American Anxiety and How Yoga Can Help

There is a great article, American Anxiety: Why we're such a nervous nation on Today. com this week. And by "great," I mean important and yes, somewhat anxiety-inducing in and of itself.

As the article detailed how anxiety has become a problem for many of us, how our thoughts race, our hearts pound, blood pressure sky rockets, and we lay awake plagued by insomnia and worries, I felt my own pulse pick up and thoughts start to race--ironically getting anxious about my anxiety.

Anxiety about anxiety? Surely, that is a level-two problem. And by "level two," I obviously mean, "crazy person problem."

Oh well, according to the article, I'd be in good company.

Here's the thing though: when I'm not reading anxiety-inducing articles about anxiety, I'm actually fairly calm. Or at least calmer than I used to be, which was a high blood-pressure insomniac with a racing heart. But over the years, I've used wine, more wine, gallons of wine yoga as a tool to lower my anxiety and its many unpleasant side effects.

Here's how you can too.

1. Got an extra hour a day (and no injuries)? (If injured, proceed directly to #3)
   Take a yoga class. One with lots of core work will help burn off that agida.
   
2. Are you LOL at the idea of having an extra hour? No problem. Got 15 minutes?
   Do five rounds of sun salutations as follows:
   
   • Stand with your big toes together (or hip-width apart) and heels slightly wider. Take a deep, slow inhale and sweep your arms up slowly. Exhale slowly, drawing your palms to your heart. Set an intention for yourself. Maybe it's "Ground myself." Take a deep breath in. On the exhale, engage your core and slooooowly fold at the hips, bringing the hands toward the floor. Bend your knees to get there. Inhale half-way up to a long spine, pressing the palms against the shins. Sloooooowly exhale out, bending the knees and bringing the palms back down to the floor.
     
   • Inhale and step the right foot back to a low lunge. Exhale slooooowly. stay here.
     
   • On the next inhale, lift the left foot and then hold here in a "knee hanging" high plank for 3 cycles of breath. Lift the navel to the spine for extra core work. Breathe slooooowly and deeply, extending the exhale.
     
   • After three cycles, step back to high plank on your exhale. Keep the elbows slightly bent.
     
   • Next inhale draw the right knee to the right elbow, exhale slowly return to high plank. Inhale and draw the left knee to the left elbow, exhale and step back. SLOWLY repeat on both sides.
     
   • Are your arms shaking? Oh good--it's working.
     
   • Inhale and draw the knees down to the floor (or stay on your toes in your name is Clark Kent or you're freakishly strong). Inhale and drop the chest only to elbow-height. Stay here, with the hips high, for 3 cycles of slow, steady breath. Keep extending the exhale.
     
   • On your next inhale, breathe through to an upward-facing dog. Take a cycle of breath here. Release the shoulders down, away from the ears. Release any tension they're holding.
     
   • Tuck the toes under and with strong core engagement, lift the hips first up and then back to downward facing dog or child's pose. Stay here for 5 breaths.
     
   • Inhale, walk the palms back to the toes. Stay here for a breath. Then roll slowly back up to standing.
     
   Repeat this 4 times.
   
   Next, sit down (on the floor, on your desk chair, anywhere). Close your eyes and breathe 5 cycles of extended exhale breathing. Return to your intention. Open the eyes. You're done!
   
3. Got 1-5 minutes?
1. Do one sun salutation (above) OR
2. Sit. Think of what's stressing you out and take a deep breath. Exhale (extending it longer than your inhale) and flick your hands as though you're trying to get something off of them (you are--the stress!). Also know as the "there's no paper towels in the restroom flick." Repeat 3-5 times. Now, settle into extended exhale breathing with the eyes closed, concentrating on your new-found wellness.

Stillness and the Super-Fit Dude

There has been an influx of new students in my classes recently. Some are new to yoga, others are just new to my class, but the bottom line is the new students have been outnumbering the regulars.

This always happens in the beginning of January with "The New Year Resolutioners." I expect it in January. But it's the middle of July! What gives? (Besides the fact that word of my awesomeness is obviously spreading, natch).

Anyway, an influx of newbies usually means disaster that it won't be the best class. The newness of students (both new to yoga and new to me) often means they'll struggle in my class: alignment will be crappy, mindfulness noticeably absent, and frustrations (theirs) high. (More on this another day.)

But last night, for some reason (I could delve into my yoga theories on why but I'm feeling merciful today so I'll spare you), this particular class was amazing. Amazing! The kind of mindful, hardworking, beautiful class that makes teaching feel vital and joyful and worthwhile.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one to notice. Two new students came up to me after class, dizzy with their yoga buzz, and gushed about how awesome they felt. I wonder if they'll ever come back. Then two regulars came up, yoga buzzed and somewhat puzzled, and said, "That was an especially awesome class!"

We talked about why there were so many new people (a mystery) and why the class had been so mellow (also mysterious). Then one of them, a super-fit dude (who I'll call Super-Fit Dude) who looks like he'd be more at home busting out a triathalon than triangle pose, hesitated. "I actually had a vision tonight in savasana," he finally confided, looking a little uncomfortable. He looked like he's usually more comfortable debating the merits of muscle milk vs. protein shakes.

I tried to lift my jaw off the floor. "Really? Uh...I mean that's great."

"Yeah, it was like my mind went totally blank and I had no thoughts and just peace at the end." He tried to sound like it was no big thing but his face said, What the heck happened to me??!!

I could barely contain my glee/amazement. "That's awesome!! That's what yoga's all about! That's what everyone's trying to get to!!"

I stared at him. Didn't he know? This what monks and meditators and yogis and Buddhists and Hindus and seekers of all kinds are trying to get to: mental stillness! peace!no more monkey chatter!

Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, which is like the yoga bible, maps out an eight-limb system. Its first lines, in Sanskrit, obv, are: "Atha yoganusasanam. Yogas chitta vritti nerodaha." Which, as I learned it, translate to: "And now the continuation of yoga (teachings). The goal of yoga is to still the fluctuations of the mind."

Holy crap. Super-Fit Dude chitta (mind) vritti (restless fluctuations) nerodahah'd (ceased/stilled)? That's amazing!!

"Well, only for like a few minutes," he demurred modestly.

OK, this bears repeating: Super-Fit Dude chitta vritti nerodahah'd! That's freaking awesome. I'm not sure who was more surprised: Super-Fit Dude or Super Fit-Dude's teacher!

Yoga and PR at the LA Film Festival

Just back from LA--jet-lagged, bleary-eyed, and still not sure which coast or time zone I'm in. BUT the trip and the LA Film Festival (LAFF), where I flexed my PR and yoga muscles, were pretty awesome. 

NOTE: "LAFF" is pronounced letter by letter "L-A-F-F" not "laugh."And with that I hope I can spare someone else a bit of mortification. Not that I'd ever make such an uber-geek gaffe. Ahem. {whistles, looks everywhere else}

Anyway, you may recall from my very first post ever that once upon a time, I was a corporate drone/PR maven. Then I realized I was les miserables and I traded cubicles for yoga mats.

Truth be told though, I still do PR work. The difference is that now I work on a freelance basis, which means I get to choose my clients and projects. Currently, one of those projects is Dead Man's Burden, an independent film that debuted this past Saturday at LAFF. It was a huge success--the first showing sold out (actually the Festival over-sold it by 30 tickets and thus had to deal with 30 extremely disgruntled ticket-holders who had nowhere to sit!), the reviews have been AMAZING, and the after-party, planned by yours truly, was described as the best industry party ever.

And you know as well as I do that LA/film people are only ever brutally honest. They'd tell you if your party sucked. (Wait...right? Um...guys?? RIGHT??!!)

When I wasn't working the premiere, I was teaching yoga to LAFF attendees, cast, and crew.

I was excited to bring my brand of yoga teaching to LA for the first time, to see how it resonated, and what people thought. The students seemed to react to it with a mix of, "Holy crap this hard!" to "I've never done yoga before--this rocks!"

As for me, it was a brain-twizzling experience to merge my two selves (or two of my selves, my author self stayed home) and blend PR and yoga. Previously, I thought that'd be like ice cream and ketchup (yuck). Turns out, it's more like ice cream and chocolate. It works!

The Challenge of Considering Change

On the mat or on the page, change is a hard concept to consider. Recent writing events have reminded me of a scene in my book, about an experience that I once had with a student.

She—an athletic woman who was at least 6’ tall—was in Downward Facing Dog. She had compressed her pose in every conceivable way. It was like seeing Shaquille O’Neil in Danny Devito’s Down Dog. Which sounds kind of weird, but you know what I mean. Now, I know all too well the challenges of being a towering giantess. I’ve struggled most of my life with being “too tall.” But the bottom line is, you’re not going to get any benefit out of squishing yourself into something you’re not. 

So I went over to make a gentle adjustment and she tensed and refused. I verbally cued her and she yelled (yes, actually yelled at me—the teacher—in the middle of a class), “I’M NOT CHANGING!!!”

Startled, I stepped back. I considered my options. She’d said it clearly enough: she wasn’t going to change. So I walked away.

This interaction comes back to me now as I consider the challenge of receiving feedback on my manuscript. So far, I’ve shared it with my critique partner, my husband (note to self: do not share future work with domestic partner unless you’re OK with partnership suffering), a friend who’s a producer, and two agents who both requested the full manuscript but ultimately decided to pass. One agency provided feedback because, they said, they could tell I’d put a lot of work into it. The other had a vague, generic response.

 

My crit partner, husband, and producer friend all had extensive edits and ideas on top-level strategic changes as well. 

I considered, weighed, tried on for size, re-wrote, and re-re-wrote around every single one of them. To be clear, I didn’t keep every single one of them…but I did consider and try them. 

It isn’t easy to hear feedback. It doesn’t necessarily have to be painful per se, but it’s never going to be super-fun. Why? Because I’m going to guess and say that we all write to the best of our ability. If we thought it could’ve been done better, well, we would’ve done it that way in the first place, then.

However, because none of us is ever going to think of every angle, possibility, or opportunity, feedback from others is a necessary part of growth.

Or at least, that’s my theory. What do you think? How do you handle feedback and the invitation to change?

OM for the Holidays Part 4 and 5

*This article appeared in its entirety in a yoga newsletter over the holidays. This is the final installment. Hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

 

Holiday Scenario #4: You’re back in your childhood twin bed, at your in-laws, or bunking on the floor. Bottom line: Counting sheep just isn’t working. You’d kill to catch some Zs.
YA: Restorative yoga to the rescue! Try child’s pose and legs up the wall pose (described above). Start with 5-7 minutes each, extending your exhale, and stay as long as you like.

Holiday Scenario #5: You ate a tad too much turkey, a few too many latkes, or way too much stuffing. Now even your elastic-waisted pants are straining.

YA: Twisting poses are your friend. They stimulate and aid digestion. Try any of your favorites or the following: Modified Marichi’s Pose. Sit on the floor with both legs extended out and follow as described above. Let the left fingertips find the floor behind your hips. Switch sides.

Lay on your back with your arms out in a “T.” Inhale and draw your left knee into your chest. Exhale and let the knee cross the body, moving toward the floor on the right (it doesn’t have to reach the floor). Stay for a few deep breaths. Switch sides.

A final word of wisdom? Yoga travels, so don’t forget to take your OM hOMe or with you wherever the holidays take you!

OM for the Holidays Part 3

*This article will appear in its entirety in a yoga newsletter over the holidays. In advance, I'll be posting sneak peeks to provide you with yoga assists for your most common holiday scenarios.

The holidaze is upon us. How can your yoga practice support, ground, and boost you through the season? Here are five common scenarios and possible yoga assists.

Holiday Scenario #3: You’re heading home for a holiday bash via plane/train/automobile and your back is killing you.
 

First, roll up a jacket or blanket and place it above your waistband to support the natural lordotic curve of the lower spine. This works best as a preventative measure, but is helpful at any point.

Yoga Assist: Try modified marichyasana (Marichi’s Pose). Draw your left knee into your chest, wrap around the shin with your fingers and elongate the spine. Wrap your right arm around your left leg and gently twist toward the left. Modified standing ardha chandrasana (half moon pose) is a great release for the lower back muscles. If possible, stand in tadasana (mountain pose), feet shoulder width apart (or stay seated). Inhale the arms straight up. Exhale and drop the left hand to the hip as you up and over the head to the left with the extended right arm. For the upper back, try modified garudasana (eagle’s pose for the arms). Seated or standing, bring the arms in front of you at a 90-degree angle, elbows even with the shoulders. Stay here, or drop the left elbow below the right and twine the forearms, bringing the palms together. Take a few deep breaths and switch sides for each pose.

If you’re driving, pull over first. :)

 

OM for the Holidays Part 2

*This article will appear in its entirety in a yoga newsletter over the holidays. In advance, I'll be posting sneak peeks to provide you with yoga assists for your most common holiday scenarios.

The holidaze is upon us. How can your yoga practice support, ground, and boost you through the season? Here are five common scenarios and possible yoga assists.

Holiday Scenario #2: Between the holiday frenzy, your grandma’s “Why are you still single?/How’s the job search going?/When will I have grandkids?” and your mom’s “If only we saw you more…” the fam’s driving you crazy.
Yoga Assist: Try to get some time on your mat to re-center yourself. No classes available? Try a few sun salutations at home. In adha mukha svasasana (downward facing dog), a grounding, detoxifying inversion, let the accumulated negativity flow out with each exhale. For extra energetic detoxing, take a few rounds of lion’s breath. As you exhale through the mouth with the tongue out, consciously commit to releasing any tension or stress that needs to go. No room or time? Just sit quietly and try lion’s breath.

OM for the Holidays Part 1

*This article will appear in its entirety in a yoga newsletter over the holidays. In advance, I'll be posting sneak peeks to provide you with yoga assists for your most common holiday scenarios.

The holidaze is upon us. How can your yoga practice support, ground, and boost you through the season? Here are five common scenarios and possible yoga assists.

Holiday Scenario #1: Somewhere between Logan, your layover, the phlem-y cougher next to you, and the recycled plane air, you started to feel sniffly…and now are in the midst of a full-blown cold.
Yoga Assist: It's common knowledge that being stressed, getting little sleep, and taking on too much puts you at greater risk for getting sick. During the holidays, it's easy to fall prey to all of these. Fight back with yoga, which can reduce stress, boost immunity, and help ensure you sleep better—all keys to preventing and recovering from the sickies. Also, as cold viruses live in the nasal passages, try the ayurvedic practice of using a neti pot, available at any pharmacy or health food store.

Already sick? A vigorous practice may sound about as appealing as a root canal. If so, a few gentle restorative poses might be just what the doctor ordered. You'll still harvest all the immune-boosting, stress-reducing, sleep-inducing benefits.

Start with balasana (child's pose). Bring your toes together and keep the knees a bit wider than the hips. Rest your forehead on a block or your stacked hands. You can gently roll your forehead left and right as you slowly inhale and exhale. This can feel really good for sinus congestion, and may enhance the relaxation response. Then roll onto your back and take supta baddha konasana (supported butterfly). Draw the soles of the feet together and support under each knee with blocks or pillows. Place a rolled blanket or towel under the neck for support and gentle elevation. Next, try viparita karani (legs up the wall pose), supporting under the hips with folded blankets or a bolster. If you have one, place an eye pillow over the eyes. Hold each pose for 5-7 minutes. Come out slowly by resting in the fetal position before gently sitting up. 

Stay tuned for Part 2! 

Parking Ticket with Yoga Instructions...Say What?!

Got a parking ticket last night. Bummer.

Got a parking ticket last night while doing charity work for at-risk inner city kids. Double bummer.

Got a parking ticket that came with illustrated yoga instructions on the back detailing how to "give and receive the citation" through three asanas. Weird. But kinda cool.

According to the back of the ticket, picture below, this "citation salutation" is apparently "part of a public art project that proposes an alternative method of giving and receiving parking citations." Notice that one of the little figures has an automated ticket printer and an arm badge (the giver), and one is just a poor schlep (you).

Though it didn't quite take me from "ugh" to "OM," it did make me smile. If I'd been at the car when the meter maid came, I kind of wonder if he/she would've been willing to hand me the ticket via the Warrior One hand-off as illustrated below. I almost want to double park, in front of a hydrant, in Harvard Square, at the peak of rush hour just to see. Almost, but not quite.

Maybe it's to make you laugh as you fork over casheesh to the city gov. Maybe it's a public art project. Maybe it's a way to soften the blow. Maybe it's the artist's contribution to lowering overall rage, bringing yoga to life, yadda, yadda, yadda. Whatever it is, I have to say, ONLY IN CAMBRIDGE!!!

Earthbox Update - Week Ten: Attack of the Killer Zucchini?

OK so these Earthbox zucs are getting so big, so fast that I am actually starting to get a little worried. I kind of want to ask, "Um...how big are you guys going to GET?!"

I only ask because I want to know if I need to start construction on an addition to house my humongous zucchini? (And is it just me, or does that sound a tad naughty? "Hey, baby, check out my big zucchini...heh heh heh." )

And just to give you an idea of exactly HOW big my zucchini is (heh, heh, heh), here's a picture of a leaf that dwarfs my hand. (Important side note: I have unusually large hands for a woman. Basically, they're man-hands. And this leaf is STILL bigger. Yikes!)
It took me 45 minutes to haul enough water out here for all these plants. Um...why did I think urban gardening was such a great idea? ;)

And now...enough procrastinating in the form of gardening and blogging, and back to work. Pages and pages of thrilling copy edits await.

Give me your thoughts on gardening--the good, the bad, and the humongous...

Earthbox Update Report #2: Week Nine

Well it's Week Three of Earthbox testing for this urban (potted-plant porch) gardener and I have to say they are growing...well, like weeds. (Though as previously noted, this system of putting what is basically a giant shower cap over box tops doesn't actually allow weeds to grow at all.)

As you can see, this box of zucs and cucs is kinda out of control for a three-week old!

The other potted plants are also doing well, but somehow they're just a little less exciting because I grew tomatoes and cucs in pots last summer and they follow the usual plant, water, weed routine. No weird shower caps or water reservoir-wicking-self-watering system. (By the way, I'm going to email the Earthbox folks about their water system--those little tubes are incredibly annoying/challenging to pour water into. They should've made one end a funnel. How the heck am I supposed to hoist 4 gallons of water (which is what, 32 pounds?) balance precariously, and pour it into a tube whose circumference is the space between your thumb and forefinger if you press your finger tips together? I end up sloshing, losing water, and then having to climb in and out of my window more times to finish watering. Argh.)

Anyway - that's how my garden grows this week :)

Veggies, Herbs, and Earthboxes, Oh My! Or: Urban Gardening, Here We Go...

Since...oh, about January, I have been itching to start planting, and counting the days until Summer. But as an urban dweller with an apartment the size of my suburban-dwelling friends' living rooms and absolutely no yard, I had to get resourceful and turn my ledge into a porch full of planted pots. Next up: the fire escape. Ahhh, sweet urban oasis. I'll carve out some green space for myself come hell or high water. I need it. Kind of like yoga. Or air.

In fact, I consider my gardening another way to live my yoga off the mat. Obviously, I only use organic everything--soil, plants, fertilizers, etc. And I try to get pots made from recycled materials. So this kind of gardening is good for the planet and for you--sort of like yoga, but in a slightly different way. I'm also adding green to my neighborhood, aiding with pollution, and of course, cutting down on fossil fuel demands because I'm eating less stuff that had to be shipped across the country, or even the world. I also find it incredibly soothing to roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty (only in organic soil though!). Seriously, is there a better way to feel really connected to the Earth than to actually get some earth on you? Is there anything more rewarding than stepping outside and harvesting something that YOU grew and then eating it seconds later? When it's still warm from the sun? When its nutritional value is literally at its peak?

Anyway, enough philosophizing.

The first week of April I planted three kinds of lettuces--two different red leafed varieties and a pointy-leafed kind. In the past eight weeks, they've grown to look like huge green bouquets. So beautiful! I also planted a box of herbs--parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Yes, I'm aware I pretty much walked straight out of the Simon and Garfunkle song, but then I added oregano which kind of throws the lyrics off but will really great for my cooking. They are also growing like there's no tomorrow (see the photographic evidence below). Herbs and greens (lettuce, kale, chard etc.) are super easy to grow and like the cool spring temps in the Northeast.
This past weekend, I got the warmer-weather guys in: cucs, zucs, tomatoes, and peppers (two different kinds of each). I'm looking forward to seeing if the "mortgage lifter" tomato lives up to its name. If it does, maybe I can upgrade to a place with a bona fide yard! I'll casually buff my nails on my collar and sigh to my new neighbors, "oh...yeah, it's all about the tomatoes..."

This season, I am branching out (pun fully intended) from my usual pots to try Earthboxes. Have you guys heard of them? My aunt, a veritable gardening genius at Primex Garden Center, suggested I give them a try. Basically, each rectangular box is a "self-sustaining garden" system that cuts those pesky aspects like watering and weeding out of the growing equation. Wait--no watering and weeding?! I'm confused. Whatever will I do all summer in between eating the 50# of tomatoes that one box (of only two plants) in guaranteed to yield? I guess I'll be forced to lounge in the shade, sip iced tea, and do yoga instead.

So...we'll see if these Earthboxes do, in fact, yield 50# of tomatoes per box and comparable quantities (and high quality too of course!) of the other veggies. I'll be keeping tabs via posts and pictures on this blog so stay tuned!

My first pic of the plants going in is featured below.

Any thoughts on this whole gardening thing? What do you like to grow and how do you grow it? Success stories? Horror stories? Entertaining anecdotes? Any experience with these Earthboxes? Do tell!