga with the same attitude that we bring to sitting meditation or body scan. We do it without striving and without forcing. We practice accepting our body as we find it, in the present, from one moment to the next. While stretching or lifting or balancing, we learn to work at our limits, maintaining moment-to-moment awareness. We are patient with ourselves. As we carefully move up to our limits in a stretch, for instance, we practice breathing at that limit, dwelling in the creative space between not challenging the body at all and pushing it too far."

If that’s not enough—or if you have fallen into a rut with your practice that’s putting you in automatic-pilot mode, I have some specific suggestions:

1. Practice yoga at home. Practicing on your own, without the distraction of the teacher telling you what to do you or other people in the room, forces you to pay more attention to your own experience of being in the poses.
2. Pick a single physical sensation to follow throughout your entire practice, whether it is the quality of your breath in every single pose, the even distribution of weight on your feet—the balls as well as the heels—in every pose, or even something more arcane.
3. Change your routine. If you do practice at home and are in stuck in rut, try doing something different. Practice on the left side first instead of the right. How does that feel? Or, do all your twisting poses, even all the standing the poses, without turning your head. Twist from your spine only and leave your head looking down at the floor. Notice how hard that is, and how different your neck feels.
4. Try using props if you never have. See what difference it makes. Or, if you use props regularly, try a different height (lower or higher) or try practicing without props for once and see what a difference that makes.
5. Try holding poses for longer periods of time than you usually do. Notice the resistance that comes up in your body (as well as your mind).

Anyone who has additional suggestions, please chime in!

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Friday Q A Chiropractors Physical Therapists and Yoga

Q: Several times I have been told that yoga is not recommended by chiropractors and physical therapists. Could you clarify why this might be so?

A: Basically I think this is because the health professional is not a practitioner of yoga. Like any physical and spiritual discipline, recommendations can only come from the basis of personal practice as well as a good understanding of what the limitations of a yoga practice might be. If the health professional is ill-educated on what yoga is and believes that yoga is a gymnastic set of exercises that can only be achieved by the super flexible, then of course they would not recommend this type of “exercise” to a patient who has an injury.

Many chiropractors, physical therapists and other medical practitioners may be hesitant to recommend yoga to their patients because they believe that there is no unified certification for people to teach yoga and therefore they may believe it is very difficult to find trained yoga teachers for someone with a back injury (or other injuries and chronic conditions) who is currently experiencing an injury or who is not in good shape. These medical professionals may believe that yoga teachers (blanket statement here) are generally not medical professionals, and therefore they don’t have an understanding of the human body and should not teach yoga at all to people with injuries because it is dangerous - in that they don’t understand the injury and they might MAKE you do something you aren’t ready for causing more injury and pain. (Because yoga certification is a point under discussion now and because all teacher trainings are not equal and all yoga teachers are not qualified to work with a student therapeutically, I do believe that it is important for a student with an injury to interview the teacher before they begin classes with them to make sure that they feel comfortable working with the teacher and that the teacher feels comfortable working with their injury. It is critical that there is a good fit between teacher and student, and that the student feels safe in the class and confident of the teacher’s training.)

On the other hand, many chiropractors and physical therapists (including me—I am a physical therapist) DO recommend yoga as part of the therapeutic healing process, but instruct the student on what poses they either should avoid or what poses need to be modified to limit range of motion. I use the teaching of asana for everyone that I work with. I work with very frail home-bound individuals in my capacity as a home health physical therapist and every single one of them is taught some type of yoga. Everyone breathes, but not all of us breathe efficiently so learning to work on posture and intention while breathing is a wonderful yogic therapeutic tool that is accessible to everyone, not just the young and fit! And yes, this is yoga.

Chiropractors are medical practitioners who treat the body, structurally as well as energetically, and there are many schools of chiropractic treatment approaches. Some practitioners are very biomechanically-based and others are more eclectic in their treatment approaches. The same can be said for physical therapists. Some are very biomechanically based and focus their entire treatment approaches on a biomechanical model. If the theory is that “structure always dictates function” and “function dictates structure,” that is the lens through which the body will be seen. In my opinion the biomechanical model is important but it doesn’t always explain why a problem lingers. This is where, in my opinion, yoga can come in because not only will the structure be addressed, but so will the other factors that influence the restoration of optimum function.

—Shari

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Bikram Yoga Discovering Its Health Benefits to The Body

There are many individuals who do yoga in order to boost not only their body's blood circulation and metabolism but also to relax and relieve their stressful minds. This new type of Yoga exercise popularly known as Bikram Yoga is an effective way of helping the body's blood circulation and accelerates healing. Enthusiasts of such Yoga exercise stated that they feel relaxed and calm after each session. A big improvement in their body's digestive function and balance implies that this kind of exercise can truly help them lose excess weight. Improving the body's natural power to heal and helping stimulate the brain are a few of the good results of Hot Yoga.

Some students of Bikram Yoga are former alcohol or drug addicts who've found the effective healing properties of such exercise. This kind of Yoga strategy is an ideal way to discipline the mind and body in order to eliminate harmful toxins brought on by ones addiction. Well-known to many as the Bikram Method, this kind of yoga exercise is composed of numerous exercise positions that have been confirmed to aid the body become stable thus improving the body's ability to heal.

The inventor of this type of yoga, Bikram Choudhury, began practicing yoga when he was only four years old. The new type of Yoga Bikram enhanced aids equalize your body by means of bending and streching techniques assisting the body to recover faster. Bikram yoga is generally preferred by individuals who have sustained minor or major injuries since it helps fast track their healing. It has even been proved beneficial for those suffering from bone fractures or those who're experiencing a heart condition. People who have asthma have also claimed that Hot Yoga helped ease their breathing when they suffer an asthma attack. By undertaking some of the Yoga exercises, they found that it helps relieve their breathing and relax their own minds.

Health professionals have warned students of Bikram Yoga to ease up on such workouts. Considering that Hot Yoga exercises let someone excessively sweat where they're prone to dehydration. However, enthusiasts and professionals have shrugged off the rumors by claiming that by just doubling up their fluid consumption prevents them from becoming dehydrated. Even professional players have testified that Hot yoga greatly helped not just in speeding up their recovery from injury but also in eliminating harmful toxins from their body and maintaining their weight. Hot Yoga students who have a heart condition or those having medication should talk to their physician before continuing with such Yoga exercises.

Players and professional dancers find Bikram Yoga useful in their weight loss and flexibility. Given that Hot Yoga aids in improving the muscles flexibility and strength, it helps professional dancers and professional athletes perform better in their game or on stage. Athletes have also found that Hot Yoga boosts their brain function and self-confidence to make them think straight and push their bodies to the limit. Performers and dancers found it useful with their concentration, grace and memory during performance. This is why most students of Bikram Yoga are professional dancers.

Finally, the best benefit that Bikram Yoga can offer to someone is weight reduction. The Bikram Method or exercise is known also as Hot Yoga since the students are inside a room where the temperature reaches approximately ninety degrees to aid stimulate their sweat. Given that a typical Hot Yoga session burns about 700 calories signifies that after a number of sessions one can normally see the outcomes. So by doing it about 3-4 times a week, it will be simple to drop a few pounds weekly so what more after a month of doing it.

About the Author:By Kathy C. Johnson

For additional resource about bikram yoga poses, visit http://bikramyogadallas.net

Common Serious Health Problems that Yoga Can Help With

by Baxter

Falling Water by Melina Meza

Last week I shared with you my list of Common Minor Problems that Yoga Can Help With. Thanks to some of you who wrote in with your ideas. It turns out some of suggestions actually fit better into today’s category, common serious health problems that yoga can help with. For instance, one of our readers mentioned that two of her students with Parkinson’s disease have benefited from regular yoga practice. Due to the more serious consequences of Parkinson’s, I have that on today’s list of health conditions. And as with the minor health conditions, in some instances we are beginning to understand the underlying why and how that yoga influences these more serious conditions while in other cases, this remains an unsolved mystery. As an example of a condition where we are discovering yoga’s underlying effects, in the Dean Ornish study on Life Style Modification (which included yoga) and Prostate cancer, it was found that the treatment protocol turned on over 500 beneficial genes in study participants. In many other situations, we still need more research as to how the yoga is leading to improvement.

Without further ado, here is my list of common (and maybe a few less common) serious health conditions that yoga helps with (I've divided them into thirteen general categories to make the list more manageable.)

Common Serious Health Problems Yoga Can Help With

1. Cardiovascular Health Problems: Coronary heart disease, hypertension, heart arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation, stroke prevention and rehabilitation, congestive heart failure, post-heart attack rehabilitation, post-heart surgery.
2. Cancer related Problems: Adjunct practices during cancer treatment and for post-treatment recovery, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, lymphoma.
3. Mental-Emotional Problems: Depression, anxiety, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, neurosis, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Schizophrenia, ADD/ADHD, eating disorders, Bipolar Disorder.
4. Respiratory Problems: Asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), smoking cessation, Pleural Effusions.
5. Central Nervous System/Neurologic Problems: Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, some forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s Disease, seizures, Post-Polio Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Guillain-Barré Syndrome, Muscular Dystrophy. 
6. Skeletal Problems: Degenerative Disc Disease (neck and low back), Herniated Disc Disease, Sciatica, significant Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, significant Scoliosis, Osteopenia and Osteoporosis, post-joint replacement, fall prevention. 
7. Endocrine Problems: Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome, Hypo- or Hyperthyroidism, obesity.
8. Addiction Problems: Alcoholism and other drug abuse, drug withdrawal.
9. Pain and Fatigue Problems: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, chronic pain, significant back and neck pain, significant tension and migraine headaches. 
10. Digestive Disorders: Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis), Reflux Disease (GERD). 
11. Kidney and Bladder Problems: kidney failure, Urinary Stress Incontinence, Urinary Bladder Dysfunction.
12. Immune Problems: HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis. 
13. Women’s Reproductive Problems: Menstrual disorders, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, complicated pregnancy, infertility (for both Men and Women), pelvic floor pain, pelvic floor dysfunction, vagina prolapse. 

Some of these conditions we have written about here at YFHA, and I am certain I am forgetting a few. There are less common serious conditions we have written about that I have not included, such Ehler-Danlos Syndrome to keep our list to a moderate size. If there are any glaring deficiencies, please let us know and we will update our list. 

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