Yoga for Imperfect Bodies

An interviewer once asked me the questions below.  I thought some of my blog readers might benefit from the answer.  Enjoy!

How can yoga be applied to people with imperfect bodies? Is yoga really about exercise or something else?

Two thoughts came to me when I read these two questions:  First, I’ve yet to come across a human being with a perfect body, either inside or outside of my yoga classes. Second, my favorite yoga quote is “If you can breathe, you can do yoga.” Yoga is ultimately the connection of body, breath and mind. Anyone can do it, and everyone can benefit from a well-designed yoga practice.

I’ve taught yoga to professional ballet dancers, tri-athletes, and weekend warriors. I’ve certified yoga teachers who have multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. I’ve taught kids as young as six (others teach students who are even younger!) and adults who are ninety-years-old plus.  I’ve taught students who were deaf, blind, and one who was both deaf and blind. I’ve taught group classes to students who use canes, walkers, and wheelchairs. I know of yogis who have no arms; others who have lost both legs. I have yet to find a student who couldn’t do some form of yoga, if it was appropriately modified.

Yoga as a form of exercise is a Western idea.  Its origins were more closely aligned with clarifying and balancing the mind.  Physical fitness was simply a cool side benefit.  We often confuse yoga in the West with asana (yoga postures), which is only one of many tools of yoga. Yoga encompasses that and so much more: meditation, pranayama, ritual, chant, right relationship, and so on.  So yes, anyone and everyone can benefit from doing yoga.

Even asana, which is the simplest of yoga’s tools, can be done by anyone if appropriately modified.  That’s what I love so much about Viniyoga, the style of yoga that Kate—the yoga teacher sleuth in my series—and I both teach.  The word viniyoga means “proper application and adaptation.”

In Viniyoga, we adapt poses to the individual. The goal is to work within a pain-free range of motion with the goal of increasing that pain-free range of motion over time. My most rewarding work as a teacher is helping students learn how to move in a pain-free way, both during practice and out in their daily lives.

Regardless of age, body type, injury, fitness level, or goals, yoga is a tool that that can help anyone.  If you try a class and it doesn’t work for your body, try another! There are dozens of yoga styles, each different from the rest. There are at least a gazillion yoga teachers.  I truly believe there is yoga for everyone.

Namaste

Tracy Weber

PS--all three books in my Downward Dog mystery series are now available!  Learn more at http://tracyweberauthor.com.  Thanks for reading!

Want to Strengthen Your Core? Start with Your Breath!

Most people think of crunches or even Navasana (Boat Pose) as the holy grail of yoga core strengtheners.  But what if you could strengthen your abdominal muscles simply by breathing?

You can!

This simple exercise strengthens the girdling muscles that stabilize the lower back and pelvis. You can do the motion with every breath in your yoga practice, but I like to teach it lying on the floor, where you can more easily feel the motion of the spine and you aren’t distracted by other movements.  Give it a try for 5 minutes each day.  You’ll notice the difference. Your abs may even talk to you the next day!

1. Lie on the floor, with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Notice how this position flattens your lower back curve.
2. Place your palms on your belly.
3. As you inhale, allow your belly to soften.
4. As you exhale, imagine that you are closing the zipper on a too-tight pair of jeans. Pull in your belly starting at the bottom (the pubic bone) and contract upward toward the bottom of your ribs. You might feel your belly hollow out and your lower back press toward the floor.
5. On the following inhale, imagine that you are breathing in from your collar bones down. Keep your belly pulled in strongly for the first half of the inhale, and then slowly allow it to relax in the second half.
6. With each following exhale, close the zipper again.

Hints:

• On a scale of 1 – 10, make the abdominal contraction on exhale about a 6.  Strong enough to feel the muscles, not so strong that you feel breathless or tired.
• Relax the rest of your body.  In particular, notice any tension that builds in your neck, shoulders, jaw, and arms, and consciously release it.
• Once doing the exercise becomes habitual when lying on your back, try it seated crossed-legged on the floor or in a chair.
• Once doing the exercise becomes habitual without movement,  integrate it into every breath of your asana practice.

Enjoy, and happy practicing!

Namaste

Tracy Weber

Preorder my newest mystery, KARMA'S A KILLER, now at Amazon Barnes and Noble.

Yee haw, yippee, and yahooey!

Check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  A KILLER RETREAT and MURDER STRIKES A POSE are available at book sellers everywhere

Research Proves It. Yoga Works!

All I can say is wow.  We’ve known yoga “works” for thousands of years. I have personally read many individual studies that demonstrate yoga’s benefits. I’ve even been involved in designing a study or two.  But a recent systematic review of yoga research since 1970 astounds even me.

Dr. Kim Innes of the University of Virginia performed a systematic review of seventy studies published in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and India since 1970. She was particularly interested in what these studies show about the effects of yoga on insulin resistance syndrome and heart disease. Of the seventy studies:

• Eighteen focused on yoga’s effects on heart disease
• Five investigated yoga’s ability to relieve stress
• Fifty-one studied yoga’s effects on lipids, blood pressure, weight loss and blood pressure

Here’s what Dr. Innes found:

• Individuals who practiced yoga for one month to one year lost between 1.5% and 13.6 % of their body weight. (This is equivalent to medically approved weight loss programs.)
• In the fourteen studies that measured cholesterol, yoga participants’ total cholesterol was reduced by 5.8% to 25.2%. “Bad cholesterol” (LDL) was reduced by 12.8% to 26%, and triglycerides decreased by 22% to 28.5%
• In twenty-seven studies that measured blood pressure, more than 75% of yoga participants showed decreases in blood pressure.
• All of the fifty-one studies that examined insulin resistance (a major contributor to heart disease) showed significant improvements. There is also great news for individuals with type 2 diabetes.  All individuals with type 2 diabetes showed improvements in fasting glucose levels.

No matter which way you slice it, yoga is good for your heart.  And as those of us who practice regularly can attest, it’s great for your spirit, too!

Namaste

Tracy

Preorder my newest mystery, KARMA'S A KILLER, now at Amazon Barnes and Noble.

Yee haw, yippee, and yahooey!

Check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  A KILLER RETREAT and MURDER STRIKES A POSE are available at book sellers everywhere!

Research Proves It! Yoga Helps Combat Depression

Great news for those of you who suffer from seasonal depression or the holiday blues.

Researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine recently published a study in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine that showed that three hours of yoga per week can help combat depression much more effectively than an equivalent amount of other forms of exercise, such as walking.

Researchers monitored two groups of healthy individuals for twelve weeks.  One group walked for three hours each week; the other practiced an equivalent amount of yoga. Both groups filled out questionnaires about their mental health and underwent magnetic resonance spectroscopic (MRS) imaging to measure levels of the amino acid GABA. GABA is essential to central nervous system functioning and helps promote a state of internal calm.

The yoga group reported improved mood and lower levels of anxiety, which were reflected in climbing GABA levels.

Yoga participants also showed improvements in strength, endurance, balance and flexibility.
Exactly what the ancient teachings have told us all along!

Namaste

Tracy Weber

Preorder my newest mystery, KARMA'S A KILLER, now at Amazon Barnes and Noble.

Yee haw, yippee, and yahooey!

Check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  A KILLER RETREAT and MURDER STRIKES A POSE are available at book sellers everywhere

Research Proves It! Yoga Helps Combat Depression

Great news for those of you who (like me) suffer from depression.

Researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine recently published a study in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine that showed that three hours of yoga per week can help combat depression much more effectively than an equivalent amount of other forms of exercise, such as walking.

Researchers monitored two groups of healthy individuals for twelve weeks.  One group walked for three hours each week; the other practiced an equivalent amount of yoga. Both groups filled out questionnaires about their mental health and underwent magnetic resonance spectroscopic (MRS) imaging to measure levels of the amino acid GABA. GABA is essential to central nervous system functioning and helps promote a state of internal calm.

The yoga group reported improved mood and lower levels of anxiety, which were reflected in climbing GABA levels.

Yoga participants also showed improvements in strength, endurance, balance and flexibility.

Exactly what the ancient teachings have told us all along!

Namaste

Tracy

And if you want to show me some love, you can preorder my newest mystery, KARMA'S A KILLER, now at Amazon Barnes and Noble.
Yee haw, yippee, and yahooey!

Check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  A KILLER RETREAT and MURDER STRIKES A POSE are available at book sellers everywhere

Yoga Stories

Please help me welcome Amber Foxx to Killer Hobbies today.  Like Kate (my yoga teacher/sleuth) and me, Amber has experienced the healing qualities of yoga.  What are your favorite yoga stories?

 

Bodies grow tight around places that hurt. Though a lifetime of yoga practice has made me more aware of it and able to break the cycle, I sometimes still catch myself holding tension around old injuries—a hip damaged by ballet, an ankle sprained five times in various acts of klutziness. Ironically, this holding, which is sometimes a very subtle gripping, can create new pain. Letting it go takes attention to that almost imperceptible armoring.

Releasing a similar kind of protective holding around emotional pain can be cathartic. All kinds of feelings emerge in yoga when tight bodies release: happiness, tears, bliss, sometimes all of the above. One of my students burst out laughing in a private lesson, and kept laughing for a long time. I sat with his laughter, knowing he wasn’t laughing at my teaching—there was simply something in him that had to come out. He later explained this, but I already understood. It had happened to me when I went to an energy healer, and I knew what he was feeling. It’s not only pain that we pack away in contracted hearts, backs and bellies, but our capacity for joy.

Movement and physical sensation reach places that words can’t. I taught an introductory yoga session to one of my college classes—a course on stress management—and young woman told me afterwards that nothing else had worked for her, none of the relaxation techniques or journaling or time management. But in yoga, for the first time she could remember, her mind had come into the present moment. The noise stopped. The quiet spaces in which words fall away are part of what makes yoga so healing. Sometimes that silence in the mind lights up when the body is holding a difficult asana, sometimes during the flow of a vinyasa, sometimes during the deep release of restorative pose.

One of the characters in my new book Soul Loss starts studying yoga because his psychologist and his physical therapist both recommend it. He’s a beginner, coping with injuries to both his mind and his body. When I was doing revisions, I almost removed a scene that takes place during a yoga class. It was mostly inner work, not plot development of the mystery, but I left it in, with misgivings about its value. My critique partners all commented on it, not only on the scene in general, but specifically on the break-though and insight the character has in the same yoga moment. In the big picture of the plot, the scene turned out to be a pivotal part of the story after all. A book isn’t only about solving a mystery; it’s about the arc of characters’ growth and change. In Soul Loss, yoga is part of that arc.

 

Amber Foxx is certified in Integrative Yoga Therapy and teaches yoga to college students and to older adults. She is the author of the Mae Martin Psychic Mysteries, a genre blend of suspense, romance, general fiction, paranormal, and mystery without murder. Soul Loss, released on June 15^th, is the fourth book in the series.

 

 

To learn more about Amber and her books, visit http://amberfoxxmyseries.wordpress.com

To purchase go to

https://amberfoxxmysteries.wordpress.com/buy-books-retail-links/

Research Proves It: Yoga Benefits Seniors!

A recent study at UC San Diego showed once again the many benefits of yoga, this time for older adults. The study followed yoga students with a median age of sixty-nine.  Students took weekly one-hour yoga classes held at local community centers for three months. The classes included gentle yoga postures designed to be accessible to all functional levels. Students who completed the study experienced the following benefits.

• Statistically significant decreases in pain
• Decreased fatigue
• Increased mobility
• Statistically significant decreases in symptoms of depression.

The study was small, (thirty-one students) and more work is needed to verify these results according to rigorous Western research standards.  But the initial results are encouraging and prove what the ancient yogis knew all along.

Yoga works!

Yoga is always best studied with a teacher.  In older populations, I think working with a trained teacher is essential.  Yoga for seniors is widely available at aging facilities, senior centers and community centers.  Check it out and see if you can find a yoga class appropriate for seniors near you!

Namaste

Tracy Weber

          

Check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  A KILLER RETREAT and MURDER STRIKES A POSE are available at book sellers everywhere!

Research Proves It! Yoga Benefits Seniors

A recent study at UC San Diego showed once again the many benefits of yoga, this time for older adults. The study followed yoga students with a median age of sixty-nine.  Students took weekly one-hour yoga classes held at local community centers for three months. The classes included gentle yoga postures designed to be accessible to all functional levels. Students who completed the study experienced the following benefits.

• Statistically significant decreases in pain
• Decreased fatigue
• Increased mobility
• Statistically significant decreases in symptoms of depression.

The study was small, (thirty-one students) and more work is needed to verify these results according to rigorous Western research standards.  But the initial results are encouraging and prove what the ancient yogis knew all along.

Yoga works!

Yoga is always best studied with a teacher.  In older populations, I think working with a trained teacher is essential.  Yoga for seniors is widely available at aging facilities, senior centers and community centers.  Check out what's available in your area, and give it a try!

Namaste

Tracy Weber

          

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  A KILLER RETREAT and MURDER STRIKES A POSE are available at book sellers everywhere!

The Magic of Movement

One of the key hallmarks of Viniyoga is its unique combination of movement, flow and stay.  Some yoga lineages, such as Iyengar and Yin, focus primarily on staying in poses.  Others, such as Ashtanga and Vinyasa, primarily flow from pose to pose.  Viniyoga, on the other hand, uses stays in poses and flows between them. And we do something even more powerful: we move in and out of most poses before staying in them.

Each of the three—movement, stay, and flow—has a unique cost/benefit tradeoff:

Repetition:

• Re-patterns dysfunctional movement patterns
• Warms the entire body (especially when large muscle groups are contracted)
• Warms and brings circulation to the specific muscle groups being contracted
• Builds energy  (especially faster movement)
• Prepares the body to stay in a posture
• Compensates for and erases residual stress

Stay:

• Provides deeper internal organ work
• Calms energy (especially in forward bends and twists)
• Stretches  muscles (Exercise physiology fact: a stretch needs to be held a minimum of twenty seconds to be effective.)
• Strengthens muscles
• Focuses attention internally
• Allows for deepening micro-movements with the breath

Flow:

• Significantly builds energy
• Builds heat
• Does not compensate for residual stresses as well as repetition
• Compromises form, which generally becomes sloppier

What does all of this mean for your yoga practice?

Understand the tool you’re using and why you’re using it. If your goal is to prepare your mind for meditation, a strong flow class won’t work as well as a class that includes the interior focusing of stays. If you’re a beginner, start by learning appropriate form in individual postures before trying to link multiple postures together in flows. If you’re working to re-pattern negative movement patterns, use repetition in and out of a pose more than stay.

And remember: Each tool has its unique purpose and gifts. Over time try to explore all of them. One of the many beauties of the Viniyoga approach is that it skillfully combines all three.

Namaste

Tracy Weber

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  A KILLER RETREAT and MURDER STRIKES A POSE are available at book sellers everywhere! 

Creating Abundance

“Abundance is about being rich, with or without money.”— Suze Orman

Happy Thanksgiving!

Depending on your perspective, the holidays can either be a joyful time shared with family and friends or a dismal demonstration of unrealized expectations. The choice is yours. Abundance is everywhere, if you choose to look for it.

On this day of feasting and family, I'd like to share with you some quotes, breath practices, and meditations that can help you find abundance in your own life.

"Whatever we are waiting for -- peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance -- it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart.”—Sarah Ban Breathnach

Breath Practice:

1. Lengthen your inhale and exhale, making them approximately equal.
2. Remain at that lengthened breath for several minutes. With each inhale, imagine abundance in all its forms entering your heart. With every exhale, imagine those same qualities flowing through your body and taking root in every cell.
3. After several minutes, return your breath to a normal rhythm. Carry the energy of this breath practice to meditation.

Meditation Question: How can I invite abundance into my life, regardless of my material wealth?

“The universe operates through dynamic exchange…giving and receiving are different aspects of the flow of energy in the universe. And in our willingness to give that which we seek, we keep the abundance of the universe circulating in our lives.”— Deepak Chopra

Breath Practice:

1. Lengthen your inhale and exhale, making them approximately equal.
2. After six breaths at that lengthened breath, add a two second pause after both the inhale and the exhale.
3. Remain at this breath for several minutes. With each inhale, imagine abundance in all its forms entering your heart. In the pause after inhale, imagine abundance completely filling you. With every exhale, offer abundance back to the world. In the pause after exhale, imagine abundance both within and around you.
4. After several minutes, release the pauses, but continue breathing with a lengthened inhale and exhale.
5. After several more breaths, return your breath to a normal rhythm. Carry the energy of this breath practice to meditation.

Meditation Question: How can I create abundance in the lives of those around me?

The prosperity hens pictured above symbolize prosperity in Indian culture, because any family fortunate enough to own a hen has a continual source of nourishment. Find your own symbol of abundance and keep it near as you get caught up in busy-ness of the holiday season.  Allow it to remind you of all that is truly important.

Namaste

Tracy Weber

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about her  yoga and dog-related mystery series, the Downward Dog Mysteries.

Fitness, Yoga Style

Students often ask me if yoga is sufficient to develop overall fitness. Put more directly, if I practice yoga, can I cancel my gym membership?  I always cringe a little before answering. As a yoga studio owner, the answer that would benefit me most is an enthusiastic, unqualified yes.

Unfortunately, the true answer is probably not. Yoga is a valuable tool. It builds muscular strength, flexibility, and emotional wellness. It also develops an important component of fitness often overlooked in the West: respiratory fitness.

That seems like a lot, and it is. All of the above are necessary. But they are not the complete fitness picture. Western forms of exercise provide an important and missing piece: cardiovascular--also known as aerobic--fitness, which is an essential component of heart health.

Cardiovascular Fitness versus Respiratory Fitness

The cardiovascular and respiratory systems are separate yet closely related.

Respiratory Fitness (Pranayama, Asana, Respiratory Therapy)

• Increases the respiratory system’s ability to oxygenate cells
• Improves respiration rate, profusion rate and oxygen utilization at a cellular level

Asana and pranayama are excellent tools for impacting this--much better than Western aerobic exercises.

Cardiovascular Fitness (Jogging, Cycling, Zumba)

• Raises the pulse rate
• Strengthens the heart muscle and increases circulation

Yoga tools, including asana and pranayama, are not as well suited for this type of fitness as Western aerobic exercises.

Students often seem disappointed to learn this.  After all, the ancient yogis used yoga (almost exclusively) to develop health and mental wellbeing.  But those yogis lived in a different time, with completely different lifestyles. They lived very physical lives, practiced yoga, pranayama, and chant daily, and ate whole foods that were much less likely to cause heart disease than the overly-processed foods we consume now.

The typical American yogi, on the other hand is likely to work eight or more hours at her desk job, park as close as possible to yoga class, then go home to binge on potato chips while watching someone else chant on American Idol.  Heart disease is epidemic in our culture. Frankly, we’d be delusional to compare our lifestyles to those of yogis thousands of years ago.

All that said, yoga is an important part of mental and physical wellness.  I’d be the last one to minimize its benefits.  Just ask my grandmother who died of emphysema, my friends with asthma, or my clients with anxiety and depression.  Breathing is as important as life itself. In fact, breath is the essence of life.

Nonetheless, I still ride an exercise bike three times a week, and I wouldn't consider giving it up, in spite of my yoga practice.  I’ve never claimed that yoga is a panacea able to cure all ills—but it can do a lot.  Not just for the body, but also for the mind. I hope you’ll make it part of your wellness routine.


Namaste

Tracy Weber

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about her  yoga and dog-related mystery series, the Downward Dog Mysteries.

The Challenge of Saying Goodbye

September was a tough month for me, on many levels. My dog’s health started to fail; my own wasn’t that much better. We had a minor flood at the studio, and my husband managed to bring home every virus in the greater Seattle area. We’re all doing much better now, knock on wood.

But throughout the challenges of last month, one constant remained: writing. I sent an early draft of my third book, Karma Can Be Killer, to my agent and editor on September 20^th. October 3^rd, A Killer Retreat went off to my publisher for its final, final edits. (Which means that I have to trust that what I’ve written will be “good enough.”)

Once they were floating on the Internet ether, I found myself in that achingly empty zone between writing and feedback. I love my two newest creations, but will my readers? And if they don’t…
I try not to think about that. ;-)

Instead, I look around my shamefully messy home, feeling slightly off kilter, My 500-hour yoga teacher training program winds up in January. The next 200-training starts a few weeks later. In less than a month, I’ll be eyebrows deep in book launch activities for second book while writing revisions of my third.

Friends tell me to sit back and take a breather. My husband says I should finally pick up a vacuum. Instead, I spend my days pondering. What should I do next? I won’t know if Midnight Ink plans to renew my first series for at least six months, maybe even a year. Should I continue writing Kate’s story and trust it will find a publishing home? Maybe I ought to start the Maui-based series that’s been tickling me? Perhaps it’s time to play with the Orcas Island-based spinoff that has been rattling around in my head for almost two years now?

Then again, I could experiment with nonfiction. A friend recently told me I should write the true story of my life with Tasha-dog; two veterinarians suggested the same thing. She’s certainly taught me life lessons that I’d like to pass on to the next generation. Then again, if I’m going to make my living as an author, perhaps it’s time to take my first writing class.

I’m sure it won’t be long before something fills the void, but in the meantime I’m content to float for awhile, daydreaming. That’s the beauty of writing. I create my own worlds, fall in love with my characters, and have the privilege of saying goodbye over and over and over again. It’s not much different than birthing a child, or certifying a yoga teacher training class, for that matter.

As I stand at the crossroads, I only know one thing. Whatever comes next will sometimes be frustrating, sometimes frightening, sometimes fulfilling. Please wish me luck on the journey.

Tracy Weber

          

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.

Forgiveness: The Road to Happiness—or at Least Peace

I look forward to answering your questions in this blog. Please feel free to leave a comment or e-mail your questions to tracy@wholelifeyoga.com.
 

 
A  student asks: I’m in the middle of an ongoing conflict with a member of my family, and although I don’t usually feel angry, I don’t feel happy, either. Do you have any suggestions?

I need to make a confession: this question has challenged me.  The yoga teachings talk about happiness, but not in the way that we might hope.  In fact, the teachings warn against seeking happiness, because within happiness lies suffering.  Instead they advise us to seek peace.

I'll admit that I struggle with that, even though I get the point.  Happiness leads to attachment; attachment leads to suffering.  Peace, on the other hand, leads to acceptance, and acceptance reduces suffering.

So honestly, I don’t have any great yoga tools for creating happiness. But yoga has helped me find it, nonetheless.  When I practice yoga, I find peace. When I’m more peaceful, I’m happier. So perhaps a more meaningful goal is to turn anger into forgiveness, so that you too can find peace.

The Buddhist meditation below can help jump start that process.  In it, you offer healing to yourself, someone you love, someone with whom you are in conflict, and finally the world.

If sending healing to your family member is too challenging right now, start with someone less charged, like a rude grocery store clerk or someone who cuts you off on the freeway. Over time, as you forgive and find inner tranquility, happiness may sneak its way back in.

Loving Kindness Meditation:

1. Come to a comfortable seated or lying position.
2. Allow your eyes to close, and notice your breath—without intentionally trying to change it.  Bring your attention to the warmth and coolness of the breath at the tip of your nostrils.
3. When you are ready, bring your own self to mind, complete with all of your strengths, weaknesses, successes, and struggles.  Silently and continuously repeat the following intentions for yourself:
   • May I be at peace. May my heart be open.
   • May I be healed, and may I be a source of healing for all beings.
4. When you are ready, bring to mind the image of a loved one—someone you care about.  Silently and continuously repeat the following blessings for that person:
   • May you be at peace. May your heart be open.
   • May you be healed, and may you be a source of healing for all beings.
5. When you are ready, bring to mind the image someone with whom you are in conflict, or someone who “pushes your buttons” in some away.  Perhaps someone who’s injured you in the past whom you’ve not forgiven.  Silently and continuously repeat the following blessings for that person:
   • May you be at peace. May your heart be open.
   • May you be healed, and may you be a source of healing for all beings.
6. When you are ready, bring to mind an image of the entire planet. Visualize or sense the continents, the oceans, and the shape of the earth as it moves around the sun.  Silently and continuously repeat the following blessings for the earth:
   • May the earth be at peace. May the hearts of the earth be open.
   • May the earth be healed, and may the earth be a source of healing for all beings.
7. If your attention wanders (and it will!) just notice it, and invite your attention back to the sensation of the breath at the tip of your nose.  Then continue with the loving kindness meditation from wherever you left off.  The “blessings” above can be modified to anything that has meaning for you.

I hope that helps, and thank you for the question!

Yoga for Back Pain

Articles touting the benefits of Viniyoga seem to be popping up everywhere (and that’s a good thing!). One example is an article called “Watch Your Back” in Yoga Journal. This article talks about Viniyoga’s proven benefits in reducing back pain. Specifically, it discusses the Group Health study on Viniyoga for low back pain and shares the personal case study of a woman who healed her back using Viniyoga.

The student, Terri Stoeker, has a back pain story much like my own.  Like Terri, my back injury cane “out of the blue,” though it had likely been building for quite some time.  Unlike Terri, I suffered for years--seven to be exact.  During that time, I tried a number of methods for healing: physical therapy, acupuncture, muscle relaxants, anti-inflammatory medication, osteopathic manipulation, counseling on pain management, ice, rest, and massage therapy. At one point, I even said that I’d dance naked around a witch doctor’s fire if that would help.  The one remedy that healed me, after seven years of failed experiments, was Viniyoga.

Terri’s relief came quickly.  Mine took a bit longer. But after seven years of pain, a few months to get relief seemed like nothing.  In fact, since my doctors and I had already given up hope, the fact that I healed at all is nothing short of a miracle.

I'd like to share two of my favorite quotes from the article with you.

The first is from the student, Terri Stoeker:

"You can let your back control you and change your life into something sedentary and painful, or you can find something that can keep you healthy and get you back to 95 percent normal. I was told I would never run or garden again. Now I can do those things. I have to be careful, I have to take care of myself, but I live my life. Yoga has done that for me."

The second is from my teacher, Gary Kraftsow.

"We're not talking about fancy yoga or power yoga  here. You don't need an hour-long class or a special outfit or a fancy mat to do this. This practice is available to everybody. You can learn it easily and use it to feel better and really begin to manage your condition."

The article comes complete with a yoga practice that may help decrease back pain.  But be forewarned, the photos are misleading.  In fact, they only show part of each position.  The movement between positions is vitally important in Viniyoga.  So I highly recommend using the text to guide your practice, rather than the photos.  Better yet, sign up for my Yoga for Healthy Backs class!  In the mean time, read the article, and tell me what you think!

Go Viniyoga!

Namaste

Tracy Weber

          

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  A KILLER RETREAT is available for preorder now from Whole Life Yoga. MURDER STRIKES A POSE is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble,  and book sellers everywhere! 

Time off, Blog Tours, and the Uniqueness of Viniyoga

As many of you know, I’m on a five-week-long sabbatical from teaching yoga.  This isn’t a vacation—it’s a chance to devote myself to my writing. You see, writing a book (or books!) is only the first step.  Right now I’m in different parts of the publishing process for three. I’m deeply immersed in a one–month blog tour for my first book, Murder Strikes a Pose, working with my publicists to plan for the launch of my second, A Killer Retreat, and finishing up the second draft of my third book, tentatively titled Karma can be Killer.  Whew!

Part of the fun of this sometimes-overwhelming flurry of activity is getting the chance to share the principles of yoga with people who might otherwise never even consider it.  I have fans (those three words alone give me a thrill!) who have taken their first yoga class after reading my first book.  Others have recommitted to a yoga practice they dropped years ago.  Still others are asking me for coaching and yoga advice.

I’m having a great time.

This week’s blog article invites you to share in the fun.  Check out the article I wrote for The Top Shelf about Viniyoga in “Kate Davidson’s Guide to Yoga (with a little Murder on the Side).”  As an added bonus, you can enter to win a free Kindle!  Here’s a quote from the article to whet your appetite….

“The beauty of Viniyoga lies in its accessibility, which is part of what makes it so perfect for a mystery series. You don’t have to be ultra flexible or super fit to partake, just willing to be more mindful in everyday life. For those of you curious, the following four characteristics differentiate Viniyoga from other yoga styles….”

You’ll have to click on the link to the article to read the rest.  ;-)

Thanks all!  I’ll see you in September.

Namaste

Tracy Weber

          

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  A KILLER RETREAT is available for preorder now from Whole Life Yoga. MURDER STRIKES A POSE is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble,  and book sellers everywhere! 

Meditations to Decrease Stress and Inflammation!

 

A recent study at UCLA’s Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences demonstrated once again that even short meditations, when done consistently, have positive effects on both the body and the mind. The study evaluated 49 caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Almost 50% of these caregivers experience clinical depression, and they are also twice as likely as the general population to report high levels of stress.

 

The study divided the caregivers (who ranged in ages from 45 to 91) into two groups: one that practiced a 12-minute meditation daily for 8 weeks, and one that spent 12 minutes each day for 8 weeks relaxing while listening to a relaxation CD.

The meditation group showed several benefits over the group that listened to the music:

• Significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms
• Improvements in reported mental health
• Improvements in cognitive functioning
• Increased telomerase activity in the blood (an indication of decreased cellular aging)
• Significant decreases in blood proteins associated with inflammation.

All these benefits from just 12 minutes of meditation a day!

This specific study examined a chant and meditation practice called Kirtan Kriya, but prior studies on meditation have shown similar mind-body benefits with a variety of meditations. In short, any meditation practice you do for 10 minutes or more daily is likely to achieve similar results.

The meditation below has been used in other studies on meditation’s “relaxation response.” But remember, the most effective meditation practice is one you will actually do. Hundreds, if not thousands, of meditation techniques exist and are easily found on the web. Experiment and find the one that works best for you.

Simple Counting Meditation:

• Sit comfortably, with your spine erect and the crown of your head floating up
  to the ceiling.
• Allow your eyes to close, and notice your breath—without intentionally trying to
  change it. Bring your attention to the warmth and coolness of the breath
  at the tip of your nostrils.
• After 2 – 3 minutes, or whenever you are ready, start counting each exhalation.
  For example, when you exhale the first time, think "one." The next time you exhale, count "two."  Keep counting silently to yourself, until you get to ten. After you reach ten, then start over again from "one."
• You’ll know your mind has wandered because you’ll lose count or notice that you’re thinking about something else. When that happens, (and it will!) try not to get frustrated. Instead, simply start over again by counting from “one.”  Without judgment or frustration, notice how often you need to restart counting.   The goal isn’t to get to 10, but to keep refocusing whenever your mind wanders.
• Continue this meditation for 10 minutes or longer if you’d like.

I’ve outlined two other methods in prior blog articles: a simple Meditation for Inner Peace and a Breath Focused Meditation. I will post additional meditations in the future, so keep checking back. Remember not to worry about "being good" at mediation--just by the act of meditating, you are inherently good at it regardless of how often your mind wanders as long as you keep bringing it back.

Namaste

Tracy Weber

          

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  A KILLER RETREAT is available for preorder now from Whole Life Yoga. MURDER STRIKES A POSE is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble,  and book sellers everywhere! 

Belly Breathing for Stress and Pain Relief

This simple, relaxing breath can be used any time you want to soothe body, mind, and spirit. I taught it recently in my Yoga for Chronic Pain class, yet it reduces stress of any kind—physical, emotional, or spiritual.

Belly Breathing

1. Lie on the floor, in bed, or any place else you can be comfortable without falling asleep.  Your knees can be bent or draped over a bolster.  If that’s not comfortable, you can also elevate your shins on a chair.  Any position is fine, as long as it’s physically comfortable and your spine is in a neutral position.
2. Notice the sensations of your body, without labeling them as “good” or “bad.”  Just be present with those sensations. Surrender your weight into the earth and feel tension drain from your body.
3. Place your hands on your stomach and consciously breathe as if you were breathing into your belly.  Notice how your belly gently expands with every inhale and relaxes with every exhale. Invite your mind to be in this present moment, not concerned with the past, not worried about the future. Every time your mind wanders, simply bring it back to the feeling of the breath in your belly.
4. After a minute or two, begin to lengthen your breath. Take several breaths to deepen each inhale and exhale, focusing primarily on a slow, complete exhale. When you find a rhythm that feels deep, yet smooth and easy, continue breathing at that length. If at any point you feel a sense of strain, shorten the breath again until you find a length that feels full, yet relaxing.
5. Continue breathing this way for approximately five minutes, and then gradually return your breath to a new, uncontrolled rhythm.  Notice the sensations of your body again, still trying not to label them as “good” or “bad.”
6. When you’re ready to transition back to your day, begin with small movements, such as wiggling your fingers and toes or even yawning and stretching. Then roll to your side for a moment before gradually pressing up to sitting.

This simple practice is one of my favorites for soothing both physical and emotional
discomfort.  I hope you enjoy it!

Namaste

Tracy Weber

          

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  A KILLER RETREAT is available for preorder now from Whole Life Yoga. MURDER STRIKES A POSE is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble,  and book sellers everywhere! 

Cakravakasana, the Un-Cat Pose

Cakravakasana (also called “Cat”) is often confused with a yoga pose called Cat-Cow.  Although the two poses look similar, they have completely different effects and intentions.   For most students, Viniyoga's Cat is much more beneficial than Cat-Cow.  So much so, that my teacher calls it the “un” Cat-Cow.

According to Gary, approximately 75% of Americans have increased thoracic kyphosis.  Put in English, we have upper backs that are already too rounded.  This happens primarily because of the activities we do in daily life.  We sit in chairs, type at computers, drive cars,  and do other activities that leave us in a hunched forward position.  To balance that, our yoga practice should strengthen and flatten our upper backs as well as stretch the fronts of our shoulders.

On the other hand, most of us have tight and weak lower backs, with increased lumbar lordosis. Meaning our lower backs are weak, tight and overly arched.  To balance this, our yoga practice should both strengthen and stretch our lower backs as well as strengthen our abdominal muscles.
Below is a photo of a student doing the pose most people call Cat-Cow.  In the position on the left, she arches her low back in the “Cow" position.  In the position on the right, she rounds her upper back in the “Cat" position.  This increases the curvature of both her upper back and lower back—exactly the opposite of what most students need.













In the two photos below, the same student performs Cakravakasana.  In the position on the left, she uses her abdominal muscles to support her low back while drawing her shoulder blades together to flatten her upper back.  In the position on the right, she gently pulls in her belly while folding her hips toward her heels, gently stretching her low back.



For most students, the two positions of Cakravakasana effectively work together to restore balance to the spine and release back tension. Cat-Cow, on the other hand, may contribute to spinal imbalance and even increase back pain--even if it feels good while you're doing it.

Cakravakasana Instructions:

1. Come to hands and knees, placing your hips directly above your knees and your hands slightly in front of your shoulders.  Your knees should be at least four inches apart, and your hands should be slightly wider than your shoulders.
2. On inhale, draw your shoulder blades together and lengthen your spine, keeping your belly lightly pulled in and your chin tucked slightly down.  Do not allow your lower back to arch or your hips to move beyond your knees.
3. On exhale, contract your abdomen while moving your hips toward your heels and your forehead and elbows toward the floor. Notice the gentle stretch in your lower back.
4. On the following inhale, return to the hands and knees position in step 1.
5. Repeat 6 – 8 times.

Cakravakasana is a gentle pose you can use to release tension and stretch your back any time of the day.  I hope you enjoy it!

Namaste

Tracy  Weber


          

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  A KILLER RETREAT is available for preorder now from Whole Life Yoga. MURDER STRIKES A POSE is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble,  and book sellers everywhere! 

Passion - Guest Post from Sparkle Abbey

Welcome to Sparkle Abbey, two of my favorite people and a couple of mighty fine authors, to boot!  Take it away, ladies!

Thanks so much for allowing us to be guests today, Tracy!

 

First off, here’s a little bit about us. Sparkle Abbey is actually a pen name because there are two of us. We are Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter and we co-write the Pampered Pets mystery series for Bell Bridge Books. Because we co-write the books, our publisher asked us to use a single pen name and we chose to use Sparkle Abbey on this series because we liked the idea of combining the names of their two rescue pets – Sparkle (ML’s cat) and Abbey (Anita’s dog).

 

Our series focuses on the wacky world of precious pedigrees, pampered pooches, and secrets in posh Laguna Beach, California. The main characters and amateur sleuths are Texas cousins, Carolina Lamont, a pet therapist, and Melinda Langston, a pet boutique owner. The two would join forces and work together if they were speaking, but well…they’re not. Midwest Book Review calls the series “A sassy and fun mystery!” We were excited about that description because that’s exactly what we were trying to achieve.

We met Tracy at the Malice Domestic mystery conference a year or so ago and we love her Downward Dog yoga-themed mystery series. And the books involve a wonderful German Shepherd dog, so even better! For Tracy, yoga is much more than a hobby. It’s a vocation and a calling. She is passionate about it and it shows!

Here’s our experience with yoga… Writers spend a lot of time at the computer. A lot. We sit at the keyboard to create our stories, we’re there to edit and polish, and then we’re also often online meeting readers and networking with other authors. That’s a lot of desk time!

So the two of us decided we needed some enforced activity and we signed up for a yoga class through our local Community Education program. It seemed like an easy way to get moving and de-stress, plus it was held at the local elementary in our neighborhood so was close by.

The first class was great and we loved the relaxation time at the end of class. (One of us even fell asleep during one class, but Tracy tells us that happens all the time.) However, after a knee injury for ML and foot surgery for Anita, we were struggling with many of the yoga postures. Soon we stopped going. However, we continued to talk about how much we liked it and how we’d like to get involved again.

At Left Coast Crime, we talked with Tracy about some of the problems we’d had and she was quick to ask questions and offer some advice. Advice which has made all the difference. (She even stopped in the middle of the welcome reception and demonstrated for us what we needed to do. We should have taken pictures.)

You see when you’re passionate about something, it becomes a part of who you are. We feel that way about animals and especially rescues. We try to partner with rescue organizations whenever we can on benefit events and educational efforts. We try to share our love of animals through our books and through the things we’re able to be involved in as authors.

Whether it’s cooking or quilting or antiques or stained glass, we think you’ll find many mystery authors (especially cozy authors) combine something they’re passionate about with their love of storytelling.
 

So what about you? What things are you passionate about?
 

Comment below for a chance to win your choice of any of the Sparkle Abbey mysteries: Desperate Housedogs, Get Fluffy, Kitty Kitty Bang Bang, Yip/Tuck or Fifty Shades of Greyhound.

Sparkle Abbey can be found online at the following spots:

Website: www.sparkleabbey.com 

Twitter: www.twitter.com/sparklesbbey 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sparkleabbey 

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/sparkleabbey 

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/sparkleabbey 

YouTube: www.youtube.com/sparkleabbey 

Overcoming the Klesas (Seeds of Suffering)

According to The Yoga Sutras, the primary goal of yoga is to overcome suffering.  But it’s not the kind of suffering most people think of. Sure, yoga’s great at overcoming physical ailments, from back pain, to asthma, to insomnia. But yoga’s ultimate goal is to overcome the suffering of the mind, or what my teacher calls psycho-emotional suffering.  The kind of stress, heartache, and anxiety we create within ourselves.  The internal suffering we do over external events.  The suffering we do over our suffering, so to speak.Sutras 2.3 – 2.12 list five klesas, or seeds of suffering:

• Ignorance, which is especially problematic, because it is not just a source of pain. It is also the fuel that ignites all other sources of suffering.
• Ego, the belief that we are somehow separate from those around us. Ego results in feelings of isolation, ethnocentrism, and dogmatism.
• Attachment, or holding on to something for fear of losing it, including relationships, possessions, job titles, and stature.
• Aversion, or avoiding something for fear of pain. Aversion results in the victim mentality so prevalent in our society today, prejudice, fear, and blame.
• Fear, especially the fear of death.

Most of us experience all of the above at one point or another. Some will be recurrent themes in our lives, like an unwelcome house guest that visits at the worst possible time, and then decides to stay longer than planned.

For me, attachment and fear are old friends. I love my house, my dog, my husband—even my yoga studio. I worry about losing any and all of them.  Love isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, but does fear of loss cause me unnecessary pain? Does fear of loss invite me to make poor decisions?
The sutras say that actions based on the klesas have undesirable effects.  They leave behind a nasty trail, not unlike a slug’s gooey slime trail.  Worse yet, those effects may not even be seen in our lifetimes.  Future generations may instead pay the price of our folly.  One look at our current political climate, and I know the sutras are still correct, even thousands of years after they were written.
But the sutras also offer hope!  They say that yoga, especially meditation, can help us develop a clear mind. And when our minds are clear, we can choose to act differently. By doing so, we not only decrease our own personal suffering, we also leave a cleaner imprint on our world.

We Seattleites, are known for our concern about the environment.  We reduce, reuse and recycle. We encourage people to drink tap water instead of buying those evil plastic bottles.  We even ban plastic bags in grocery stores.  Our goal is worthy: to leave our world a better place than we found it.  But perhaps we’re missing at least part of the point.  Perhaps we should also work to reduce our internal garbage. By doing so, we may just erase the psychic slug trail of negative energy we’re leaving behind.

According to my favorite Native American saying, “We will forever be known by the tracks we leave.”  Today, I invite you all to make your tracks lighter.  Act mindfully, lovingly, with a pure mind.  Take the Sutras’ advice, and start a consistent meditation practice, not just for your own benefit, but for that of your world.

And here is my blessing for you. May your tracks be invisible.  May your actions support your values.  May you live beyond the klesas so that all beings after you are brightened by the path you leave behind.

Namaste

Tracy

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out my author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  MURDER STRIKES A POSE is available for now at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Whole Life Yoga, and other retailers!