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Rainbow Yoga

Yoga in the Isle of Nature
Dominica

Yoga for:

Why Practice Yoga? To be healthy! Healthy people feel better, are more productive and enjoy life more fully. To release stress! Studies have shown that stress can be a factor in many illnesses, including chronic insomnia, high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, cancer, headaches and depression. Changes in body and mind possible through regular practice of yoga: Physical: improved posture, increased flexibility, toned muscles, hormonal balance, regulated digestion and elimination, strengthened circulatory, lymphatic, immune and nervous systems. Mental: clarity of mind, increased concentration and focus, a more positive attitude, less mood swings, improved self esteem, and stress reduction.

Yoga for the Back - Regular practice of yoga exercises can prevent or alleviate back pain and encourage a healthy flexible spine. Our body needs motion to retain motion. Exercise lubricates the joints and stretches muscles so they are less prone to strain and tearing. Regular practice of yoga strengthens hamstrings, abdominal muscles, and the muscles that run along the spine. Many back pains develop because our sedentary lifestyles let our backs and the muscles that work with the spine get out of condition. As a result of back injury muscles may atrophy with inactivity, making the recovery process more difficult. The earlier exercise can be introduced into the individual's treatment program the faster and easier recovery will be. I have worked with people who were bed ridden with their back pain, usually after 3 or 4 days they have a marked reduction in their symptoms. I encourage those with back injuries or back pain to ask their doctor about exercise, as a part of their recovery plan. By focusing on activity people channel their minds and energy on something other than their aching back. This enables the brain to focus on something other than the message of pain it is receiving from the nerves. Also by getting active the body begins to produce its own chemical painkillers, endorphins and enkephalins. If you are working with lower back pain talk to me, I will schedule one or two private classes to help you get started in the right way then you can join the regular classes or practice at home. Practice yoga regularly for a healthy back throughout life!

Yoga for Stress Management In today’s society, stress can be an unhealthy side effect of daily life. How we deal with our stress is important to our overall well being. Stress can be a factor in many illnesses including chronic insomnia, high blood pressure, heart attack, strokes, cancer, migraine headaches and depression. Stress affects people in many different ways and to different degrees. Some people feel stress in shoulder and neck muscles, or in the lower back. Others have headaches or difficulty sleeping, or concentrating on day to day tasks. No matter how you react to stress or what its causes, you can manage it using simple yoga techniques. Rainbow Yoga classes have a strong focus on stress management. We start with a mini relaxation then warm up by stretching the muscles. The stretching exercises massage and release tightness and tension through out the body. We practice balance, and a few more demanding poses to focus the mind. Then we wind down with a Guided Relaxation, letting the soothing voice of the instructor guide us as we consciously release stress from the mind and body. Join us, incorporate regular yoga practice into your life to promote health and manage stress.

Yoga for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome - Some might think that carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition of the modern way of life, and long hours of computer keyboarding. But carpal tunnel syndrome is nothing new. Evidence of patients with symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome can be found in medical records back to the beginning of the 20th century. Activities such as cigarette smoking and forceful and repetitive use of the hands and wrists have been linked to the condition. I have worked with people who have this condition due to cutlassing, kneading dough, cutting vegetables, handling a chain saw or jackhammer and working on a computer. Bounded by bones and ligaments, the carpal tunnel is a narrow passageway on the palm side of your wrist. This tunnel protects the median nerve; a main nerve to your hand and the nine tendons that bend your fingers. When pressure is put on the nerve it can become inflamed producing the numbness, pain and, eventually, hand weakness that characterizes carpal tunnel syndrome. Taking regular exercise breaks can help prevent repetitive stress injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome. I encourage every one to take frequent breaks in their day and circle the hands, the shoulders, the head and the feet. Studies have proven yoga exercises can relieve the symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. A study, published in the November 1998 Journal of the American Medical Association, indicated that a yoga-based regimen is helpful in relieving CTS symptoms. Another study at the Orthopaedic and Reconstructive Center in Oklahoma City found that after just one minute of exercising, the pressure on the median nerve was reduced, in some cases for several hours.

Yoga for Headaches. I had migraine headaches from my teenage years until my early 20's, when I began practicing yoga regularly. I have met many people who believe that regular yoga practice, including stretches, progressive relaxation and deep breathing has helped their headaches as well. I found the following in an article on headaches in the Yoga Journal. "Dr. Thomas Brofelt, MD, Director of Emergency Medicine at California's Davis Medical Center says 75% of all headaches arise from muscle tension. He recommends repeating 2 or 3 simple exercises several times throughout the day to prevent headaches. Deep focused breathing can be very helpful in reducing headaches in some people, by calming the mind and releasing tension in the upper body and abdominal area. Richard Millar, PH.D., a practicing Clinical Psychotherapist who has published widely on the subjects of yoga and deep breathing has found that headache sufferers often have upper respiratory shallow breathing.”

Yoga for Bone Health – Exercise is important to good bone health. If you exercise regularly in childhood and adolescence, you are more likely to reach your peak bone density than those who are inactive. Weight bearing exercise is the only way to significantly increase bone mass after you have stopped growing. Just as a muscle gets stronger and bigger the more you use it, a bone becomes stronger and denser when you place demands on it. You can consume large amounts of calcium, the raw material that the body uses to build bones, but weight-bearing exercise that stresses the skeleton is needed to stimulate bone-building cells to do their work. Research indicates that exercise may not only help prevent osteoporosis, but may treat it as well.

Yoga for Mood Enhancement. Yoga is not only good for your body, it's good for your mind and spirit too. It causes the brain to release endorphins, or `feel good' chemicals that make you feel calmer and better equipped to handle stressful situations. The deep breathing and increased heart rate pump oxygenated blood to the body. Increasing the amount of oxygen supplied to the brain reduces anxiety and stress, helps fight depression and improves memory and alertness. Regardless of what kind of shape you are in or how old you are, regular exercise helps keep you feeling fitter and healthier. As we feel fitter, our enhanced self-image results in a more optimistic outlook on life. Exercise to feel good!

Yoga for Cholesterol. Can exercise effect cholesterol in the bloodstream? How much exercise do you need? I recently read on the internet that a group of researchers have found that increasing amounts of exercise caused a positive change in the size of cholesterol particles, they became larger, fluffier with less tendency to clog the arteries. Standard cholesterol tests that measure lipids -- the HDL (good) and LDL (bad) cholesterol -- do not pick up this type of change. But take note; more exercise is better. "It appears from our study that cholesterol carried by smaller, denser protein particles appears to cause cardiovascular disease more efficiently than cholesterol carried by large, fluffy particles," lead researcher William Kraus, MD, a cardiologist at Duke University Medical Center, says in a news release. "The improvements were related to the amount of activity and not to the intensity of exercise or improvement of fitness.”

Yoga and Heart Disease - Simple lifestyle choices can play such a powerful role in our health and well-being. I first discovered Dr. Dean Ornish’s Lifestyle Program (it entails low fat vegetarian food, yoga, exercise, meditation and community support) through his writings on weight loss. In the 1970’s he proposed; to everyone’s shock, that people who want to optimize their weight should eat more not less. He believed that if we ate all we wanted of healthy low fat whole foods and exercised regularly our bodies would maintain a healthy weight. In 1998 Ornish published a new study on the effects of his lifestyle program on heart disease, in the American Journal of Cardiology, stating that 80% of the 194 patients in the experimental group were able to avoid bypass or angioplasty, proving that comprehensive changes in lifestyle, including yoga, can often reverse the progression of even severe heart disease. Ornish is convinced that “adherence to the yoga and meditation program was as strongly correlated with the changes in the amount of blockage as was the adherence to the diet.” Recently some companies providing medical insurance in the US have actually agreed to pay for patients taking Dr. Ornish’s program, as they would a medication or hospital visit.

Yoga for Flexibility - When muscles are flexible they are much less prone to injury. Whether you hike, play high impact sports, jog, run, walk or are a couch potato, yoga is an excellent way to increase your flexibility. Under use or constant use of certain areas of the body can cause certain muscles to shorten, leading to back problems, knee problems, stiffness, weakness, pain, and more.
Dynamic Stretch versus Static Stretch - Yoga poses often involve 'holds' - periods of time where the pose is held, while relaxing and releasing the body into the position. This type of stretch is more recently called a static stretch and it is the key to the increase in flexibility most people feel within a month of practicing yoga on a regular basis. In many other forms of exercise you will see people bouncing or pushing in stretches which can force the muscle to contract at the same time that you are forcing it to stretch which may lead to injury. This is called a dynamic stretch and actually causes the muscle to tighten and shorten over time.

Yoga and Arthritis - Yoga may be beneficial for people with arthritis because it focuses on balancing both physical and mental well-being. Most Yoga classes include range-of-motion, strengthening and endurance exercises, along with stress management techniques such as breathing and meditation which may help reduce anxiety and improve overall wellness. According to the Arthritis Foundation web page "Regular exercise provides many benefits including keeping joints moving, restoring and preserving flexibility, and strength, and protecting joints against further damage. "Ease off if joints become painful, inflamed, or red, and work with your doctor.

Yoga and Diabetes - Yoga can complement the lifestyle changes necessary to keep diabetic symptoms in check. It can help you feel more in control of your health and well being. Exercise can be especially good for you if you have diabetes. Some people with diabetes who exercise regularly require less medication because exercise lowers their blood sugar. The effect of exercise on blood sugar can last from 12 to 72 hours. Practicing yoga regularly can; control weight, improve blood circulation, especially to the extremities, help keep the blood vessels elastic, and has been shown to reduce high blood pressure in some cases. The immune system is enhanced as deep breathing pumps the lymphatic fluids throughout the body. Yoga exercises gently massage the body's glands and organs, resulting in positive effects for the digestion, endocrine, and reproductive systems. By releasing muscle tension and teaching you how to relax at will, yoga helps reduce the harmful effects of stress. Stress increases blood sugar levels. Before you begin any form of exercise be sure to talk with your doctor or health care provider. Practice yoga for stress management!

Yoga and Gallstones - Getting more exercise may lessen the odds of developing gallstones, painful blockages that can require surgery. Gallstones form when bile and cholesterol, both found in the gallbladder, crystallize. Researchers at the University of Bristol compared the occurrence of gallstones among more than 25,000 adults and found that those who were more physically active were less likely to develop gallstones. The most active group had 60 percent less risk of getting
gallstones than the least active group even accounting for such factors as obesity, alcohol consumption and reproductive history. Exercise may reduce the cholesterol content of the
digestive juice stored in the gall bladder, the bile. That could reduce the number of gallstones, since many gallstones are solid cholesterol. In addition to controlling their weight, people who exercise have more active large intestines and better blood sugar and insulin levels, all of which may reduce the risk of gall stones formation. Yoga exercise has the added benefit of massaging the gallbladder region bringing the blood flow to the area. Practice yoga to help prevent gallstones!

Before you begin any form of exercise, be sure to talk with your doctor or health care provider.

Box 2349, Roseau,
Dominica , West Indies
767-449-1300
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[email protected]