Stress Management and Meditation Techniques

My Yoga Online - Enjoy our new yoga article by Kreg Weiss addressing stress management and meditation techniques of witnessing that will enhance your ability to reduce the negative effects of stress stimuli.

"In a culture that nourishes the Ego and materialism, the bulk of society relates value to the physical and has become disconnected to the spiritual energy within us. With this disconnection, many have become unconsciously ignorant of how chronic stress festers in the mind and body. Not until a debilitating disease or condition arises, do many people finally take notice and seek guidance in changing their lifestyle.

So how we address stress? First, it is impractical to think that one can completely ‘eliminate’ external stress from one’s life. Stressors will always be present regardless of the environment. It is how one allows the stress to internalize and act on the mind and body that is key. Second, it is important to understand and appreciate exactly what stress is and what happens when one allows it to infiltrate the mind." Read More

About Hammer Toe and Yoga

My Yoga Online -
This new Ask An Expert yoga article is provided by Dr. Carla Cupido.
Q: I have a different sort of question for which I hope you can offer some suggestions or links to resources that will help. Recently, I have been diagnosed with developing hammer toe. My problem is a swelling and discomfort in the ball of my foot anytime that I do any yoga poses that put weight on that foot. My first action, of course, was to drop out of my yoga class. However, I feel that yoga, if doing the correct exercises might help. Are you aware of any others that have experience this problem and have had success with continuing yoga practices?

A: There are a number of different conditions similar to hammer toe, such as claw toe, curly toe and mallet toe. A hammer toe is defined by an extended metatarsophalangeal joint (proximal joint of the toe), a flexed proximal interphalangeal joint (middle joint of the toe), and a hyper-extended distal interphalangeal joint (distal joint of the toe). Yes, this is a whole lot of Latin to basically say that the toe is curled, causing the middle part of the toe to stick upwards in a way that it rubs perfectly against the top of your shoe and causes significant discomfort and fantastic bunions. The balance of the translation is that the ball of your foot in line with the affected toe hurts a lot!

There are a number of different causes of hammer toe. Diabetes, stroke, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and other underlying pathological conditions can play into the development of hammer toe. Therefore, it is always important to seek the advice of a medical practitioner if you are noticing changes in the condition of your toes so that they can rule out such underlying conditions. Shoes that are too small or are fabulously pointy are also major contributing factors to this condition. If your toes are unable to lie flat in your shoes, you are placing your little toes at risk. Of course, this develops over a long time, so be mindful of your shoe selection and give your toes a break on occasion. Previous toe trauma can also be a factor in developing hammer toe.

Maintaining flexibility in hammer toes is very important as without flexibility, they may continue to become quite rigid and in time affect your gait. Conservative care options for this condition are not well represented in the literature and it has not yet been studied with yoga rehabilitation. However, using yoga to help manage this condition could be great. I have not come across the use of yoga for hammer toe yet; however, if approached delicately and wisely, it may be of help.

You should most definitely make an appointment with a health care practitioner who can assess your gait, muscular weaknesses, muscular and tendonous restrictions, and conservatively treat your toe before moving forward with yoga. However, once you have been given the go-ahead, poses that help to stretch out the toes could be of great benefit to you. If it is not painful, trying to go up your toes in downward dog which could help to lengthen through the musculature and tendons through the bottom of your foot and toes.

While in poses in which your hands are in contact with your toes, gently attempt to straighten your toe and even take a few more minutes in that pose to massage the bottom of it. Your goal is simply to keep that toe mobile. As for the ball of your foot, try to modify poses to take the weight off of this area until it is feeling less painful. Part of the reason the bottom of the foot hurts is because of the angle that the toe is taking relative to the ball of the foot. Therefore, if you can loosen off the tissues on the bottom of the foot and into the toe, this may take some of the pressure off the ball of the foot. Make sure this is assessed though as if it is severe, your joint may in fact be subluxated.

A lot of this will be trial and error for you. If it feels good, go for it and if it doesn’t, either stop or go get it checked out. I strongly encourage you to seek out a medical practitioner who can help you through this experiment. Best of luck and be gentle with your body.

For additional information on hammer toe and other foot pathologies, click here.

Dr. Carla Cupido
Hon.B.Kin., D.C.
A.R.T., Graston

www.drcarlacupido.com
For more info about Dr. Cupido and to read more of her articles, click here.

Knee Conditions and Yoga

My Yoga Online - Kreg Weiss has posted a new yoga anatomy article: Yoga and Osgood-Schlatter Syndrome, Protecting the Knees During Your Yoga Practice. This yoga article reviews the causes and symptoms of Osgood-Schlatter Syndrome and offers tips on how to approach a yoga practice when one is experiencing this condition.

Osgood-Schlatter syndrome (also known as tibial tuberosity apophysitis) is a knee condition that tends to affect about 13% of teenagers. This condition is prevalent in those who experience rapid growth spurts and typically who participate in high levels of physical activity (note: this condition appears to be more prevalent in boys than girls).

Osgood-Schlatter syndrome is believed to occur as a combination of a combination of a genetic and an overuse condition where the quadriceps tendon fails to develop as quickly as the lengthening bone. This creates a tightening effect of the quadriceps tendon and generates an excessive pulling force on the boney process just below the knee (tibial tuberosity). As a result of this excessive pulling force, the tibial tuberosity can experience inflammation that leads to tenderness or pain. Given that high levels of physical activity can shorten muscles, repetitive force loads like running can increase the risk of developing this syndrome. ...Read More

The Westernization of Yoga

My Yoga Online - The last decade has shown a compelling evolution in the trend of yoga especially in how Western cultures have modified, integrated, and molded this practice to make it more adaptable and engaging. Much of these adaptations come from the desire to commercialize yoga into a product and, through this commercialization, we can often see how the traditional practice delivered from the East has been diluted with the attitudes of materialism and physicality. It is no surprise with this trend to see that yoga is now greatly marketed and perceived primarily as a ‘workout’. This brings forth a basic question: “Is it wrong to practice yoga only with the intention that it is a workout that generates physical benefits?”

We first should address the definition of Hatha Yoga. Hatha Yoga is the practice of yoga poses which were designed to revitalize and bring balance to the musculoskeletal and glandular systems. Hatha Yoga encompasses all forms of asana performance: Ashtanga Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, Anusara Yoga, Yin Yoga, Power Yoga etc. Within this definition, one can conclude that Hatha Yoga is meant to act as a conditioning of the physical body. Through a healthier body, one can then move forward into the practice of pranayama and meditation (as well as other forms of Yoga) to develop the connection to Self.

The second concept to address is tantra. Yoga developed out of the concept of tantra, which, in a simplified approach, is the practice of producing thoughts, actions, and intentions that foster goodness and betterment for yourself and the environment around you. Tantra basically encourages one to always be moving forward through life with positive harmonious energy.
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Green Tips for Going Back to School

My Yoga Online - Mid summer and the "Back to School" ads are flourishing. As you make plans for yourself and family to gather up supplies for returning to school, consider giving yourself or your children a gift of going a little more green. Investing in an aluminum beverage bottle is a great way to stamp out waste production, to set an example of environmental care, and to save a little money.

We are moving into an age where every little bit counts. By using an aluminum bottle, you can greatly reduce your consumption of plastic containers (water, juice, and other beverages). You can purchase your beverages in bulk which typically provides you with costs savings. You also avoid chemical contamination that appears to be increasingly more common with plastic containers.

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Why Do Yoga at Home?

My Yoga Online - Practicing Yoga is a highly intimidate activity where one flows through the layers of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual in order to establish connection with the Inner Teacher and the Inner Self. By establishing a yoga practice at home, one can deeply enhance this connection by proceeding in one’s practice with bountiful choices – when and how long to practice; what yoga poses, breath work and style of meditation to perform.

I have discussed with many yoga participants the idea of home practices and a few common responses are: “I would not know what to do or how to put flows together” , “I prefer to be in a yoga studio with other people”, “I can not motivate myself to it at home”.

Practicing Yoga at a studio offers great benefits in that one can establish a foundation of knowledge. You can receive direct guidance and corrections. You can also enjoy a social environment of sharing energy and a common interest.
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Google's Newest Green Resource

My Yoga Online - Adding a little more Karma and mindfulness to your life just got easier. The next time you need to search for something online, consider this new search engine resource. EcoSearch.org is the first search engine dedicated solely to environmental causes. Visitors to EcoSearch.org can search just as they would from Google.

The results come from Google, and Google shares a portion of their advertising revenue with EcoSearch. EcoSearch is a nonprofit corporation that donates 100% of its profits to environmental causes such as donating to charities that focus on the environment. They have already donated to charities including the National Resource Defense Council, Heal the Bay, Rainforest Alliance, TreePeople, Healthy Child Healthy World, and others. You can even suggest new charities to them. So, whenever you search, EcoSearch, and help to improve our environment.

Best Way to Use EcoSearch.org
Users should either set their homepage to EcoSearch.org, or add EcoSearch as their default search engine in their search bar by clicking the link on the EcoSearch homepage.

All About the Sacroiliac Joint

My Yoga Online - Dr. Robin Armstrong presents her latest article, Understanding the Sacroiliac Joint, that discusses important issues with the SI joint and Yoga postures. As an important joint for generating pelvic stability, Yoga practitioners can readily create an SI joint that is hypermobile and echoes dysfunction.

"Controversy does not often strike the yoga community. Non-harming, truthfulness, and loving kindness are not very controversial concepts. Yet the poor, barely mobile, sacroiliac joint has become the center of a yoga debate – to square or not to square the hips. Ok, so it is not as racy as a celebrity feud, but it may affect your personal yoga practice..." Read More

Click Here to learn more about Dr. Robin Armstrong and read more of her articles.

Prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome at the Office

My Yoga Online -
Enjoy our new free Yoga video with Dr. Carla Cupido who offers therapeutic exercises for proactive carpal tunnel care and prevention of carpal tunnel syndrome. These exercises can done easily at your desk or workplace in only a few short minutes.


Please feel welcome to send Dr. Carla Cupido a comment or question below. You can learn more about Dr. Carla Cupido by clicking here.

9 Tips to Make Your Office Greener

My Yoga Online - There are a number of ways to cut back on waste at the office. Here are a few ideas:

Save Energy and Water
• Use the stairs instead of the elevator for short trips to save electricity
• Turn off lights and computer equipment at the end of the day to save energy
• Turn off taps completely to avoid wasting water from dripping taps

Save Paper (saving paper saves energy too)
• Set your printer and photocopier to double-sided to save paper
• Edit documents on your computer to save paper
• Always recycle used paper

Produce Less Waste READ MORE....