"Your journey has molded you for the greater good, and it was exactly what it needed to be. Don't think you have lost time. It took each and every situation you have encountered to bring you to the now. And now is right on time." ~Asha Tyson
Friday, March 29, 2013
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Yoga Styles
According to Yoga Journal there are as many as 280 different styles of yoga. Finding the right style to fit both your body and personality takes just a bit of time to examine an explanation as to each style and some experimentation with the few of your choosing. Know too that just as anything in life, there are good teachers and bad teachers...so, if you are really interested in a style but didn't care for an experience you had, maybe try a different teacher and/or studio. Below you will find a brief explanation from Yoga Journal as to a few of the more popular styles. If you are interested in taking a short quiz which will help you learn what style might best fit your individual self, go to: http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/quizzes_and_tools/stylequiz Namaste!
Below is from http://www.yogajournal.com/basics/165:
To get started on your individual yoga quest, it's helpful to begin with a list that clearly prioritizes what needs you want to fulfill: Are you looking to sweat your way into a lean form, or does a gentler, more meditative approach sound more appealing?
"Not all practices fit into nice little cubby holes," warns Bender Birch. "There's a great deal of crossover among the various yoga schools, and there's even a diversity in teaching approaches within each discipline."
Try attending a few different types of classes, and you'll quickly discover the right match to suit your needs. Below you'll find brief descriptions of some of the hatha yoga disciplines that are being practiced in the United States.
The system is based on six series of asanas which increase in difficulty, allowing students to work at their own pace. In class, you'll be led nonstop through one or more of the series. There's no time for adjustments—you'll be encouraged to breathe as you move from pose to pose. Be prepared to sweat. For more information, visit Ashtanga teacher Richard Freeman's website, yogaworkshop.com.
"Most people wouldn't take a class called Ashtanga Yoga, because they had no idea what it meant. Power Yoga, on the other hand, was something Americans could relate to and know that they'd get a good workout," says Bender Birch.
Power Yoga's popularity has spread to health clubs across the country and has taken on a broad range of applications. The common thread is a rigorous workout that develops strength and flexibility while keeping students on the move. For specifics, consult individual instructors before signing up for a class. For more information visit Thom Birch and Beryl Bender Birch's website, power-yoga.com or Bryan Kest's website poweryoga.com.
Each week, more than 2,000 people visit the Jivamukti Yoga Center in New York City. Its popularity lies in the teaching approach of cofounders David Life and Sharon Gannon, who opened their first studio in 1986, combining an Ashtanga background with a variety of ancient and modern spiritual teachings. In addition to vinyasa-style asanas, classes include chanting, meditation, readings, music, and affirmations. This spiritual resource center also offers specialized courses in Sanskrit and the sacred yoga texts.
"Over the course of time, students will get a broad yoga education," Life promises. "One week, a class may focus on a particular asana, while the next week's theme may discuss more metaphysical issues."
Beginner classes start by emphasizing standing poses, followed by instruction on forward bends, backbends, and inversions. These classes also introduce chants. For more information on class schedules or to find a certified instructor in your area, visit jivamuktiyoga.com.
The first level is a slow, relaxing, and rejuvenating practice. The class, often accompanied by music, focuses on natural alignment and breath within the flow, and ends with meditation. A union of asana (postures), pranayama (breathwork), and mudra (seals), this practice is deeply meditative, promoting relaxation and inner peace. For more information visit kaliraytriyoga.com.
In an Iyengar class, poses (especially standing postures) are typically held much longer than in other schools of yoga, so that practitioners can pay close attention to the precise muscular and skeletal alignment this system demands. Also specific to Iyengar, which is probably the most popular type of yoga practiced in the United States, is the use of props, including belts, chairs, blocks, and blankets, to help accommodate any special needs such as injuries or structural imbalances.
"In forward bends, for example, if someone's hamstrings aren't flexible, he or she can use a prop to help extend the spine. The wall is often used for support in a variety of poses," explains Janet MacLeod, who teaches at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco. "Using props gives the student support, allowing them more freedom to breathe deeply into the pose." For more information, visit iyisf.org.
Two-week IYT intensives are offered worldwide, training health-care professionals, yoga teachers, and bodyworkers to adapt gentle postures, guided imagery, and breathing techniques for treating specific health issues such as heart disease, psychiatric disorders, and AIDS.
"Healing happens through connection with the deepest part of who we are," says Le Page. "The program emphasizes the healing process in detail by addressing all levels of the patient—physical, emotional, and spiritual. An example of this therapeutic application is to teach patients with heart disease to become more aware of themselves and their condition at all levels, using yogic lifestyle changes, breathing techniques, asanas suitable for their condition, guided imagery for the circulatory system, and meditation with a focus on healing the heart." For more information, visit iytyogatherapy.com.
In this gentle practice, created by T.K.V. Desikachar, poses are synchronized with the breath in sequences determined by the needs of the practitioner. According to Gary Kraftsow, owner and teacher at The American Viniyoga Institute on the Hawaiian island Maui, Viniyoga is a methodology for developing an integrated practice for each person's needs as they grow and change.
"As children, our practice should support balanced growth and development of the body and mind. As adults, it should protect our health and promote our ability to be productive in the world. And as seniors, it should help us maintain health and inspire a deeper quest for self-realization," says Kraftsow. For more information, visit viniyoga.com.
Svaroopa Yoga was developed by Rama Berch, who founded and directs the Master Yoga Academy and created the yoga program for Dr. Deepak Chopra's Center for Well Being, both located in La Jolla, California. Berch says teaching asanas became increasingly frustrating, because the students seemed to be trying to "impose the pose upon their body rather than unfolding it from within." She began looking for ways to guide her students to the deeper effects of each asana, speaking of them as "angles that provide opening, rather than poses to be learned." New students find this a very approachable style, often beginning in chair poses that are comfortable and have a deep healing effect in the spine. For more information or to find out if there is a teacher in your area, visit masteryoga.org.
Why the sauna-like effect? "Because sweat helps move the toxins out of your body," explains Radha Garcia, owner of Bikram's Yoga College of India in Boulder, Colorado. "Your body is like a sponge. To cleanse it, you need to wring it out to allow fresh blood and oxygen to circulate and keep your immune system running smoothly."
This method of staying healthy from the inside out was designed by Bikram Choudhury, who sequenced a series of 26 traditional hatha postures to address the proper functioning of every bodily system.
Choudhury first visited the United States from India in 1971 on a trip sponsored by the American Medical Association to demonstrate his work using yoga to treat chronically ill patients. Today Choudhury continues teaching students of all ages and abilities from his studio in Los Angeles where he also conducts a certified teacher's training program. For more information, visit bikramyoga.com.
There are more than 80 centers worldwide, as well as ashrams and teacher-training programs, all of which follow a hatha yoga practice emphasizing 12 basic postures to increase strength and flexibility of the spine. Chanting, pranayama, and meditation are also included, helping students to release stress and blocked energy. For more information, visit sivananda.org.
"Integral Yoga uses classical hatha postures, which are meant to be performed as a meditation, balancing physical effort and relaxation," says Swami Ramananda, president of the New York Integral Yoga Institute in Manhattan. In addition to a gentle asana practice, classes also incorporate guided relaxation, breathing practices, sound vibration (repetition of mantra or chant), and silent meditation. For more information, visit integralyogaofnewyork.org.
In a typical class, instructors guide their students through a series of gentle hatha postures designed to move energy upward to the brain, preparing the body for meditation. Classes also focus on proper alignment, easeful posture transitions, and controlled breathing exercises (pranayama) to facilitate an exploration into the inner dimensions of yoga and self-awareness. For more information, visit expandinglight.org.
The practice of Kundalini Yoga incorporates postures, dynamic breathing techniques, and chanting and meditating on mantras such as "Sat Nam" (meaning "I am truth"). Practitioners concentrate on awakening the energy at the base of the spine and drawing it upward through each of the seven chakras. For more information, visit 3HO.org.
"The sequence of postures is designed to help students integrate their individual sensations with a life energy force that's beyond sensing and perceiving," says Los Angeles-based ISHTA instructor Rod Stryker. "It's a tool for visualization and a way to become more fully oneself."
A typical ISHTA class mixes flowing Ashtanga-style asanas with the precise method of Iyengar, while including pranayama and meditation exercises as well. Instructors begin classes with warm-up poses, then gradually build to a more challenging practice. For more information, visit beyoga.com.
During the 1970s, while studying under Indian guru Kripaluvananda, Amrit felt his body begin to move in a spontaneous flow of postures without the direction of his mind. This deep release of prana (life's energy force) brought about a profound transformation in Amrit, so he developed these movements into three stages of practice which he could then teach to others.
The three stages of Kripalu yoga include: willful practice (a focus on alignment, breath, and the presence of consciousness); willful surrender (a conscious holding of the postures to the level of tolerance and beyond, deepening concentration and focus of internal thoughts and emotions); and meditation in motion (the body's complete release of internal tensions and a complete trust in the body's wisdom to perform the postures and movements needed to release physical and mental tensions and enter deep meditation). For more information, visit kripalu.org.
Attitude: The practitioner balances an opening to grace with an aspiration for awakening to his or her true nature.
Alignment: Each pose is performed with an integrated awareness of all the different parts of the body.
Action: Each pose is performed as an artistic expression of the heart in which muscular stability is balanced with an expansive inner freedom. For more information, visit anusara.com.
Tibetan Buddhist monk Tarthang Tulku adapted another ancient movement practice for the modern West called Kum Nye. More contemplative in nature than the vigorous Five Tibetans, Kum Nye strives to integrate body and mind and means "interaction with the subtle body." For more information, see Tulku's Kum Nye Relaxation or visit nyingma.org.
Below is from http://www.yogajournal.com/basics/165:
To get started on your individual yoga quest, it's helpful to begin with a list that clearly prioritizes what needs you want to fulfill: Are you looking to sweat your way into a lean form, or does a gentler, more meditative approach sound more appealing?
"Not all practices fit into nice little cubby holes," warns Bender Birch. "There's a great deal of crossover among the various yoga schools, and there's even a diversity in teaching approaches within each discipline."
Try attending a few different types of classes, and you'll quickly discover the right match to suit your needs. Below you'll find brief descriptions of some of the hatha yoga disciplines that are being practiced in the United States.
Vigorous Vinyasas
Vinyasa-style yoga combines a series of flowing postures with rhythmic breathing for an intense body-mind workout. Here are a few different types:Ashtanga
The practice of Ashtanga that's getting mainstream attention today is a fast-paced series of sequential postures practiced by yoga master K. Pattabhi Jois, who lives in Mysore, India. Today, yogis continue to spread Jois's teachings worldwide, making it one of the most popular schools of yoga around.The system is based on six series of asanas which increase in difficulty, allowing students to work at their own pace. In class, you'll be led nonstop through one or more of the series. There's no time for adjustments—you'll be encouraged to breathe as you move from pose to pose. Be prepared to sweat. For more information, visit Ashtanga teacher Richard Freeman's website, yogaworkshop.com.
Power Yoga
In 1995, Bender Birch set out to challenge Americans' understanding of what it really means to be fit with her book Power Yoga. Bender Birch's intention was to give a Western spin to the practice of Ashtanga Yoga, a challenging and disciplined series of poses designed to create heat and energy flow."Most people wouldn't take a class called Ashtanga Yoga, because they had no idea what it meant. Power Yoga, on the other hand, was something Americans could relate to and know that they'd get a good workout," says Bender Birch.
Power Yoga's popularity has spread to health clubs across the country and has taken on a broad range of applications. The common thread is a rigorous workout that develops strength and flexibility while keeping students on the move. For specifics, consult individual instructors before signing up for a class. For more information visit Thom Birch and Beryl Bender Birch's website, power-yoga.com or Bryan Kest's website poweryoga.com.
Jivamukti
Looking for a highly meditative but physically challenging form of yoga? Try Jivamukti. You won't be alone.Each week, more than 2,000 people visit the Jivamukti Yoga Center in New York City. Its popularity lies in the teaching approach of cofounders David Life and Sharon Gannon, who opened their first studio in 1986, combining an Ashtanga background with a variety of ancient and modern spiritual teachings. In addition to vinyasa-style asanas, classes include chanting, meditation, readings, music, and affirmations. This spiritual resource center also offers specialized courses in Sanskrit and the sacred yoga texts.
"Over the course of time, students will get a broad yoga education," Life promises. "One week, a class may focus on a particular asana, while the next week's theme may discuss more metaphysical issues."
Beginner classes start by emphasizing standing poses, followed by instruction on forward bends, backbends, and inversions. These classes also introduce chants. For more information on class schedules or to find a certified instructor in your area, visit jivamuktiyoga.com.
Kali Ray TriYoga
A series of flowing, dancelike movements intuitively came to Kali Ray (Kaliji) while leading a group meditation in 1980. In 1986, after developing these movements into seven distinct levels, Kaliji established the TriYoga Center in Santa Cruz, California, offering a system of yoga that is taught in a meditative environment.The first level is a slow, relaxing, and rejuvenating practice. The class, often accompanied by music, focuses on natural alignment and breath within the flow, and ends with meditation. A union of asana (postures), pranayama (breathwork), and mudra (seals), this practice is deeply meditative, promoting relaxation and inner peace. For more information visit kaliraytriyoga.com.
White Lotus
White Lotus Yoga is the collaborative effort of Ganga White and Tracey Rich, who meld two eclectic backgrounds and years of experience into a nondogmatic teaching approach dedicated to helping students develop a well-balanced personal practice. At their 40-acre retreat in the Santa Ynez Mountains of Santa Barbara, California, this husband and wife team offers a complete yoga-immersion experience with programs ranging from weekend and weeklong getaways to 16-day teacher training programs. White Lotus Yoga is a flowing vinyasa practice which ranges from gentle to vigorous depending on your ability or comfort level. In addition, class formats incorporate alignment, breath, and the theoretical understanding of yoga. For more information, visit whitelotus.org.Attention to Detail
Iyengar
From his home in Pune, India, B.K.S. Iyengar reigns as one of the most influential yogis of his time. At 80 years old, he continues to teach thousands of students from all over the world, encouraging them to penetrate deeper into the experience of each pose. This is the trademark of Iyengar Yoga—an intense focus on the subtleties of each posture.In an Iyengar class, poses (especially standing postures) are typically held much longer than in other schools of yoga, so that practitioners can pay close attention to the precise muscular and skeletal alignment this system demands. Also specific to Iyengar, which is probably the most popular type of yoga practiced in the United States, is the use of props, including belts, chairs, blocks, and blankets, to help accommodate any special needs such as injuries or structural imbalances.
"In forward bends, for example, if someone's hamstrings aren't flexible, he or she can use a prop to help extend the spine. The wall is often used for support in a variety of poses," explains Janet MacLeod, who teaches at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco. "Using props gives the student support, allowing them more freedom to breathe deeply into the pose." For more information, visit iyisf.org.
Healing
Integrative Yoga Therapy
In 1993, Joseph Le Page, M.A., founded Integrative Yoga Therapy (IYT) in San Francisco. Le Page developed a yoga teacher-training program designed specifically for medical and mainstream wellness settings, including hospitals and rehabilitation centers.Two-week IYT intensives are offered worldwide, training health-care professionals, yoga teachers, and bodyworkers to adapt gentle postures, guided imagery, and breathing techniques for treating specific health issues such as heart disease, psychiatric disorders, and AIDS.
"Healing happens through connection with the deepest part of who we are," says Le Page. "The program emphasizes the healing process in detail by addressing all levels of the patient—physical, emotional, and spiritual. An example of this therapeutic application is to teach patients with heart disease to become more aware of themselves and their condition at all levels, using yogic lifestyle changes, breathing techniques, asanas suitable for their condition, guided imagery for the circulatory system, and meditation with a focus on healing the heart." For more information, visit iytyogatherapy.com.
Viniyoga
As we travel through life, it's no mystery that we are constantly evolving on all levels—physically, emotionally, and intellectually. So why not tailor a yoga routine that will help address and integrate these transitions? Viniyoga, in fact, is an empowering and transformative practice designed to do just that.In this gentle practice, created by T.K.V. Desikachar, poses are synchronized with the breath in sequences determined by the needs of the practitioner. According to Gary Kraftsow, owner and teacher at The American Viniyoga Institute on the Hawaiian island Maui, Viniyoga is a methodology for developing an integrated practice for each person's needs as they grow and change.
"As children, our practice should support balanced growth and development of the body and mind. As adults, it should protect our health and promote our ability to be productive in the world. And as seniors, it should help us maintain health and inspire a deeper quest for self-realization," says Kraftsow. For more information, visit viniyoga.com.
Svaroopa
This style of yoga teaches different ways of doing familiar poses, emphasizing the opening of the spine by beginning at the tailbone and progressing through each spinal area. Every pose integrates the foundational principles of asana, anatomy, and yoga philosophy, and emphasizes the development of transcendent inner experience, which is called svaroopa by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutra. This is a consciousness-oriented yoga that also promotes healing and transformation.Svaroopa Yoga was developed by Rama Berch, who founded and directs the Master Yoga Academy and created the yoga program for Dr. Deepak Chopra's Center for Well Being, both located in La Jolla, California. Berch says teaching asanas became increasingly frustrating, because the students seemed to be trying to "impose the pose upon their body rather than unfolding it from within." She began looking for ways to guide her students to the deeper effects of each asana, speaking of them as "angles that provide opening, rather than poses to be learned." New students find this a very approachable style, often beginning in chair poses that are comfortable and have a deep healing effect in the spine. For more information or to find out if there is a teacher in your area, visit masteryoga.org.
Bikram
When you take a Bikram yoga class, expect to sweat. Each studio is designed to replicate yoga's birthplace climate, with temperatures pushing 100 degrees Fahrenheit.Why the sauna-like effect? "Because sweat helps move the toxins out of your body," explains Radha Garcia, owner of Bikram's Yoga College of India in Boulder, Colorado. "Your body is like a sponge. To cleanse it, you need to wring it out to allow fresh blood and oxygen to circulate and keep your immune system running smoothly."
This method of staying healthy from the inside out was designed by Bikram Choudhury, who sequenced a series of 26 traditional hatha postures to address the proper functioning of every bodily system.
Choudhury first visited the United States from India in 1971 on a trip sponsored by the American Medical Association to demonstrate his work using yoga to treat chronically ill patients. Today Choudhury continues teaching students of all ages and abilities from his studio in Los Angeles where he also conducts a certified teacher's training program. For more information, visit bikramyoga.com.
Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy
Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy is a combination of classical yoga and elements of contemporary client-centered and body-mind psychology. It can facilitate a powerful release of physical tensions and emotional blocks. Through assisted yoga postures, guided breathing, and nondirective dialogue, you can experience the connection of your physical and emotional selves, encouraging release, personal growth, and the healing of body, mind, and spirit. For more information, visit pryt.com.Ease Into Enlightenment
Sivananda
At its core, Sivananda Yoga is geared toward helping students answer the age-old question "Who am I?" This yoga practice is based on the philosophy of Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh, India, who taught disciples to "serve, love, give, purify, meditate, realize." In order to achieve this goal, Sivananda advocated a path that would recognize and synthesize each level of the human experience including the intellect, heart, body, and mind. In 1957, his disciple Swami Vishnu-devananda introduced these teachings to an American audience. A few years later, Vishnu-devananda founded the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers, summarizing Sivananda's system into five main principles: proper exercise (asanas); proper breathing (pranayama); proper relaxation (Savasana); proper diet (vegetarian); and positive thinking (Vedanta) and meditation (dhyana).There are more than 80 centers worldwide, as well as ashrams and teacher-training programs, all of which follow a hatha yoga practice emphasizing 12 basic postures to increase strength and flexibility of the spine. Chanting, pranayama, and meditation are also included, helping students to release stress and blocked energy. For more information, visit sivananda.org.
Integral
In 1966, the Reverend Sri Swami Satchidananda introduced an entire generation of young people to his yogic philosophy: "an easeful body, a peaceful mind, and a useful life." His goal was to help people integrate yoga's teachings into their everyday work and relationships, which he hoped would promote greater peace and tolerance worldwide."Integral Yoga uses classical hatha postures, which are meant to be performed as a meditation, balancing physical effort and relaxation," says Swami Ramananda, president of the New York Integral Yoga Institute in Manhattan. In addition to a gentle asana practice, classes also incorporate guided relaxation, breathing practices, sound vibration (repetition of mantra or chant), and silent meditation. For more information, visit integralyogaofnewyork.org.
Ananda
For those who aspire to loftier goals than simply building a hard body, Ananda Yoga provides a tool for spiritual growth while releasing unwanted tensions. During the 1960s, Swami Kriyananda developed Ananda as a particular style of yoga after returning to California following a period of intense yoga training under Guru Paramhansa Yogananda (author of Autobiography of a Yogi). "The most unique part of this system is the use of silent affirmations while holding a pose," says Rich McCord, director of Ananda Yoga's teacher-training program at The Expanding Light retreat center in Nevada City, California. McCord explains that the affirmations are intended to help deepen and enhance the subtle benefits of each asana, providing a technique for aligning body, energy, and mind.In a typical class, instructors guide their students through a series of gentle hatha postures designed to move energy upward to the brain, preparing the body for meditation. Classes also focus on proper alignment, easeful posture transitions, and controlled breathing exercises (pranayama) to facilitate an exploration into the inner dimensions of yoga and self-awareness. For more information, visit expandinglight.org.
Kundalini
Kundalini Yoga, stemming from the tantra yoga path, at one time remained a closely guarded secret practiced only by a select few. In 1969, however, Yogi Bhajan decided to change this tradition by bringing Kundalini to the West. Yogi Bhajan's reasoning was based on the philosophy that it's everybody's birthright to be "healthy, happy and holy," and he believed Kundalini would help spiritual seekers from all religious paths tap into their greater potential.The practice of Kundalini Yoga incorporates postures, dynamic breathing techniques, and chanting and meditating on mantras such as "Sat Nam" (meaning "I am truth"). Practitioners concentrate on awakening the energy at the base of the spine and drawing it upward through each of the seven chakras. For more information, visit 3HO.org.
ISHTA
ISHTA, an acronym for the Integrated Science of Hatha, Tantra, and Ayurveda, is the yoga brainchild of South African native Alan Finger, who currently runs workshops at his yoga studio in Irvington, New York. Finger blends 37 years of teaching experience with his eclectic studies under Sivananda and the tantric hermit Barati, helping students of all ages and abilities to get in touch with life's boundless energy."The sequence of postures is designed to help students integrate their individual sensations with a life energy force that's beyond sensing and perceiving," says Los Angeles-based ISHTA instructor Rod Stryker. "It's a tool for visualization and a way to become more fully oneself."
A typical ISHTA class mixes flowing Ashtanga-style asanas with the precise method of Iyengar, while including pranayama and meditation exercises as well. Instructors begin classes with warm-up poses, then gradually build to a more challenging practice. For more information, visit beyoga.com.
Kripalu
Located in the Berkshire region of Western Massachusetts, the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health has helped guide thousands of people along their path of self-discovery by teaching a system of yoga developed over a 20-year period by yogi Amrit Desai and the Kripalu staff.During the 1970s, while studying under Indian guru Kripaluvananda, Amrit felt his body begin to move in a spontaneous flow of postures without the direction of his mind. This deep release of prana (life's energy force) brought about a profound transformation in Amrit, so he developed these movements into three stages of practice which he could then teach to others.
The three stages of Kripalu yoga include: willful practice (a focus on alignment, breath, and the presence of consciousness); willful surrender (a conscious holding of the postures to the level of tolerance and beyond, deepening concentration and focus of internal thoughts and emotions); and meditation in motion (the body's complete release of internal tensions and a complete trust in the body's wisdom to perform the postures and movements needed to release physical and mental tensions and enter deep meditation). For more information, visit kripalu.org.
Anusara
Anusara means "to step into the current of divine will." Anusara Yoga is an integrated approach to hatha yoga in which the human spirit blends with the precise science of biomechanics. It is a new system of hatha yoga that can be both spiritually inspiring and yet grounded in a deep knowledge of outer and inner body alignment. It can be therapeutically effective and physically transformative. The central philosophy of this yoga is that each person is equally divine in every part—body, mind, and spirit. Each student's various abilities and limitations are respected and honored. Anusara Yoga differentiates itself from other hatha yoga systems with three key areas of practice:Attitude: The practitioner balances an opening to grace with an aspiration for awakening to his or her true nature.
Alignment: Each pose is performed with an integrated awareness of all the different parts of the body.
Action: Each pose is performed as an artistic expression of the heart in which muscular stability is balanced with an expansive inner freedom. For more information, visit anusara.com.
Tibetan
Tibetan Yoga is a term used among Buddhists to describe a range of tantric meditation and pranayama practices. Though little is known in the West about the physical practices of Tibetan Yoga, in 1939, Peter Kelder published Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth, describing a sequence of postures of Tibetan origin called "The Five Rites of Rejuvenation." In 1994, yoga teacher Christopher Kilham published a modern version of these exercises called The Five Tibetans: Five Dynamic Exercises for Health, Energy, and Personal Power (Inner Traditions). Composed of five flowing movements, this active workout keeps students on the move. Beginners start with 10 or 12 repetitions and progressively work their way up to the 21 repetitions of the full routine. Classes may be difficult to find.Tibetan Buddhist monk Tarthang Tulku adapted another ancient movement practice for the modern West called Kum Nye. More contemplative in nature than the vigorous Five Tibetans, Kum Nye strives to integrate body and mind and means "interaction with the subtle body." For more information, see Tulku's Kum Nye Relaxation or visit nyingma.org.
Hatha
If you are browsing through a yoga studio's brochure of classes and the yoga offered is simply described as "hatha," chances are the teacher is offering an eclectic blend of two or more of the styles described above. It's a good idea to ask the teacher or director of the studio where he or she was trained and if the poses are held for a length of time or if you will be expected to move quickly from one pose to the next, and if meditation or chanting is included. This will give you a better idea if the class is vigorous or more meditative.Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Meeting Energy Needs
from ACSM's Resources for the Personal Trainer 3rd Edition
Meeting Energy Needs for Optimal Weight and Body Composition
The relationship between weight and caloric intake is relatively simple: If you eat more calories than you burn (expend), you will store the excess calories, and body weight will increase. If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you will use some of your existing body tissues for needed energy, and body weight will drop. Consistently consuming too little energy will burn enough of your lean mass (muscles) that the rate at which you burn calories (called the "metabolic rate") will decrease. The end result of a lower metabolic rate is usually higher body weight (from more body fat) because you lose your ability to burn the calories you eat. Therefore, staying in an energy-balanced state or deviating from it only slightly is an important strategy for both body weight and body composition maintenance.
However, what happens during the day to achieve a state of energy balance makes a difference. If you spend most of the day in an energy-deficit state (i.e., you burned far more calories than you consumed) but then eat a huge meal at the end of the day to satisfy your energy needs, you might still be in energy balance at the end of the day. However, it appears that people who do this have different outcomes than those who maintain an energy-balanced state throughout the day. Eating small but frequent meals has the following benefits:
Meeting Energy Needs for Optimal Weight and Body Composition
The relationship between weight and caloric intake is relatively simple: If you eat more calories than you burn (expend), you will store the excess calories, and body weight will increase. If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you will use some of your existing body tissues for needed energy, and body weight will drop. Consistently consuming too little energy will burn enough of your lean mass (muscles) that the rate at which you burn calories (called the "metabolic rate") will decrease. The end result of a lower metabolic rate is usually higher body weight (from more body fat) because you lose your ability to burn the calories you eat. Therefore, staying in an energy-balanced state or deviating from it only slightly is an important strategy for both body weight and body composition maintenance.
However, what happens during the day to achieve a state of energy balance makes a difference. If you spend most of the day in an energy-deficit state (i.e., you burned far more calories than you consumed) but then eat a huge meal at the end of the day to satisfy your energy needs, you might still be in energy balance at the end of the day. However, it appears that people who do this have different outcomes than those who maintain an energy-balanced state throughout the day. Eating small but frequent meals has the following benefits:
- Maintenance of metabolic rate
- Lower body fat and lower weight on higher caloric intakes
- Better glucose tolerance and lower insulin response (making it less likely that fats will be produced from the foods you eat)
- Lower stress hormone production
- Better maintenance of muscle mass
- Improved physical performance
- Difficulty maintaining carbohydrate stores (this would impede endurance in high-intensity activities)
- Problems maintaining lean (muscle) mass
- Lower metabolic rate
- Difficulty meeting nutrient needs (foods carry both energy and other nutrients)
- Increased risk of injury (undernourished athletes may develop mental and muscular fatigue that, in some sports, would predispose them to injury)
- Missed opportunities to aid muscle recovery
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Final Week & New Opportunity
This is the final week for those of you participating in one or all of Current Fitness Challenge(s)! Make it count!!!
Whether you started the Challenge this past 12 weeks or whether you have tried Challenges in the past but never managed to complete them or succeed in the way in which you set out to because of whatever obstacle popped up in your path or whether you have never tried one......You are in luck in just another week!!! How? Read on:
Starting the week of April 8, 2013 (on that Tues, 4/9/13), there will be a 6 week manageable and step by step (including workouts) Challenge for either the beginner or those in need of some hand holding to get past those obstacles that keep tripping them up along their journey to fitness (and/or fat loss). This is a great opportunity to get some shadow support, how to info and advice from someone who is not only educated on all aspects of the process and certified, but who has also been there and done that from every aspect of the journey!
I will guide you through journaling, caloric targets, meal planning ideas, workouts for the beginner as well as for those who are more intermediate or advanced. Why am I doing this? Simply for the same reason I provide this free blog....it's important and it's needed! You know my story (and if not, you can read it at Why Workout With Me? & How Effective? Very! How Do I Know? & Why A Free Blog), but did you know that obstacles come every turn along your journey regardless of your past successes or failures? We are never "off the hook" from stumbling along our journey :-/
As some of you may know, I had an emergency appendectomy earlier this month (March 8th). I was perfectly fine the day before the surgery, and perfectly horrible and in crisis the next day. That's how life happens....when you are making other plans! What most don't know is that it wasn't just an appendectomy...I had an extreme (2+ week ordeal) allergic reaction to multiple processes of the surgery and hospital stay. By Sunday I was past miserable and hanging by a thread that would just continue to fray as the week went on....that's life alright and the very obstacles that can turn into mounting backsliding and failures for weeks and months to come...but only if you let it. I am on the mend and starting to feel like myself again albeit still in quite a bit of pain and limited movement. I decided that even though this (out-of-my-control and completely nowhere on the radar) event that stole 2+ weeks of my life was not going to run off with more than necessary. I bucked up and did my first workout since this ordeal Saturday morning and even though I felt like I was going to throw up for 2 hours following, I was able to understand what my true limitations at this time are (not just the excuses and fears) and made a plan for how I was going to climb back out of the hole that I found myself. I set up a 5 week plan to get my head back in the game (as it were) and take my life back from the derailing. It would have been very easy to stay sidetracked until I was pain free....but how long would that take? 3 months, 6 months? That just isn't an option as far as I'm concerned. Am I stronger than most? Nope, believe me when I say that my head was not in a good place....I had to dig my way out of a very dark place and am still not at the top, but just taking each day as it comes and making the next right decision and doing the next right thing...best I can. How? Journaling helps to keep me on track, planning my day, my workouts, my nutrition, and staying in the present moment and not allowing myself to get overwhelmed by the whole picture. Making a plan, setting goals, and taking each day as it comes, is how you achieve your goals. That is when I decided that it was necessary to help provide those very steps to those who need that support and guidance for whatever reason. Even if you are not in the best place, but really need this.....then take this opportunity, one step at a time, one day at time.....what have you got to lose? Let me help you get on your way out of the hole!!! Let me help you get on your way to achieving your goals!
If this is something you are going to try (and accomplish), please sign up today for the daily e-mails as I will be posting throughout the weeks to come on strategies that you can use to succeed (otherwise, just be sure to check the site daily)!
Subscribe (at the right side of the screen pull out options)
Whether you started the Challenge this past 12 weeks or whether you have tried Challenges in the past but never managed to complete them or succeed in the way in which you set out to because of whatever obstacle popped up in your path or whether you have never tried one......You are in luck in just another week!!! How? Read on:
Starting the week of April 8, 2013 (on that Tues, 4/9/13), there will be a 6 week manageable and step by step (including workouts) Challenge for either the beginner or those in need of some hand holding to get past those obstacles that keep tripping them up along their journey to fitness (and/or fat loss). This is a great opportunity to get some shadow support, how to info and advice from someone who is not only educated on all aspects of the process and certified, but who has also been there and done that from every aspect of the journey!
I will guide you through journaling, caloric targets, meal planning ideas, workouts for the beginner as well as for those who are more intermediate or advanced. Why am I doing this? Simply for the same reason I provide this free blog....it's important and it's needed! You know my story (and if not, you can read it at Why Workout With Me? & How Effective? Very! How Do I Know? & Why A Free Blog), but did you know that obstacles come every turn along your journey regardless of your past successes or failures? We are never "off the hook" from stumbling along our journey :-/
As some of you may know, I had an emergency appendectomy earlier this month (March 8th). I was perfectly fine the day before the surgery, and perfectly horrible and in crisis the next day. That's how life happens....when you are making other plans! What most don't know is that it wasn't just an appendectomy...I had an extreme (2+ week ordeal) allergic reaction to multiple processes of the surgery and hospital stay. By Sunday I was past miserable and hanging by a thread that would just continue to fray as the week went on....that's life alright and the very obstacles that can turn into mounting backsliding and failures for weeks and months to come...but only if you let it. I am on the mend and starting to feel like myself again albeit still in quite a bit of pain and limited movement. I decided that even though this (out-of-my-control and completely nowhere on the radar) event that stole 2+ weeks of my life was not going to run off with more than necessary. I bucked up and did my first workout since this ordeal Saturday morning and even though I felt like I was going to throw up for 2 hours following, I was able to understand what my true limitations at this time are (not just the excuses and fears) and made a plan for how I was going to climb back out of the hole that I found myself. I set up a 5 week plan to get my head back in the game (as it were) and take my life back from the derailing. It would have been very easy to stay sidetracked until I was pain free....but how long would that take? 3 months, 6 months? That just isn't an option as far as I'm concerned. Am I stronger than most? Nope, believe me when I say that my head was not in a good place....I had to dig my way out of a very dark place and am still not at the top, but just taking each day as it comes and making the next right decision and doing the next right thing...best I can. How? Journaling helps to keep me on track, planning my day, my workouts, my nutrition, and staying in the present moment and not allowing myself to get overwhelmed by the whole picture. Making a plan, setting goals, and taking each day as it comes, is how you achieve your goals. That is when I decided that it was necessary to help provide those very steps to those who need that support and guidance for whatever reason. Even if you are not in the best place, but really need this.....then take this opportunity, one step at a time, one day at time.....what have you got to lose? Let me help you get on your way out of the hole!!! Let me help you get on your way to achieving your goals!
If this is something you are going to try (and accomplish), please sign up today for the daily e-mails as I will be posting throughout the weeks to come on strategies that you can use to succeed (otherwise, just be sure to check the site daily)!
Subscribe (at the right side of the screen pull out options)
Subscribe via email
Monday, March 25, 2013
The Touch of God
from unknown author:
The man whispered, "God, speak to me"
and a meadowlark sang.
But, the man did not hear.
So the man yelled, "God, speak to me"
and the thunder rolled across the sky.
But, the man did not listen.
The man looked around and said,
"God, let me see you."
And a star shined brightly.
But, the man did not see.
And the man shouted,
"God, show me a miracle."
And a life was born.
But, the man did not notice.
So, the man cried out in despair,
"Touch me God, and let me know you are here."
Whereupon, God reached down and touched the man.
But, the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.
I found this to be a great reminder that God is always around us in the little and simple things that we take for granted ... even in our electronic age. So, I would like to add one more:
The man cried, "God, I need your help!"
And an e-mail arrived reaching out with
good news and encouragement.
But, the man deleted it and continued crying.
Don't miss out on a blessing because it isn't packaged the way that you expect.
The man whispered, "God, speak to me"
and a meadowlark sang.
But, the man did not hear.
So the man yelled, "God, speak to me"
and the thunder rolled across the sky.
But, the man did not listen.
The man looked around and said,
"God, let me see you."
And a star shined brightly.
But, the man did not see.
And the man shouted,
"God, show me a miracle."
And a life was born.
But, the man did not notice.
So, the man cried out in despair,
"Touch me God, and let me know you are here."
Whereupon, God reached down and touched the man.
But, the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.
I found this to be a great reminder that God is always around us in the little and simple things that we take for granted ... even in our electronic age. So, I would like to add one more:
The man cried, "God, I need your help!"
And an e-mail arrived reaching out with
good news and encouragement.
But, the man deleted it and continued crying.
Don't miss out on a blessing because it isn't packaged the way that you expect.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Final Word On Trigger Points
For other posts of this series:
Trigger Points
Referred Pain,Trigger Point & Symptoms
Shoulder Trigger Points
Back Trigger Points
Hip & Knee Trigger Points
Referred Pain,Trigger Point & Symptoms
Shoulder Trigger Points
Back Trigger Points
Hip & Knee Trigger Points
So the past few weeks have hopefully been informative regarding what could be causing your pain (or the pain of a loved one) and how you can go about relieving that pain without surgery or drugs. You might have gotten some answers to your very issues or you may not have since I only posted excerpts on shoulders, back, knees, and hips leaving out altogether head, neck, arm, hand, chest, abdominal, genital, buttock, thigh, lower leg, ankle, and foot pain/trigger points. Obviously I took great liberties posting as much as I did from The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook by Clair Davies, NCTMB, and did as much as I was comfortable doing to get the information out there and to relay the helpfulness of his book (which I highly recommend purchasing for your own lifetime reference). Whether you try working on yourself or take the obtained information to your doctor or licensed massage therapist for repairs, my hope is that you are able to go forth in life pain free!
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Lean On Protein
from Men's Health March 2013 issue:
The formula for weight loss: Add, don't subtract. A study from the Netherlands suggests we should focus on increasing protein intake rather than cutting carbs. People who followed a high-protein diet lost a similar amount of weight after a year whether they were also limiting carbs or not. Protein should be the centerpiece of your diet because it keeps you full and helps you maintain muscle mass, the researchers say. Dieters consumed half a gram of protein for each pound of their body weight.
The formula for weight loss: Add, don't subtract. A study from the Netherlands suggests we should focus on increasing protein intake rather than cutting carbs. People who followed a high-protein diet lost a similar amount of weight after a year whether they were also limiting carbs or not. Protein should be the centerpiece of your diet because it keeps you full and helps you maintain muscle mass, the researchers say. Dieters consumed half a gram of protein for each pound of their body weight.
Get all the low down on how to eat supportively at:
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Your Children Are Watching!
Your Children are Watching!
"Be the person you want your child to be. Children are apprenticed to parents in the business of growing up. They develop their values by observing the way you behave as a person." ~Betsy Brown Braun
Are your habits the habits you would want your children to have? If not, let that be a focus as this new year approaches and see how that changes how you feel or act towards unhealthy temptations. God and family are my priorities and in that so am I a priority to them! I will continue to put myself on the list of things to do and in doing so will teach my children it is important to take care of oneself physically, mentally, and spiritually!!
Live each day as the best total person you can be! Be present in each God given moment! Live out loud and with purpose every opportunity you are given!!!
Are your habits the habits you would want your children to have? If not, let that be a focus as this new year approaches and see how that changes how you feel or act towards unhealthy temptations. God and family are my priorities and in that so am I a priority to them! I will continue to put myself on the list of things to do and in doing so will teach my children it is important to take care of oneself physically, mentally, and spiritually!!
Live each day as the best total person you can be! Be present in each God given moment! Live out loud and with purpose every opportunity you are given!!!
Monday, March 18, 2013
Forgive to be Forgiven
Mark 11:25-26 "...And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses."
Forgive others and also yourself.....If Christ can forgive you your trespasses, you are required to forgive yourself also and move on (forward). Remember the lessons learned, but let go of the sorrow...and stop beating yourself up for what is done, past, and forgiven!
Romans 2:1; 5-6 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself: for thou that judgest doest the same things. But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
I Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
Psalms 94:18-19 When I said, "my foot slippeth;" Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul.
Forgive others and also yourself.....If Christ can forgive you your trespasses, you are required to forgive yourself also and move on (forward). Remember the lessons learned, but let go of the sorrow...and stop beating yourself up for what is done, past, and forgiven!
Romans 2:1; 5-6 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself: for thou that judgest doest the same things. But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
I Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
Psalms 94:18-19 When I said, "my foot slippeth;" Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
What's Up....
So, I have been unusually MIA since Friday.....As life does, I took a sharp turn on Friday to the hospital to have an emergency appendectomy and recovery since has been rough! I am taking this week to recoup and therefore have canceled all clients and classes, including the free workout at Trinity on Saturday the 16th. Sorry for any inconvenience. Hopefully all will resume normally on Monday! Thanks to everyone for the well wishes and prayers!
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Hip & Knee Trigger Points
Excerpts from The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook by Clair Davies, NCTMB
Arthritis, ligament injury, and deterioration of joint cartilage are the most usual medical explanations for hip and knee pain. X-rays and other tests often seem to substantiate such diagnoses. But even in the absence of objective evidence, joint pain itself is assumed to be proof that the joint is in trouble. As a consequence, hip and knee replacement surgery is commonplace and heavily promoted (Travell and Simons 1992, 221, 263-264, 300-302).
In reality, pain in hip and knee joints is often nothing more than referred pain from trigger points in the muscles of the thigh; such pain can be every bit as intense and debilitating as pain from a damaged joint. Even when a hip or knee joint has suffered a genuine injury, trigger points in associated muscles nearly always contribute a major part of the pain. Treatment of joint trauma should always include treatment of trigger points in all nearby muscles. Look for trigger points first when you have pain in a hip or knee. You can take care of trigger points yourself.
Trigger points in the tensor fasciae latae (TFL) muscle cause pain in the hip joint just in front of the greater trochanter. There can be two sites for trigger points, one in front immediately below the hip bone, and another an inch or so to the outside. Occasionally, pain may extend down the outer thigh as far as the knee. You may also have a deep ache behind your hip, between the sit bone on that side and greater trochanter. The muscle shortening that is sponsored by trigger points makes it difficult to straighten the hip. You may need to walk slowly because of the restriction in the hip. You tend to stand with both your hip and knee partly flexed. Pain from trigger points in the TFL may be mistaken for bursitis of the hip. It may also be wrongly blamed on a thinning of the hip joint cartilage (1992, 217-221).
To locate the belly of the TFL by isolated contraction, first find the greater trochanter, the bony knob on the side of your hip. Place a finger right in front of the trochanter and shift your weight from leg to leg. The muscle will alternately bulge and soften. Simply turning your knee or foot inward also makes the muscle contract, as does raising your leg to the side. Supported fingers don't work well for deep massage of the TFL because the leverage is poor. The Thera Cane is excellent however, or you can stroke the muscle deeply with a tennis ball.
Be aware that tightness in the iliotibial band on the outside of the thigh is due to tightness in the TFL and gluteus maximus muscles, due of course to trigger points. Apparent tenderness in the iliotibial band is more likely coming from trigger points in the underlying vastus lateralis, which is part of the quadriceps. [see below]
The sartorius is the longest muscle in the body. The word comes from the Latin for "tailor." In olden times, tailors often sat in a cross-legged position to do their work. Strong action of the sartorius muscles is needed to get the legs into this posture. The sartorius attaches to the hip bone then descends, crossing the thigh toward the inner side, and attaches again to the tibia on the inner side of the knee. This arrangement allows the sartorius to participate in raising the leg forward and turning the knee outward. A soccer kick requires strong contraction of the sartorius.
This long muscle is interrupted in several places by strips of connective tissue that break the long muscle fibers into short ones. Each section of muscle has its own belly, creating the possibility of trigger points anywhere along the muscle's entire length.
Sartorius trigger points don't send active pain to the knees but they can make the inner knees so hypersensitive to pressure that it's uncomfortable to lie on your side with your knees together. This sensitivity can lead to the mistaken assumption that you have something wrong with your knee joints (1992, 229; Lange 1931, 49).
Compression of sensory nerves by a tight sartorius muscle can also cause superficial burning pain, numbness, itching, and tingling in the skin of the front and outer thigh. This is not referred pain but rather a direct effect on a nerve. These symptoms are often labeled "meralgia paresthetica," which is a fancy way of saying that you have numbness and pain in your leg. [Just work the trigger points in the sartorius muscle for relief.]
The quadriceps muscles are the largest, heaviest, and most powerful muscles in the body. Quadriceps trigger points are the primary source of knee pain. A case of jumper's or runner's knee is ordinarily nothing more serious than referred pain from the quadriceps. Growing pains in the legs and knees of children can usually be traced to trigger points in their quadriceps muscles. Quadriceps trigger points may also cause the phantom knee pain felt by amputees who no longer have their knees. Restless leg syndrome, a serious annoyance to its victims and a mystery to their doctors, can be traced to trigger points in quadriceps muscles. Knots in the quadriceps can also cause a locked knee, a trick knee, or a buckling hip (1992, 249-253, 263).
Pain and weakness from quadriceps trigger points are easily mistaken for tendinitis, bursitis, or arthritis of the knee, or for evidence of damaged ligaments or meniscus cartilage. Treatment is unlikely to succeed when the problem is wrongly assumed to be in the joint simply because it's the site of the pain (1992, 248-265). Knee pain can be extremely debilitating and yet unimaginably easy to get rid of when you understand what's really going on.
Four muscles actually make up the quadriceps muscles and they are the rectus femoris, vastus intermedius, vastus medialis, and vastus lateralis. The rectus femoris is superior (on top of) to the underlying vastus intermedius and is the only muscle of the four quadriceps muscles to work at both the hip and knee joints (the other three only work at the knee). The vastus medialis runs on the inner thigh side of the rectus femoris and the vastus lateralis on the outer thigh side.
The most common trigger point in the rectus femoris muscle refers pain deep inside the knee; this pain is usually described as feeling like it's under the kneecap. A second trigger point is sometimes found just above the knee. This trigger point causes a deep ache above the knee, local to the trigger point. Both these trigger points make the knees stiff and weak. They also contribute to restless leg syndrome. Interestingly, tightness in the muscle, in maintaining tension on the patellar ligament, inhibits the knee-jerk response to the doctor's taps with a percussion hammer (1992, 249-250, 267).
Pain from trigger points in the vastus intermedius is characteristically felt in the midthigh, spreading and radiating down from the trigger point, occasionally as far as the knee. Pain increases when you walk, and increases dramatically when you climb stairs. You may have trouble straightening your knee when you stand up after sitting for a long while. Stiffness in the knee may cause you to limp. Vastus intermedius trigger points combined with those in the upper gastrocnemius of the calf can make your knee weak enough to buckle without warning.
Problems caused by vastus medialis trigger points commonly affect runners. Trigger points in the vastus medialis send pain to the inner thigh and to the knee. The knee pain usually focuses in the lower half of the knee a bit to the inside. Vastus medialis trigger points typically make the knee weak; a buckling knee, in fact, is their signature. Knee pain and weakness caused by vastus medialis trigger points are frequently mistaken for signs of arthritis, ligament damage, and tendinitis.
Trigger points in the vastus lateralis can make the hip and outer thigh hurt, and they're an exceptionally common source of knee pain. Trigger points in the muscle's back edge can cause pain behind the knees and in the back of the hip (1992, 251-253).
Vastus lateralis trigger points are very common in children, even infants, and probably account for much of their unexplained thigh and hip pain. Healthy children--babies too--are continuously exercising and overexercising their leg muscles. "Growing pains" may be largely undiagnosed myofascial pain that would have a very simple remedy if it were only recognized (1992, 251-252).
Walking can be exceedingly painful with afflicted vastus lateralis muscles. Lying on your side can be very uncomfortable. Tension in the muscle can pull the kneecap to one side, locking it in place and preventing movement in the knee. A locked knee is usually due to a trigger point just above and to the outside of the kneecap. The normal position of the kneecap is maintained by balanced action of the vastus medialis and lateralis muscles. Trigger points in the vastus medialis can weaken its counterbalancing effect on the vastus lateralis and may be of central concern in treating a locked knee (1992, 251-252).
Pain from a pectineus trigger point occurs deep in the groin just below the crease where the leg joins the body. It may be felt as either a sharp pain or a deep ache, often seeming to be coming from the hip joint itself. Extreme extension of the thigh increases pain, but the leg's range of motion is otherwise unrestricted. Note that several other muscles may project pain to the groin, including psoas, gracilis, and the three adductor muscles (1992, 236-237).
Trigger points in the adductor longus are the most common cause of groin pain. Typically, it's felt deep in the hip joint. Occasionally, pain may extend down the inner thigh to the inner side of the knee, as far as the shin. Pain occurs during vigorous activity and is greater when you're carrying something. Adductor longus trigger points cause stiffness in the hip, tending to limit movement of the thigh in all directions and to restrict lateral rotation.
Pain from trigger points in the biceps femoris muscle is felt as a dull aching behind the knee. The pain tends to be toward the outer side of the back of the thigh rather than rather than centered, and sometimes concentrated around the head of the fibula. Discomfort from biceps femoris trigger points sometimes extends up the back of the thigh and down into the upper calf.
Trigger points in the popliteus muscle cause pain behind the knee when you straighten your leg. A shortened popliteus will prevent normal locking of the knee. The popliteus may not be suspected until trigger points in the biceps femoris have been deactivated. Knee pain caused by popliteus trigger points can be mistaken for tendinitis, torn ligaments, and damage to the meniscus or other knee joint tissues. While real physical damage to the knee is always a possibility, especially from accidents and in violent team sports, you shouldn't assume that knee pain automatically means knee surgery. The first step should always be to look for trigger points in the muscles that control the knee.
Foam rolling, even utilizing a basketball, tennis ball, and/or rubber ball are all excellent ways of working these tender trigger points. Thera Cane and the other tools discussed in this trigger point series are all great ways for eliminating your trigger point issues causing your knee and/or hip pain.
Now just a little something on buttocks pain. There are numerous trigger points and referral pain caused by the muscles in the buttocks (one was discussed in the Back Trigger Points post) including but not limited to piriformis muscle, sciatica, etc. These can causes problems not just in your low back but your hip, and entire leg with one example being: Trigger points in the gluteus minimus muscles cause pain down the back or the side of the thigh and the lower leg as far as the ankle. Tracking down the problem can be made difficult by pain from associated trigger points in the quadratus lumborum, gluteus medius, piriformis, tensor fasciae latae, vastus lateralis, peroneus longus, and hamstring muscles. Pain from gluteus minimus trigger points can be excruciating and constant. Numbness can occur anywhere in the referral areas. In addition to leg pain, there is often a diffuse tenderness in the buttocks (1992, 168-169; Zohn 1988, 212).
Even though I am posting excerpts from Mr. Davies' book The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook, I am by no means able to post every important facet on this subject and highly recommend you purchasing this book for your own reference...it is that good! Clair Davies' story is amazing as is his entire book. I am very grateful to his dedication and revelation of this subject matter!!!
For other posts of this series:
Trigger Points
Referred Pain,Trigger Point & Symptoms
Shoulder Trigger Points
Back Trigger Points
Trigger Points
Referred Pain,Trigger Point & Symptoms
Shoulder Trigger Points
Back Trigger Points
Arthritis, ligament injury, and deterioration of joint cartilage are the most usual medical explanations for hip and knee pain. X-rays and other tests often seem to substantiate such diagnoses. But even in the absence of objective evidence, joint pain itself is assumed to be proof that the joint is in trouble. As a consequence, hip and knee replacement surgery is commonplace and heavily promoted (Travell and Simons 1992, 221, 263-264, 300-302).
In reality, pain in hip and knee joints is often nothing more than referred pain from trigger points in the muscles of the thigh; such pain can be every bit as intense and debilitating as pain from a damaged joint. Even when a hip or knee joint has suffered a genuine injury, trigger points in associated muscles nearly always contribute a major part of the pain. Treatment of joint trauma should always include treatment of trigger points in all nearby muscles. Look for trigger points first when you have pain in a hip or knee. You can take care of trigger points yourself.
Trigger points in the tensor fasciae latae (TFL) muscle cause pain in the hip joint just in front of the greater trochanter. There can be two sites for trigger points, one in front immediately below the hip bone, and another an inch or so to the outside. Occasionally, pain may extend down the outer thigh as far as the knee. You may also have a deep ache behind your hip, between the sit bone on that side and greater trochanter. The muscle shortening that is sponsored by trigger points makes it difficult to straighten the hip. You may need to walk slowly because of the restriction in the hip. You tend to stand with both your hip and knee partly flexed. Pain from trigger points in the TFL may be mistaken for bursitis of the hip. It may also be wrongly blamed on a thinning of the hip joint cartilage (1992, 217-221).
To locate the belly of the TFL by isolated contraction, first find the greater trochanter, the bony knob on the side of your hip. Place a finger right in front of the trochanter and shift your weight from leg to leg. The muscle will alternately bulge and soften. Simply turning your knee or foot inward also makes the muscle contract, as does raising your leg to the side. Supported fingers don't work well for deep massage of the TFL because the leverage is poor. The Thera Cane is excellent however, or you can stroke the muscle deeply with a tennis ball.
Be aware that tightness in the iliotibial band on the outside of the thigh is due to tightness in the TFL and gluteus maximus muscles, due of course to trigger points. Apparent tenderness in the iliotibial band is more likely coming from trigger points in the underlying vastus lateralis, which is part of the quadriceps. [see below]
The sartorius is the longest muscle in the body. The word comes from the Latin for "tailor." In olden times, tailors often sat in a cross-legged position to do their work. Strong action of the sartorius muscles is needed to get the legs into this posture. The sartorius attaches to the hip bone then descends, crossing the thigh toward the inner side, and attaches again to the tibia on the inner side of the knee. This arrangement allows the sartorius to participate in raising the leg forward and turning the knee outward. A soccer kick requires strong contraction of the sartorius.
This long muscle is interrupted in several places by strips of connective tissue that break the long muscle fibers into short ones. Each section of muscle has its own belly, creating the possibility of trigger points anywhere along the muscle's entire length.
Sartorius trigger points don't send active pain to the knees but they can make the inner knees so hypersensitive to pressure that it's uncomfortable to lie on your side with your knees together. This sensitivity can lead to the mistaken assumption that you have something wrong with your knee joints (1992, 229; Lange 1931, 49).
Compression of sensory nerves by a tight sartorius muscle can also cause superficial burning pain, numbness, itching, and tingling in the skin of the front and outer thigh. This is not referred pain but rather a direct effect on a nerve. These symptoms are often labeled "meralgia paresthetica," which is a fancy way of saying that you have numbness and pain in your leg. [Just work the trigger points in the sartorius muscle for relief.]
The quadriceps muscles are the largest, heaviest, and most powerful muscles in the body. Quadriceps trigger points are the primary source of knee pain. A case of jumper's or runner's knee is ordinarily nothing more serious than referred pain from the quadriceps. Growing pains in the legs and knees of children can usually be traced to trigger points in their quadriceps muscles. Quadriceps trigger points may also cause the phantom knee pain felt by amputees who no longer have their knees. Restless leg syndrome, a serious annoyance to its victims and a mystery to their doctors, can be traced to trigger points in quadriceps muscles. Knots in the quadriceps can also cause a locked knee, a trick knee, or a buckling hip (1992, 249-253, 263).
Pain and weakness from quadriceps trigger points are easily mistaken for tendinitis, bursitis, or arthritis of the knee, or for evidence of damaged ligaments or meniscus cartilage. Treatment is unlikely to succeed when the problem is wrongly assumed to be in the joint simply because it's the site of the pain (1992, 248-265). Knee pain can be extremely debilitating and yet unimaginably easy to get rid of when you understand what's really going on.
Four muscles actually make up the quadriceps muscles and they are the rectus femoris, vastus intermedius, vastus medialis, and vastus lateralis. The rectus femoris is superior (on top of) to the underlying vastus intermedius and is the only muscle of the four quadriceps muscles to work at both the hip and knee joints (the other three only work at the knee). The vastus medialis runs on the inner thigh side of the rectus femoris and the vastus lateralis on the outer thigh side.
The most common trigger point in the rectus femoris muscle refers pain deep inside the knee; this pain is usually described as feeling like it's under the kneecap. A second trigger point is sometimes found just above the knee. This trigger point causes a deep ache above the knee, local to the trigger point. Both these trigger points make the knees stiff and weak. They also contribute to restless leg syndrome. Interestingly, tightness in the muscle, in maintaining tension on the patellar ligament, inhibits the knee-jerk response to the doctor's taps with a percussion hammer (1992, 249-250, 267).
Pain from trigger points in the vastus intermedius is characteristically felt in the midthigh, spreading and radiating down from the trigger point, occasionally as far as the knee. Pain increases when you walk, and increases dramatically when you climb stairs. You may have trouble straightening your knee when you stand up after sitting for a long while. Stiffness in the knee may cause you to limp. Vastus intermedius trigger points combined with those in the upper gastrocnemius of the calf can make your knee weak enough to buckle without warning.
Problems caused by vastus medialis trigger points commonly affect runners. Trigger points in the vastus medialis send pain to the inner thigh and to the knee. The knee pain usually focuses in the lower half of the knee a bit to the inside. Vastus medialis trigger points typically make the knee weak; a buckling knee, in fact, is their signature. Knee pain and weakness caused by vastus medialis trigger points are frequently mistaken for signs of arthritis, ligament damage, and tendinitis.
Trigger points in the vastus lateralis can make the hip and outer thigh hurt, and they're an exceptionally common source of knee pain. Trigger points in the muscle's back edge can cause pain behind the knees and in the back of the hip (1992, 251-253).
Vastus lateralis trigger points are very common in children, even infants, and probably account for much of their unexplained thigh and hip pain. Healthy children--babies too--are continuously exercising and overexercising their leg muscles. "Growing pains" may be largely undiagnosed myofascial pain that would have a very simple remedy if it were only recognized (1992, 251-252).
Walking can be exceedingly painful with afflicted vastus lateralis muscles. Lying on your side can be very uncomfortable. Tension in the muscle can pull the kneecap to one side, locking it in place and preventing movement in the knee. A locked knee is usually due to a trigger point just above and to the outside of the kneecap. The normal position of the kneecap is maintained by balanced action of the vastus medialis and lateralis muscles. Trigger points in the vastus medialis can weaken its counterbalancing effect on the vastus lateralis and may be of central concern in treating a locked knee (1992, 251-252).
Pain from a pectineus trigger point occurs deep in the groin just below the crease where the leg joins the body. It may be felt as either a sharp pain or a deep ache, often seeming to be coming from the hip joint itself. Extreme extension of the thigh increases pain, but the leg's range of motion is otherwise unrestricted. Note that several other muscles may project pain to the groin, including psoas, gracilis, and the three adductor muscles (1992, 236-237).
Trigger points in the adductor longus are the most common cause of groin pain. Typically, it's felt deep in the hip joint. Occasionally, pain may extend down the inner thigh to the inner side of the knee, as far as the shin. Pain occurs during vigorous activity and is greater when you're carrying something. Adductor longus trigger points cause stiffness in the hip, tending to limit movement of the thigh in all directions and to restrict lateral rotation.
Pain from trigger points in the biceps femoris muscle is felt as a dull aching behind the knee. The pain tends to be toward the outer side of the back of the thigh rather than rather than centered, and sometimes concentrated around the head of the fibula. Discomfort from biceps femoris trigger points sometimes extends up the back of the thigh and down into the upper calf.
Trigger points in the popliteus muscle cause pain behind the knee when you straighten your leg. A shortened popliteus will prevent normal locking of the knee. The popliteus may not be suspected until trigger points in the biceps femoris have been deactivated. Knee pain caused by popliteus trigger points can be mistaken for tendinitis, torn ligaments, and damage to the meniscus or other knee joint tissues. While real physical damage to the knee is always a possibility, especially from accidents and in violent team sports, you shouldn't assume that knee pain automatically means knee surgery. The first step should always be to look for trigger points in the muscles that control the knee.
Foam rolling, even utilizing a basketball, tennis ball, and/or rubber ball are all excellent ways of working these tender trigger points. Thera Cane and the other tools discussed in this trigger point series are all great ways for eliminating your trigger point issues causing your knee and/or hip pain.
Now just a little something on buttocks pain. There are numerous trigger points and referral pain caused by the muscles in the buttocks (one was discussed in the Back Trigger Points post) including but not limited to piriformis muscle, sciatica, etc. These can causes problems not just in your low back but your hip, and entire leg with one example being: Trigger points in the gluteus minimus muscles cause pain down the back or the side of the thigh and the lower leg as far as the ankle. Tracking down the problem can be made difficult by pain from associated trigger points in the quadratus lumborum, gluteus medius, piriformis, tensor fasciae latae, vastus lateralis, peroneus longus, and hamstring muscles. Pain from gluteus minimus trigger points can be excruciating and constant. Numbness can occur anywhere in the referral areas. In addition to leg pain, there is often a diffuse tenderness in the buttocks (1992, 168-169; Zohn 1988, 212).
Even though I am posting excerpts from Mr. Davies' book The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook, I am by no means able to post every important facet on this subject and highly recommend you purchasing this book for your own reference...it is that good! Clair Davies' story is amazing as is his entire book. I am very grateful to his dedication and revelation of this subject matter!!!
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Metabolic Conditioning
from Women's Health March 2013 issue:
Ketchup or mustard? Flats or heels? The X Factor or The Voice? That eternal fitness face-off--cardio or strength training--is just as perplexing. Cardio is a known calorie crusher, but strength workouts build muscle and rev your metabolism. But you don't have to choose sides: A new regimen of experts have dubbed metabolic conditioning offers the best of both.
By combining short, high-intensity work periods, little to no rest between exercises, and big-body movements, metabolic conditioning challenges your strength, power, and cardiovascular endurance in one workout--maximizing calorie burn during and after a sweat session, says Frank Salzone, a group fitness instructor for Equinox in New York City. It also helps improve your muscles' ability to use energy during workouts, so you can push harder and get better results over time.
Sound too good to be true? It's no gimmick: A study in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism found that women who completed a 10-move strength circuit recorded 13 percent higher oxygen consumption levels (or EPOC, which measures the energy used to return your body to a resting state) three hours after their workout than a control group. Plus, their resting metabolic rate (the amount of calories burned at rest) was still elevated 16 hours later.
Links to Check Out:
How Effective Is HIIT? Low Intensity Fact Or Fiction
Greater Muscle Mass = Higher Metabolism
Muscle Fiber Types
Energy Systems
ATP
Ketchup or mustard? Flats or heels? The X Factor or The Voice? That eternal fitness face-off--cardio or strength training--is just as perplexing. Cardio is a known calorie crusher, but strength workouts build muscle and rev your metabolism. But you don't have to choose sides: A new regimen of experts have dubbed metabolic conditioning offers the best of both.
By combining short, high-intensity work periods, little to no rest between exercises, and big-body movements, metabolic conditioning challenges your strength, power, and cardiovascular endurance in one workout--maximizing calorie burn during and after a sweat session, says Frank Salzone, a group fitness instructor for Equinox in New York City. It also helps improve your muscles' ability to use energy during workouts, so you can push harder and get better results over time.
Sound too good to be true? It's no gimmick: A study in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism found that women who completed a 10-move strength circuit recorded 13 percent higher oxygen consumption levels (or EPOC, which measures the energy used to return your body to a resting state) three hours after their workout than a control group. Plus, their resting metabolic rate (the amount of calories burned at rest) was still elevated 16 hours later.
Links to Check Out:
How Effective Is HIIT? Low Intensity Fact Or Fiction
Greater Muscle Mass = Higher Metabolism
Muscle Fiber Types
Energy Systems
ATP
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Measuring Results
Reminder for those of you on track with the Current Fitness Challenge today/tomorrow are weigh/measure days!!!
Arm Midway between the shoulder joint and the elbow joint (mid-bicep)
Abdomen At the level of the umbilicus (belly button)
Waist If you desire a separate measurement for your waist other than that of your belly button then: At the narrowest part of the torso above the belly button and below the base of sternum
Buttocks/Hips At the maximal circumference of the buttocks
Upper Thigh At the maximal circumference of the hip/upper thigh, just below the gluteal fold (thickest part of your upper thigh)
Calf At the maximum circumference between the knee and the ankle (thickest part of your calf)
Other forms of measuring your results....How your clothes fit. There will be no mistaking the effectiveness of your fat loss plan if you are losing inches and going down in pant sizes! Don't let a slow moving scale give you a head trip if you are losing pant sizes. Seriously, would you rather weigh less and be in the same pant size or weigh the same and be two sizes smaller?
Another way to see your results is by taking before and after pictures throughout your fat loss journey. A picture can show you places you have trimmed down that you might miss when measuring yourself. The best way to go about this is to wear a swimsuit or shorts and sports bra (for women...no shirt for men) and take a front pic, back pic, and side pic. Take a before picture and then follow up with pics every 6 to 12 weeks until you reach your fat loss goals.
Post Links of Other Helpful Tidbits to Know:
Body Comp v Scale
Greater Muscle Mass = Higher Metabolism
Not Getting Results???
Body Composition
How Much Should You Weigh?
Skinny Or Fit??? You Decide...
Afternoon Bloat?
5 Pounds Of Fat
Scoop On Fat Cells
Measuring Results
For those of you who are getting fit in part for weight loss know that the scale is not the best way to ascertain your results. You can lose a lot of weight on calorie restriction focused diets, but what you are most likely losing is muscle mass. To lose fat and maintain muscle, the scale might take longer to move. It's not that fat weighs less/more than muscle (a pound is a pound), but fat takes up a lot more space than lean muscle mass....so, when you lose fat and increase lean muscle mass, the scale doesn't move a lot but the reduction in inches lost is quite substantial and easily measured. To be consistent and get the most out of your progress assessment, you want to try and use standard sites and procedures. All measurements and weight assessments should be done first thing in the morning after you go to the bathroom, before you eat/drink anything, and with as little to no clothing. If you are doing your weight assessments at a facility other than your home and/or at a different time of day, then it's best to do your assessments at the same time of day and under the same (similar) circumstances (e.g., before lunch every time as opposed to sometimes before, sometimes after). All measurements should be taken while standing upright and relaxed with feet together. All measurements should be made with a flexible yet inelastic tape measure. The tape measure should be placed on the skin surface without compressing the subcutaneous adipose (fat) tissue. Take duplicate measures at each site, and retest if duplicate measurements are not within .25 of an inch. Rotate through measurement sites before retaking measurements at any one site so as to allow time for skin to regain normal texture. When taking your measurements, look in a mirror if necessary, verify that the tape measure is horizontal and even along the measurement site (in other words, if taking the measurement of your hips, the tape measure should come straight around your buttocks and not droop anywhere making an uneven line). You only need to take the measurements of one side of your body (e.g., one bicep, one calf, etc.), but in doing so be sure to take the measurement of your dominant side (e.g., if right handed then of your right bicep, right calf, etc.). You may take measurements at other sites than what is listed below which is more than okay, just try and apply the logic that is presented in the sites listed below to apply to additional measurement sites.Arm Midway between the shoulder joint and the elbow joint (mid-bicep)
Abdomen At the level of the umbilicus (belly button)
Waist If you desire a separate measurement for your waist other than that of your belly button then: At the narrowest part of the torso above the belly button and below the base of sternum
Buttocks/Hips At the maximal circumference of the buttocks
Upper Thigh At the maximal circumference of the hip/upper thigh, just below the gluteal fold (thickest part of your upper thigh)
Calf At the maximum circumference between the knee and the ankle (thickest part of your calf)
Other forms of measuring your results....How your clothes fit. There will be no mistaking the effectiveness of your fat loss plan if you are losing inches and going down in pant sizes! Don't let a slow moving scale give you a head trip if you are losing pant sizes. Seriously, would you rather weigh less and be in the same pant size or weigh the same and be two sizes smaller?
Another way to see your results is by taking before and after pictures throughout your fat loss journey. A picture can show you places you have trimmed down that you might miss when measuring yourself. The best way to go about this is to wear a swimsuit or shorts and sports bra (for women...no shirt for men) and take a front pic, back pic, and side pic. Take a before picture and then follow up with pics every 6 to 12 weeks until you reach your fat loss goals.
Post Links of Other Helpful Tidbits to Know:
Body Comp v Scale
Greater Muscle Mass = Higher Metabolism
Not Getting Results???
Body Composition
How Much Should You Weigh?
Skinny Or Fit??? You Decide...
Afternoon Bloat?
5 Pounds Of Fat
Scoop On Fat Cells
Monday, March 4, 2013
The Refiner
from unknown author:
Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.
That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.
The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"
He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy--when I see my image in it."
If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.
Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.
That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.
The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"
He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy--when I see my image in it."
If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.
Isaiah 26:3-4 "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength:"
Friday, March 1, 2013
Some Inspiration
Why a Free Blog
You will get some sense of where my passion
stems from My
Fitness Story but that is only a fraction of the reason as there are many.
Back in 2009 when it was finally clicking how easy, accessible, and doable being
healthy and fit actually was, I wanted to share the information and tools with
as many people as cared to listen. It frustrated me how many years I wasted in
ignorance and I didn't want the same for anyone I could help to know better. So
getting fit and healthy for weight loss alone is certainly important, but I
needed to get fit and healthy for more than just that.
I lost both of my parents to poor health. My father died very unexpectantly from heart disease when he was just 59 years old (I was 29 at the time) and my mother passed away after an 8 year battle with breast cancer when she had just turned 60 years old (I was pregnant with my first child at the age of 33). Anyone who has lost one or both of their parents knows that there is no good time to lose them, but the younger you are, and especially now having two small children, the more difficult it can make it. In losing them to poor health, I was awakened to just how truly fragile our bodies can be if we do not properly take care of them.
I had taken my body for granted for years working more 12+ hour days than 8 hour days at a desk 5 to 6 days a week for almost 10 years. I come from a long line of worriers and hard workers who put everything and everyone before themselves. I totally get the mindset of not having time for yourself. I totally understand the mentality of not putting yourself on the to-do list because it is selfish. That was my mindset for so many years passed down to me from my parents from their parents, etc. I didn't have any example of what it is and how important it is to take care of myself. It is crucial for so many reasons, but the most blatant reason I can give you is so you do not leave your loved ones years and maybe decades before you should. God is wonderful and gives us so many opportunities to take care of these amazing bodies he has provided for us, but it is up to us to actually do it! Your Children are Watching!
Not having had the example to follow for good health, good fitness, or good habits. Not having my parents around to watch their grandchildren grow up. Not having my parents around to ask them questions about how to best raise my precious children on loan to me from God. Not wanting to leave my children one second too soon. All were very big wake up calls to get with the program! Alas, not even all of the reasons as to why I am so very passionate about sharing all I know and doing all I can to help anyone I am able.
Another part of the equation is my autoimmune disease. With all of the stress of what I have thus far shared with you on top of numerous other life experiences, which sufficed it to say I have walked many walks and in many shoes in my short life time, triggered an autoimmune response the year I was pregnant with my first child and lost my mother (2006). I have vitiligo which seems like a superficial and inconvenient autoimmune to have. It is, but it isn't just skin deep. It like all autoimmune diseases opens me up to an array of lovely systemic responses if I do not take care of my health and keep myself in check. There are numerous stories to share but this is not the space.
So there you are, my journey started well before 2009 but with the knowledge I amassed up to and at that time was the pieces to the puzzle I had been trying to complete for years. My journey took on a whole new meaning and with a whole new direction and drive. For those that know me, know I am very driven by my very nature; but this was a whole new level of intensity even for me. My passion and desire to help those around me has only grown with my ongoing education and knowledge, and I do not foresee that dwindling. I shared with someone just yesterday that my two biggest passions (we will just remove my wonderfully supportive husband and two fabulous children from the running here) are God (always first on my list) and learning, practicing, and sharing fitness/good health strategies.
I have spent the last few years educating myself on personal training, obtaining my American Council on Exercise personal training certification in 2011, exercise programming modalities, healthy and affordable nutrition for fat loss and weight management, and mind-body exercise modalities. My desire is to be able to offer as much of what I have learned with as many people as possible. This free blog is a big part of that offering. I have created the Tabs (Pages) with information that I didn't want to get lost in Posts. If you sign up to receive e-mails with updates, you will receive an e-mail with new Posts. As I make significant changes to particular Pages, I will try to be sure and notate that in a daily Post so you can get the e-mail notification on that, but be sure and check in too on Pages periodically that you are particularly interested in to see if any changes have been made.
My intention is to make this blog as informative as possible without being too text book or dry; however, I am fully aware some of the information is that way due to the nature of the data needing to be relayed. If you get lost, let me know and I will try and help you through it (cagib1@charter.net). As my husband jokingly pointed out to me, "no one wants to go to a fitness blog and do Algebra". ;-)
Know too that there is no judgment on my end for where anyone is or isn't. As you have read in this Post alone, I have had many experiences in my life thus far and know but for the Grace and Mercy of God I could have gone down much different paths in life and am very appreciative and thankful for my blessings as well as my struggles. As I have learned the hard way, it is the struggles in life that make us who we are and teach us what we need to know to be who we are meant to be! My desire is always to help you better understand how to achieve a healthy, fit you!
I lost both of my parents to poor health. My father died very unexpectantly from heart disease when he was just 59 years old (I was 29 at the time) and my mother passed away after an 8 year battle with breast cancer when she had just turned 60 years old (I was pregnant with my first child at the age of 33). Anyone who has lost one or both of their parents knows that there is no good time to lose them, but the younger you are, and especially now having two small children, the more difficult it can make it. In losing them to poor health, I was awakened to just how truly fragile our bodies can be if we do not properly take care of them.
I had taken my body for granted for years working more 12+ hour days than 8 hour days at a desk 5 to 6 days a week for almost 10 years. I come from a long line of worriers and hard workers who put everything and everyone before themselves. I totally get the mindset of not having time for yourself. I totally understand the mentality of not putting yourself on the to-do list because it is selfish. That was my mindset for so many years passed down to me from my parents from their parents, etc. I didn't have any example of what it is and how important it is to take care of myself. It is crucial for so many reasons, but the most blatant reason I can give you is so you do not leave your loved ones years and maybe decades before you should. God is wonderful and gives us so many opportunities to take care of these amazing bodies he has provided for us, but it is up to us to actually do it! Your Children are Watching!
Not having had the example to follow for good health, good fitness, or good habits. Not having my parents around to watch their grandchildren grow up. Not having my parents around to ask them questions about how to best raise my precious children on loan to me from God. Not wanting to leave my children one second too soon. All were very big wake up calls to get with the program! Alas, not even all of the reasons as to why I am so very passionate about sharing all I know and doing all I can to help anyone I am able.
Another part of the equation is my autoimmune disease. With all of the stress of what I have thus far shared with you on top of numerous other life experiences, which sufficed it to say I have walked many walks and in many shoes in my short life time, triggered an autoimmune response the year I was pregnant with my first child and lost my mother (2006). I have vitiligo which seems like a superficial and inconvenient autoimmune to have. It is, but it isn't just skin deep. It like all autoimmune diseases opens me up to an array of lovely systemic responses if I do not take care of my health and keep myself in check. There are numerous stories to share but this is not the space.
So there you are, my journey started well before 2009 but with the knowledge I amassed up to and at that time was the pieces to the puzzle I had been trying to complete for years. My journey took on a whole new meaning and with a whole new direction and drive. For those that know me, know I am very driven by my very nature; but this was a whole new level of intensity even for me. My passion and desire to help those around me has only grown with my ongoing education and knowledge, and I do not foresee that dwindling. I shared with someone just yesterday that my two biggest passions (we will just remove my wonderfully supportive husband and two fabulous children from the running here) are God (always first on my list) and learning, practicing, and sharing fitness/good health strategies.
I have spent the last few years educating myself on personal training, obtaining my American Council on Exercise personal training certification in 2011, exercise programming modalities, healthy and affordable nutrition for fat loss and weight management, and mind-body exercise modalities. My desire is to be able to offer as much of what I have learned with as many people as possible. This free blog is a big part of that offering. I have created the Tabs (Pages) with information that I didn't want to get lost in Posts. If you sign up to receive e-mails with updates, you will receive an e-mail with new Posts. As I make significant changes to particular Pages, I will try to be sure and notate that in a daily Post so you can get the e-mail notification on that, but be sure and check in too on Pages periodically that you are particularly interested in to see if any changes have been made.
My intention is to make this blog as informative as possible without being too text book or dry; however, I am fully aware some of the information is that way due to the nature of the data needing to be relayed. If you get lost, let me know and I will try and help you through it (cagib1@charter.net). As my husband jokingly pointed out to me, "no one wants to go to a fitness blog and do Algebra". ;-)
Know too that there is no judgment on my end for where anyone is or isn't. As you have read in this Post alone, I have had many experiences in my life thus far and know but for the Grace and Mercy of God I could have gone down much different paths in life and am very appreciative and thankful for my blessings as well as my struggles. As I have learned the hard way, it is the struggles in life that make us who we are and teach us what we need to know to be who we are meant to be! My desire is always to help you better understand how to achieve a healthy, fit you!
Posts of Inspiration & Encouragement: (Found throughout the Blog, below are just a few quick links)
Choose Your Path
Perspective
Balance
Don't Give Up!!!
You Are Worth The Effort...
Challenge = Gift
Happy Place
Why A Free Blog
Do It For Love
Your Children Are Watching! --- With Pin
Sad But True
Entitlement = Led Astray
What's Holding You Back?
Stages Of Understanding
SMART Goals
Overwhelmed?
Choose Strength Over Defeat!
Excuses
Consistency
One Decision At A Time
You Will Succeed
Clean It Up x 5
Where Is Your Head?
Letting Go To Move On
Surprise Yourself
Journey To Success
Where Is The Finish Line?
A Great Reminder.....
To Do's, Have To's & The Remainder
Keep A Short List
Monday Encouragement
Case Of Mondays?
Hump Day Inspiration
Inside & Out
Perspective On Forgiveness
Week Of Reflection
Food Rewards
Rewards
The Currency Of Knowledge
Rough-n- Rushed Times
You Are The Star
Only Take The Lessons With You
Planting Seeds
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