Category: Health
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Lifetime Physiotherapy
At my dentist’s office, I was sitting in an exam chair before my appointment. Nearby, I heard her talking to another patient, who sounded male and youngish. I vaguely made out the conversation. “So, when can I use my front teeth,” he asked, “to bite into something like an apple?”…
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Improve Your Posture: The Wall Stand
Last November, I visited my parents in Hilo, my hometown. One day, I got my mom and dad to try a one-minute “wall stand.” I’d given my dad a mini yoga sequence years ago—to help his golf game, I said. But I wanted to add something new and efficient, the…
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Trouble Getting Started? Make It Doable
In May, walking past a Little Free Library in Kitsilano, a book title caught my eye: 3 Minutes to a Pain-Free Life. That very day, I was finalizing a blog post on chronic pain. What a coincidence. The book was “like new” and I couldn’t resist taking it. Written by…
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Nagging Aches and Pains: An Introduction
When I first tried yoga two decades ago, I was coming off a back injury. Well, not an injury per se. Just inexplicable, transient discomfort in my lower back. At work, sitting at my computer, I’d feel restless and just plain achy. My employer was very accommodating about ergonomics. My…
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Fear of falling
In Berkeley in the late 1990s, I learned to balance in Salamba Sirsasana (Supported Headstand) step by step. At first I didn’t even try to balance, but just kicked up to a wall, one leg at a time. Once up, I’d try moving my feet away from the wall. Wobbly…
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Are you in touch with your breath?
In January I somehow pulled a muscle in my back while teaching. Exactly when and how I did it, I don’t know. Perhaps I twisted too deeply demonstrating Parivrtta Parsvakonasana (Revolved Side Angle Pose). I was teaching “cold,” from not warming up beforehand and from the freezing winter temperature outside.…
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Should you go upside-down if you have glaucoma?
Inverted poses are important in Iyengar yoga. Senior practitioners often cite an inversion as their most essential pose. (Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) seems to be a favorite.) Can anyone do inversions? General contraindications include spinal disorders, hypertension, and glaucoma. Recently, however, I’ve met yoga students with glaucoma who do brief inversions with the approval of their ophthalmologists. Hmm……
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Matcha: traditional versus trendy
Several months ago, I acquired 100 grams of matcha from someone who sources it directly from a Kyoto farmer. Japanese green teas, such as sencha and gyokuro, are my favorites, but I’d rarely had matcha. I immediately did a Google search for “matcha preparation.” Among the many links appeared was a video by a young man named Kohei…
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My first time: nasal irrigation
On the third Sunday in April, I woke with a sore throat. By evening, I had laryngitis. Strange symptom chronology. And strange timing. Already spring! Sunny enough to go glove- and scarf-free. How incongruous to be sick. After a week of coughing so hard that I self-diagnosed myself with pertussis, I recovered enough…
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Case study: hamstring strain (or something)
In early 2014, I strained a left hamstring muscle near the origin. Or an external rotator in the left hip. Or something. It snuck up on me. There was no acute injury. I simply noticed less range of motion (ROM) in straight-legged, forward-bending poses, marked by a pulling sensation on the lateral side of the sitting bone.…
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Coordinating yoga class and dinnertime
Twice a week, I teach yoga in the evening. On Sundays, I can make it home by 8pm. On Tuesdays, I’m not back until 9pm. If I then eat dinner, it’s very late by the time I clean up, take a shower, and turn on my computer. So I began eating a late afternoon…
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Aging Well: Momo the Black Lab
The next star in my Aging Well series would be a centenarian if she were human. In dog years, she’s 15. Meet, Momo, a Labrador Retriever with high energy, strong will, sleek physique, and unbridled enthusiasm. When we adopted her almost five years ago, she acted like a dog half her age. She’d roam Kits beach,…
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Train like a German soccer star
In early September, I chanced upon the New York Times article, “Train Like a German Soccer Star,” by Gretchen Reynolds. After seven weeks abroad, I’d just returned to Vancouver, still gloriously sunny. Rather than resuming my pre-trip routine, I decided to try something new. Check out the eight warm-up exercises developed by Mark Verstegen, team trainer…
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You are what you eat
For three weeks, my yoga student “Cathy” did a detoxifying dietary cleanse. She followed the bestseller Clean, by Alejandro Junger, and eliminated caffeine, sugar, gluten grains, dairy, soy, eggs, red meat, nightshades, alcohol, and specific fruits, including oranges, strawberries, and bananas. For breakfast and dinner, Cathy drank liquid meals: soups, smoothies, and Vitamix…
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Rx for India
Every morning I take Florastor, a probiotic, and Malarone, an anti-malaria drug, with my breakfast. I don’t know anyone else taking an anti-malarial. In fact, I debated about filling the prescription for Malarone, which cost more than CA$200 for a 40-day supply. But I decided to err on the safe side. Three or four…
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Aging well: Phyllis Sues
Prepare to be impressed. Can Phyllis Sues really be 90 years old? You can’t really guess her age any more since she went through Blepharoplasty Beverly Hills.Go to her website and see her in action: tango dancing, jumping rope, playing tennis, doing yoga, swinging on a trapeze, hiking. From her 20s to her 40s, she was…
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Yoga injuries: who’s at fault?
Ever been injured in a yoga class? Chances are, we’ve all felt a twinge in one class or another. So, who’s at fault? The teacher? The student? Or are occasional tweaks simply part of being active and exploring our limits? Since William Broad began writing about yoga injuries in the New York Times and on…
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Aging well: Misao Ihara
Old age. Why do we dread it? A common fear is ill health, which is probably why 95-year-old Olga Kotelko, the first in my Aging Well series, is so impressive. Another concern is loneliness. There will come a point when we lose friends and our closest companions. That’s why I’m now…
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Aging well: Olga Kotelko
Nowadays it’s no surprise to see super fit and active 70- and 80-somethings. But beyond 90? I recently (and belatedly) read “The Incredible Flying Nonagenarian” by Bruce Grierson (New York Times, November 25, 2010) about Olga Kotelko, almost 95, world champion in track and field. Born in 1919, she grew up…
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Do a pose, change your mood
Ask those new to yoga why they’re doing it. Chances are, they’ll cite physical fitness: I’m so tight. I can’t touch my toes. I need to stretch. I’m rehabbing my back. Etc. Certainly yoga improves flexibility, strength, balance, and coordination. But what about mood? Can asana–the “mere” act of doing…
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Aches and pains: My favorite home remedies (Part II)
Here are my favorite home remedies for routine tweaks and twinges–and a word on the psychosomatic factor. RICE (Rest Ice Compression Elevation) Rest. The best and simplest remedy is hardest for me to comply with. When I notice a twinge or tweak, what do I do? I might ratchet down, but short…
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Aches and pains: Are you “injury prone”? (Part I)
Last month, eight colleagues and I faced our Intro II assessment for certification as Iyengar yoga teachers. Before commencing, the assessors asked us about injuries or health issues: “Do you have anything new to report?” When my turn came, I said, “Nothing new to report.” I entered the exam “healthy.”…
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From the “It’s never too late” files: the centenarian marathoner
Are there “windows of time” for some things in life? One of my yoga students, a runner/marathoner, hypothesized that most people’s bodies can tolerate long-distance running only for two or three decades. Those who run hard from teens to 40s often aren’t running past 50. Those who start later often…
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Are men really less flexible than women?
I recently read two articles on that apparently rare specimen: the male yoga student. In an undated Yoga Journal article, “Where Are All the Men?” Andrew Tilin, considers why men aren’t naturally inclined toward yoga. In a December 22, 2012, New York Times article, “Wounded Warrior Pose,” William Broad investigates whether men risk injury doing asana.…
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