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Is A Chiropractor Helpful?

Madoka — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:00:52 +0000

Recently, I went to see a new chiropractor who was recommended to me by some people I know. I’ve always been in pretty good condition and have not suffered from any acute pain, but because the chiropractor is still studying under a supervisor at a chiropractic school, the cost of the examination was a lot cheaper. So I thought why not take advantage of this, which is the main reason I went to see him.

When I got there, there was a ton of paperwork that I had to fill out first. When that was finally done and I saw him, he started asking more questions based on what I’d filled out so that he could understand more about the issues I’d been having. We mainly talked about the neck issue that I’ve been having, as well as my jaw, which I’ve been recently feeling uncomfortable with. Each time he filled out more paperwork and, eventually, after asking even more questions, he told me he had to consult his supervisor.

The whole process took almost two hours, including the time spent answering a bunch of questions and filling out the paperwork.

Then we finally went to an examination room so that he could do a physical check of my body. He kindly explained what was causing the pain in my neck and the uncomfortable feelings I had in other areas of my body. However, he also told me that I was very healthy. My posture was not as bad as I thought it was. When he heard that I practice yoga regularly, he told me that yoga definitely helped me out in some way. I agree. Whenever I become lazy and avoid yoga practice (like now), my body definitely feels itchy and my neck feels uncomfortable.

I know in my head and heart that I should do yoga regularly but I’ve been making all sorts of excuses not to find time for my yoga practice. Isn’t it strange? Taking yoga classes is much cheaper than going to see a chiropractor. So what am I hesitating for?

Tags: neck issue, chiropractor, acupuncture, chiropractic school, yoga classes, yoga exercise, posture

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Fighting Body Dysmorphia

Angie — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:09:37 +0000

Megan Fox. Angelina Jolie. Jessica Alba.

These actresses are considered “sexy” by media standards.

I, however, do not look like any of the above-mentioned names; far from it, in fact.

As a woman living in Southern California, sometimes I get the feeling that everything is about image and looks. Everywhere I look, I see beautiful, fit, well-maintained bodies (both male and female). No one really cares about “the content of their character” anymore. I blame the media. The massive piles of magazines piled into the supermarket showing a 5’7” supermodel wearing size 2 clothing; the super-fit actress who has the perfectly shaped stomach, arms and legs that I so desperately want to achieve. The off-chance that we do see someone “normal-looking” in a magazine is few and far between. And don’t even get me started with the tabloids!

The “perfect” body that seems so far out of reach.

I think a lot of women suffer some degree of body dysmorphia or another. We’ve all been in that situation where we are in a fitting room looking at our bodies in the mirror and going, “I look fat. I wish I had thinner (insert body part).” We are all concerned about our bodies, based on the images that we see, whether it be billboards, magazines, movies, television, or commercials. We are constantly bombarded with the images of what our bodies should look like.

I think during the 50s, women actually had more “meat” on their bones. They didn’t look anorexic. They didn’t look “fat.” They looked like the average human beings that we see on the streets every day. They looked like your next door neighbor. And, if I remember my art history correctly, there are numerous paintings of women who had a “pooch” for their stomachs. During that time, the bigger the pooch, the richer the person was because it depicted that the subject could afford food.

When has society come to think that thinner is more attractive?

So how does one combat the mentality of “I have to look a certain way?” The thought that crosses your mind is: I have wobbly triceps. I have to have a flat stomach. I have to have the perfect body.

Those thoughts come into your brain either as a tidal wave of negative realization towards your body or that gentle whisper in your ear saying, “I wish…”

Does yoga help with this?

We talk about uniting mind, body and spirit, about being at peace with one’s own self image. But how easy is it to attain? From personal experience, it takes a lot of work. Did yoga help me? I think it did. Yoga - and a lot of pep talks to myself. Looking at my body and embracing it for what it is rather than focusing on the negative aspects is something that I had to train my brain to do. Why dwell and fight genetics? This is how my body is built.

I have basically come to the realization that I am never going to be the next super-model who is 5’7” and can wear a size 2 or size 0 dress. I am never going to be super-model thin. I’m not going to sacrifice my body to look a certain way. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is important to be healthy and to treat my body with the respect and love that it deserves. I still believe in working out and staying in shape, but I’m not going to purposely starve myself to get thinner or stretch myself to get taller.

Liberate yourself from society’s standards of what your body should look like.

Embrace your bodies, ladies!

Love it for what it is!

Love Thyself!

Tags: Megan Fox, Angelina Jolie, Jessica Alba, super-model, workout, body-type, sexy, media, actress, fit body, flat stomach, images

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Re-learning to Breathe

Angie — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:11:58 +0000

Three car accidents in one year.

Not really something to gloat about. I admit it, I don’t like driving. Never liked it, probably never will, but it is a necessity. Especially here in Southern California where everything is so far!

See, I’m originally from Northern California, where the lanes are a bit more spacious, the freeways are well thought out, and people are generally in much less of a hurry.

The first accident was probably the worst. I rolled off the freeway on to an onramp. Despite the severity of the accident, I was very lucky as it could have been a lot worse. And it was because someone didn’t check their blind spot.

Second accident, the person didn’t look into his rear view mirror as he was backing up. This happened in a parking lot.

Third accident - it was rush hour. No one pays attention in rush hour…not in Los Angeles anyway. Enough said.

Actually, I’ve noticed a lot of people in Los Angeles don’t really pay attention to the road. They are talking on their cell phones, looking for something in the glove compartment, doing everything and anything except concentrating on the road. My way of thinking now is that everyone who gets into a car is considered armed and stupid.

People are inconsiderate. They don’t let you in when you have been signaling for the past mile. They cut you off. And, worst of all, they casually drift into your lane without realizing it. You know that saying, “stay within the lines?” Well, that should be applied to the road.

Experiencing or witnessing road rage is not fun either.

Yeah, not a big fan of driving.

But I think I could be to blame as well. I’m very nervous when it comes to driving (especially after rolling off a freeway). My confidence and skills in operating a moving vehicle is at an all-time low. How can I keep myself from becoming a nervous wreck all the time when I get behind the wheel?

I learned how to breathe. Doing yoga in the car, so to speak.

I’ve never been one to use the horn or flick people off and I absolutely hate it when my friends do that. And when someone does it to you it’s not cool, especially when you just gave them the friendly “I’m sorry” wave.

It affects me. However small or large the feeling may be, it still affects me. It ruins my day.

Yes, I take it personally, although I know I shouldn’t.

So what do I do? I breathe through it. No use holding it all in anymore, silently cursing up a storm at the wrongful person. Why plunge into the sea of other people’s anxieties and negative energy? It’s not worth it.

But there is another side to this as well. Being nervous in the car only invites my brain to think of some sort of scenario that can happen between my car and someone else’s car. Learning to breathe helps me to relax and focus on what needs to be done: driving.

I’m still learning how to get through the emotional trauma of it all. Not an easy task by any measure, at least on my part. However, breathing helps get me through the driving day after day.

Tags: car accident, breathe, yoga in the car, trauma, breathing, driving, driving in LA

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Blog Connection

Jane — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:00:26 +0000

I haven’t blogged in a while, but it seems that you guys have been kept entertained with personal insights from our family of contributors.

I’ve been contemplating the idea of blogging, and how we are able to connect with one another through the common topic of yoga and just life in general. We have some readers from other parts of the world and some from home. The universal language we share is experience.

So, I wonder, do any of you have blogs? I’m almost certain that some of you even micro-blog – you know Twitter, Facebook, etc. It’s amazing how quickly information is shared. And yes, we are wonderfully connected. At the same time, however, there is a distance between us; to a certain degree, we don’t know a whole lot about each other. I’d like to hear how you practice yoga and how you are elevating your well-being. If you don’t know where to begin and is a person who likes to share freely, you could do that easily with our yoga community.

Certainly, there will be days where you may not feel your best and maybe don’t want to talk about it. I hear ya. So from one friend to another, what I’d like to convey as I end this blog entry is to ask you to pursue your happiness. Maybe you want to grab some ice cream, go for a leisurely stroll, do a little breathing exercise to calm your mind, or make big plans and set them into motion. Whether it may be extravagant or simple, I hope you remember to do that. Even a speck of sand along the beach has a purpose, and when I see it glimmer so brightly in the sunlight, I can never help but to notice it.

Tags: blogging, yoga community, making a connection, yoga stories

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Celebrity Yoga?

Elbert — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:14:12 +0000

The Los Angeles Dodgers recently had an event where fans had the opportunity to do a yoga workout, taught by Andre Ethier, the right fielder, on the grass in Dodger Stadium. This is quite a unique marketing tactic that has become more common in an economy where profits have dwindled for most businesses.

Of course, the use of celebrities to attract customers and money is nothing new. However, taking a yoga class from a celebrity is and, for this particular event, a portion of the proceeds from each of the $100 tickets went to a charitable cause. Around 100 people showed up for the session - or about $10,000 worth of students.

Now, if you are thinking that it takes a celebrity to get people to spend $100 for one yoga class, think again. More than half the people at the event said they would do it again for the same price, without Andre Ethier.

Tags: celebrity, dodgers stadium, charity, charitable event, marketing

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Yoga and the Performance

Madoka — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:38:27 +0000

I couldn’t sleep much the night before the performance because I was so worried about my physical issues and the multiple roles I would have to play in one show. Fortunately, I felt better than expected when I woke up. Even so, I wasn’t that optimistic about my neck problem as I still felt uncomfortable in my neck and back areas.

As I was looking at my yoga DVD collections, I saw the Yoga Now 3 Set DVD produced by Giam. Because I wasn’t sure how much my body could handle the exercise (the previous night, while doing some yoga practice with another DVD, I was out of breath and dizzy, and almost became sick), I chose a 30-minute core workout instead of a 50-minute one. I grabbed the DVD, spread out a yoga mat, and popped the DVD into my computer. It was time to practice yoga.

After 30 minutes of practice, I felt so refreshed and full of energy that I could have done more. Of course, I decided to stop rather than take a chance of getting sick again before the performance!

This time, I didn’t have to wear a kimono at home and drive with it because I was going to change from a regular costume to a kimono during the play. But I was still worried about driving 45 miles with my stiff neck. Luckily, one of my co-cast members offered to drive together, so we met up halfway between each other’s places, and I hopped into his car.

We arrived at the venue half an hour early, so we continued to drive along the coast. It’s beautiful. I always love the area called Ranch Palos Verdes in California, which is a very wealthy residential area along the Pacific Coast.When we arrived at the elderly home where we would be performing that day, we were all surprised at how breathtaking the view was from the home!! I wouldn’t mind living there even at my age! Hahaha!

We performed the play, I played koto, and then some dancers performed several traditional Japanese dances. I lastly closed the show with another koto solo - so the audience was treated to a full course of traditional Japanese performances!!

After the show, I was exhausted but at the same time so relieved with the fact that I had managed to do everything without feeling any pain or discomfort. What a relief!

Koto Performance and Yoga:

Why Was I So Busy??
My Wishes Never Last Long…
Yoga and the Performance

Tags: yoga, koto performance, play, japanese dancers, Rodney Lee, Giam, Yoga DVD, 30-minutes exercises

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My Wishes Never Last Long….

Madoka — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:58:06 +0000

So this is exactly what happened.

The day before the performance, my neck started to hurt badly.

Some of you who have read my previous blogs know that I have a chronic neck pain, but so far it’s only affected my right side. Well, this time it was on my left side, which was a first. Luckily it wasn’t as painful as my past experiences with the right side of my neck had been. Believe me - that really was awfully painful!! But it still hurt when I moved my neck and, at the same time, the left side of my back felt icky and stiff too. The pain in my neck was coming from my back – I could feel it. But even with the pain, I was still able to move my neck - and since there was a rehearsal in the morning on that day, I had to go!

So there I was at the director’s house. I didn’t tell any of fellow cast members how I was feeling because I didn’t want to scare anyone, especially the director! By the way, we, Pacific Theatre of LA, are a non-profit organization. We’re a small group with no understudies, so now you can imagine how worried the director would be if I told her I wasn’t feeling good!!

During the rehearsal, I felt some pain here and there but it wasn’t too bad. I was also careful enough not to put more pressure on my neck, even when I was dancing. Actually when I was dancing, it was the least painful time. That might have been because the muscles of my back and neck were getting more stretches and exercises.

After the rehearsal, however, while we were having lunch together, my back began to feel more and more uncomfortable. I did a downward facing dog, but couldn’t get rid of the feeling. Of course not. Why should it be so easy? Over the last few months, I’d built up a lot of pressure and stiffness, so it was too late to try for a “quick fix.”

I wasn’t feeling too bad while I was hanging out with the co-cast members, but when I got back to the office, I started to feel really sick. My body was exhausted and it didn’t help that a wildfire had started nearby, causing the air to be all smoky. I just didn’t have enough stamina to resist it. And because of the neck pain, I felt that there wasn’t enough blood flowing to my brain, so I decided that I needed to rest for about an hour.

I somehow managed to baby-sit for a while. Then I decided to do some yoga on a DVD to stretch out some of my muscles pains. Christina let me borrow a Simple and Pure Yoga DVD but even this DVD was too powerful for my weakened body. I couldn’t even go through the entire exercises. I stopped in the middle of session and lay down for a long time.

Once I’d rested, I felt better so I started to practice koto for the last time before my performance. I played through the pain for hours. Then before going to bed, I prepared what I had to bring to the performance - I didn’t get to bed until 2 in the morning!

I will talk more about the performance. Stay turned!

Koto Performance and Yoga:

Why Was I So Busy??
My Wishes Never Last Long…
Yoga and the Performance

Tags: performance, stiff neck, neck pain, back pain, stretches, exercises, yoga dvd, yoga at home

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Why Was I So Busy??

Madoka — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:48:55 +0000

My daily schedule the last few weeks was crazy. First of all, the promotion at YogaHub started, so all of us team members were (and still are) totally focused on it.

On top of that, even though I’d been so busy putting in a lot of hours at work, I also had to look for a place to live because I’m moving out of the current place I’m staying at. I opened up several websites so that I could check any vacancies, make appointments, and personally check all potential places that are near the office. That was a lot of time-consuming work during and after work hours.

In addition, rehearsals had started because the performance was just around the corner. Our director lives approximately 40 miles away (and that’s just one way!!) and I live the furthest from her. We had rehearsals during weekdays and weekends so - yup, I spent a lot of gas on both apartment hunting and rehearsals:(

I had to perform two roles in the play, one of which required me to dance. The roles have never been difficult for me, but this time, it was different. I couldn’t focus on my lines. I mumbled and forgot my lines several times. Part of the reason was that I felt so tired but mainly my lack of focus was because I was preoccupied with my solo koto performance after the play. The director understood my situation, so she was never tough on me. But I was scared about performing on that day. The more scared I felt, the more I focused on practicing koto. No matter how busy I was, I found spare time to practice till midnight.

I felt like I was mentally and physically working 74 hours a day without getting any rest.

I was just hoping my body wouldn’t break down. I kept taking vitamins to keep myself from getting sick or feeling faint before the performance.

Yet, the end was in sight. Two more days. Just two more days to go - my only hope was that my body would hang in there…. To be continued.

Koto Performance and Yoga:

How Can I Get Rid of the Pain in My Hand?
Why Was I So Busy??
My Wishes Never Last Long….

Tags: rehearsal, three wishes, pacific theatre of LA, apartment hunting, performance, dance, hope

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How Can I Get Rid of the Pain in My Hand?

Madoka — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:19:09 +0000

As mentioned in my last few blogs, I’ve been practicing Koto (a traditional Japanese instrument) for months. I know myself well enough to realize that once I start practicing, I can’t stop. I don’t know when to stop because it’s fun to play.

That’s when all the pressure of playing affects my arm. It’s like a pitcher in baseball. He uses only one arm and practices everyday. You can imagine how much pressure the arm has to deal with from one pitch, two pitches, ten pitches, a hundred pitches…. If you are too lazy to release the stress of the arm right away, it stays and becomes pain. Yup, that’s me. I could feel that the muscles of my arm were exhausted, and sometimes I couldn’t even lift my arm up.

After the performance I did last month, I had an uncomfortable experience with my fourth and pinky fingers. For Koto, you use the other three: thumb, index finger, and middle finger. So, I wondered, why do those two fingers feel so strange? It was very, very uncomfortable not being able to feel anything but pain in those two fingers - and even acupuncture couldn’t help completely.

Because I had been going through a lot of stress mentally and physically, I finally went to a yoga class. I felt optimistic that Yoga might help me release that icky feeling in my two fingers.

As I was doing downward facing dog during class, I suddenly felt - oh boy…those two fingers were on FIRE!!! It was so painful but, at the same time, I could feel that muscles of those fingers being stretched out nicely. So I kept stretching those fingers while doing the pose. Even after moving to a child pose, I felt like my heart was split into those two fingers. I couldn’t move them because they were so painful - and yet it was a good type of pain.

After a while - yes! - there was no more pain or icky feeling.

Overall, I believe it happened because I don’t use those two fingers at all since I play Koto with the other three. So, the two fingers just stiffened up…a lot.

Christina sometimes mentions that people usually try not to move the place where it hurts simply because it hurts! But we actually have to do the opposite. If it hurts, you have to stretch the muscle of that area to remove the pain. I totally agree with her.

And, based on my experience with my two painful fingers, I can confirm that it’s true.

Koto Performance and Yoga:

How Old Am I?
How Can I Get Rid of the Pain in My Hand?
Why Was I So Busy??

Tags: pain, koto practice, icky feeling, yoga for injuries, stretching, downward facing dog, child pose

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Learning the ABCs of Yoga

Jane — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:08:50 +0000

When you first got involved in a yoga class, did you know how many types of yoga there are?

I’ll have to be honest – when I chose a studio, I did not consider what style of yoga to practice. Okay, thinking back, I knew about Bikram and decided that it would not be my first choice. I took a second to consider and realized that Bikram would be too intense for me due to the heat and the enormous amount of sweat required of it. I likened the idea to being in a sauna, but with physical exertion. So if I don’t like to sit in a very humid and hot room for more than five minutes, chances are I would not last a full Bikram routine. I hear they are about 90 minutes long. With that aside, I figured that most yoga studios would teach a beginner’s class in a setting where the temperature didn’t have to be maintained above 95 degrees.

I was right. Now that I have gained some knowledge about yoga, I see that most beginners practice Hatha yoga. And from what I can tell, yoga appears to be the umbrella term for various styles stemming from Hatha yoga. Iyengar, Kripalu, Bikram, Ashtanga, Kundalini yoga – and probably others – are developed from Hatha yoga. In conversation, when someone says they do yoga, it probably includes any of these styles because they will incorporate the study and practice of the eight limbs of yoga. These eight limbs are: Yama (moral codes); Niyama, (self-purification); Asana (posture); Pranayama (breath control); Pratyahara (sense control); Dharana (concentration); Dhyana (meditation); and Samadhi (contemplation). Some styles concentrate more on certain steps than others.

So, when you really consider the spiritual and physical aspects of yoga, all of this understanding is quite overwhelming. At least for me it is. If we continue to practice yoga by simply going to class regularly or doing the asanas and breathing techniques at home, we achieve a sense of physical well-being and stress relief. That in itself is beneficial. But imagine having the discipline to immerse oneself in the spiritual practice of the eight limbs – that’s dedication!

In case you were wondering, I am doing Ashtanga yoga and, although I kind of fell into that style by picking a studio near me, I actually like it because the practice is learned in sets and has an order that gradually incorporates all the eight limbs.

I’ll keep you posted on any other insights I may learn from Ashtanga yoga.

Tags: styles of yoga, yoga education, Hatha, Bikram, Ashtanga, 8 limbs of yoga, spiritual and physical aspects of yoga

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