Om Hop Yoga

Enlightened Bread-Making

I work in sustainable investing and part of my job is encouraging companies we own to be more transparent with their operations, workplace practices, supply chain management, etc.  A transparent, environmentally and socially responsible company creates greater value for itself and its employees as well as its stakeholders.  Meeting the baker of the Berkshire Mountain Bakery, Richard Bourdon, on our recent trip to the Berkshires made me contemplate the real value of transparency and honesty when it comes to running a business.

The approach the Berkshire Mountain Bakery takes in running it's business is simple:  it's bread-making with integrity.  It is evident the process is authentic and based on the way bread was traditionally baked before mechanization.  Further, they explain exactly why they use this process and break it down in layman's terms for any interested customer.  You also get to know Richard.  His bio is a story at the end of which the reader feels like she knows him.  Here's a short excerpt:

"If you have the opportunity to meet Richard Bourdon you will be struck by his energy and drive. You can find him on any given day doing any of the following: mixing the dough, shaping the loaves, stretching the pizza, sweeping the floors, bagging the cookies or helping out a customer at the counter. If you are lucky enough to have him help you, you will discover a man who still speaks with a gentle French accent who is passionate about the food he produces. His knowledge and enthusiasm will leave you wondering if this man is a baker or a teacher and philosopher. For those of us who know him well, we know he is all of the above. We invite you to taste the bread baked by a man who is truly committed to bringing better food to this world."

Even in the brief moment that Aran and I met him, I can attest that every word of that bio is true.  I think every business, service, product, or idea has a story and this website made me realize the importance of sharing it.  Since I've become more attuned to how I nourish myself I love knowing what it took for the food to arrive on my plate.  Who picked the apples, or raised the animals?  Did they raise them in a humane and sustainable way?  What is the story of the farmer or baker or chef?  This knowledge enriches my experience of eating because food doesn't just give us strength and energy to go about our days, it supports our life force and has incredible healing properties.  

Richard helped me realize that perhaps I am not allergic or sensitive to all bread.  Perhaps I can actually have bread when it's made as it should be - using the sourdough or fermentation process that makes the whole grains in the bread digestible.  When I look around, most of the business ideas and start-ups these days are centered around solving our environmental and social challenges, making our lives easier and more productive or efficient, and bringing together people who are driven to make a positive impact.  And those creating these ideas, for the most part want to do so with integrity and many are even radically changing out-dated workplace practices and being mindful of the dynamics of the business as a whole - the operations, employees, community, environment, and products or services being offered.  It's not just about the bottomline anymore.  The approach is more holistic and more and more companies that are operating this way are finding they achieve greater successes and find more market opportunities than those who are less transparent and more narrowminded about what they do and offer.  In this way, this little bakery out in the Berkshires enlightened my thinking around what is good for my body and gained a loyal, supportive customer who has been telling all her friends and family about this gem.  

Thank you Richard and Berkshire Mountain Bakery for your authenticity!

 

Food for Thought. Quite Literally.

I am off sweets/ fruits for a little while for a reason related to my health & well-being.  Naturally, during the day I wish I could have a date or a piece of dark chocolate or even a tangerine!  Thankfully, I've strengthened my willpower muscle enough over the last couple of years that I can resist the temptations, but tonight's dinner made me realize something else. 

Aran made a divine grass-fed burger (to which he mixed in aleppo pepper, a jalapeno and of course some salt and pepper).  He laid it on a bed of beet greens that he sauteed in sherry vinegar and some-left over root veggies from last night.  He completed this intense flavor profile with a spicy calabrian chili yogurt.  I honestly didn't want the meal to end.  I ate it as slowly as I could savoring every succulent mouthwatering bite.  While I was washing the dishes he offered me a date.  It typically would make me cringe knowing I can't have something I really want especially when someone is offering, but this time, somehow, it was much easier to turn it down.  Perhaps it was my willpower, but perhaps the meal was so incredibly satisfying, that my psyche, brain, body, whatever is triggered by temptation wanted to keep luxuriating in the flavor complexity of the dish I just had.  

I think there are studies that indicate we reach for sweets or simple carbs because we are not satisfied in other parts of our lives or we're stressed out. These sudden bursts of sugar in our bodies trigger a chemical reaction in our brains that gives us that much needed boost of stimulation.  What if we can learn to cook (and lead our lives!) in a way that doesn't lead us to succumb to these habits of reaching for things so perfectly salty, sweet, and fatty that we cannot resist their temptation, and then end up suffering health consequences?  What if we learn to cook (and again lead our lives!) in a way that truly satisfies us so that unhealthy, addictive food is not a constant substitute?

I dream of being able to make a difference in someone else's well-being by changing the way they look at food and everyday living, as much as this process of reading, experimentation, and curiosity about food and health has made in mine.  

[Photo from a day trip to Governor's Island.  Thos cocunuts were darn good and the left over coconut meat we blended into a delicious smoothie the next day!]

I dream of a world where...

....everyone gets a massage at least once a day.

....you want to smile at a stranger just because.

....people fathom that it is love, not money, that helps bring happiness.

....everyone pursues their dreams and passions.

....we are all true to our hearts. 

....no one has to pretend...

.....garbage on the streets of NYC smells like perfume 

....no one needs or wants to own a gun.

....everyone has time to take care of their bodies.

....we have time for our kids.

....our food is grown sustainably and organicly. 

....we eat well so that none of us are starving nor obese.

....we don't continue depleting our natural resources

....we have access to good education

....salaries for teachers are more than they are for sports players.

....money is no object.

....we are capable of living a stress-free life

....we die of old age and not disease

....LOVE PRESIDES IN ALL FACETS OF LIFE.

 

.....maybe if we just stretch our minds and hearts, we can achieve some of these wishes.  Feel free to add your own..... :)

Yoga Therapy: Going back to the basics to improve the quality of our lives

Ganesh Mohan's Module 3 culminated in applying what we've learned the last 4 days to real-life case studies and developing appropriate programs for each, as well as, a brief overview of heart disease and how yoga can be a tool to help manage it.  

The most powerful piece of knowledge I came away with from this module is that while the practice of yoga may not be able to fix problems, it may help manage them and help us in improving the quality of our lives if we do suffer from certain afflictions....and let's be honest, so many of us do.  

I once took an Iyengar yoga class with Kevin Gardner, who said that for the most part, when we reach 30 years old our bodies slowly begin to break down, so to prevent injuries, pain or other physical ailments and to maintain our physical vigor we need to put in more effort and place more emphasis on alignment and process.  This proved to be very true for me.  This year, for the first time in my life, I developed an injury.  In the process of pushing my body slightly beyond its edge, without proper engagement of certain muscles I should have been paying more attention to, I pulled my hamstring.  I began the healing process a few months ago and it still continuing.  Sitting in a chair most of the day isn't helping, but I do what I can to keep moving and engaging in exercises that help break up the connective tissue and scar tissue, strengthen both hamstrings and bring back proper movement.  In a crazy way I feel blessed to have had this injury happen because I'm learning so much about my body, where my weaknesses are, and what my body needs to be health and prevent injury.  

What does this have to do with breathing?  The process of learning how to tune into our breaths and understanding the dynamics of the breath trains us to tune into other aspects of our physicals selves.  We develop an inner intuition that permeates into our everyday lives and not only helps us catch small issues before they become bigger, but if we don't catch them in time, gives us the tools to manage them properly so as to maintain a certain balance and peace within.  

The beauty of yoga is that it can be applied and practiced at various levels of rigor.  Yoga is breathing, it's meditation, it's the asana practice, it's how we nourish ourselves, it's a lifestyle.  Yoga is also a process and not an end in itself.  So if something does happen that prevents us from diving right into a rigorous asana practice and we need to give our bodies a break, we always have our breath and we can always start there, just as we did when we were first born.  And everything else is just another step in this beautiful process.  

I will leave you with this incredibly precious and completely thought-provoking video: Baby Liv 

(This video presents a snapshot of the practical applications and principles of the Feldenkrais method, developed by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, developed for anyone who wants to reconnect with their natural abilities to move, think, and feel. For more info: www.TheNExt25Years.com)

Yoga Therapy: Touching on the yoga benefits for asthma

The purpose of spending so much time on the breath is that when we become fully aware of the it and the mechnisms behind it, we gain the ability to control it effectively and intelligtently.  And this ability allows us to take better care of our bodies and our health when we're on the mat or doing some form of exercise and when we're simply going about our day.  It helps improve our quality of life.  As we advance through the various stages of yoga from asana practice, to pranayama, to meditation and beyond the more we understand about the breath earlier on, the more effective our yoga practices are.  Ganesh says it takes up to 2 years to develop comfort with the breath and do it effectively during our yoga practice.  I find this fascinating because breathing is such an innate and natural activity and yet, as we go about our lives experiencing different stresses, traumas and diseases, our bodies develop certain tendencies that turn into more serious conditions over the years.  Paying attention to where our blockages and weaknesses are is paramount to preventing or resolving these potential ailments. 

What do we do though, when we get to that point when we have a cardiovascular condition, or a physical injury, or anything that prevents us from living our daily lives pleasantly?  One condition that can cause a lot of daily discomfort is asthma.  Ganesh focused on asthma for several hours yesterday because not only does it affect a person's ability to breathe properly, but it also can be extremely debilitating and difficult on someone if left unmanaged.  

While we addressed asthmatic symptoms, the genetic, environmental, and internal factors taht contribute to asthma, the phases of the condition and diagnoses, I wanted to share  how we can connect breathing exercises and yoga to help manage the condition and improve quality of life even with the condition. 

The main issue with asthma is exhalation and not so much inhalation.  People with asthma have a difficulty breathing out - especially when they're asked to breathe out a lot of breath very quickly.  To tackle this issue with exhalation and allow someone with asthma more comfort with her breath, Ganesh offered a few exercises: 

1. Inversions - any yoga pose where the torso is either upside down such as headstand, handstand, and shoulderstand or upside down on a slant such as downward facing dog, gravity helps pull the diaphragm up, which allows for a more complete exhalation.  This is true for anyone, whether or not they have asthma.  Try a downward facing dog and notice how much easier your exhale and inhale. 
2. Sound - sound allows you to exhale the breath completely.  Notice if you take a deep breath and simply exhale through the mouth, the exhale is much shorter and feels less complete than if you inhale and make the om sound on the exhale until you release all the air from your lungs.  This way you're also engaging your abdominal muscles a bit more.  

Forward bending, twists and pranayama can also assist in the exhale depending on how fit the person is.  All of these exercises help someone with asthma gain a little more control of their breath and regain a psychological comfort with their breathing and their body.   Please do note though that since the ujjayi breath can feel a bit constricting, it is not an ideal exercise for anyone who has trouble with breathing.  Instead, they should do exercises that help them get more comfortable with the breath, making it feel more smooth and less strenuous, and then work toward toward engaging the ujjayi breath, but only if it's comfortable and supportive during the asana practice.  

While I've never had asthma, it's so reassuring to me that yoga can play a part in improving the quality of life of someone who does.  

One more day!!  

 

Yoga Therapy: Connecting to our ujjayi breath

On day 3 we explored the ujjayi breath.  For those of you who are fairly new to yoga and have not yet been taught proper ujjayi breathing, the ujjayi breath is used during yoga practice to focus the mind and flow more smoothly through the asanas.  You engage the ujjayi breath by constricting your vocal cords. This renders an ocean sound in the back of your throat and adds a wonderful element to your flow.  In this entry I will just touch on the basic aspects of the ujjayi breath that we learned from Ganesh. 

PURPOSE & BENEFITS

The ujjayi breath helps us control our breathing during yoga practice.  The slight constriction of the vocal cords as we breathe out (and in if you like to use the ujjayi breath on the inhale) helps us keep the rate and flow of the breath at the pace that we want.  (Remember in general we breath in as we come up in various asanas, and we breath down as we come our torsos come down or forward). The ujjayi breath is not forceful.  You're simply controlling the passage of air through the vocal cords and nostrils and in turn bringing more awareness to the way the abdomen and diaphragm are working in various asanas. 

If done properly some of the benefits of the ujjayi breath are as follows:

1.  The ujjayi helps support and stabilize the spine as you flow through your asanas.  This is because you're engaging your chest and abdominal muscles as you breathe more fully. This is important because of how sensitive our nervous system is and everything feeds back to the spine.

2.  It helps focus the mind, and in the long-run as you continue through the practice it brings relaxation to the body.

3.  It is useful as a source of feedback. Because it helps focus the mind you become more attuned to how your body responds to the more controlled breathing.  How your body responds can vary throughout the practice as you go through a sequence of asanas - some more challenging and others softer. 

4. It prepares us for pranayama practice. 

What's important to note that hadn't been brought to my attention before, is that the strength of the ujjayi breath does not need to be consistent throughout the practice and in fact it is better if it's not.  It is useful to make the breath strong during the more challenging asanas, and softer during the lighter asanas.  

While the ujjayi breath is an important tool and enhances our yoga practice for the above reasons, it is equally important to inquire into the state of our physical body as we breathe.   Some questions we can be mindful of are: Do I have good mobility in my rib cage and thoracic spine?  Am I able to fill my belly with breath and maintain belly breathing even subconsciously or do I hold the belly most of the day or most of the practice?  Do I have shortness of breath?  Am I able to hold my breath for at least 10-15 seconds?  The answers to these questions will help you better understand the state of your physical body and lead you to bring awareness to the areas that need more attention.  Further paying attention to various parts of the body such as the diaphragm, the abdomen, the rib cage, and you lower, mid, and upper back when breathing or engaging the ujjayi breath can be extremely restorative to our overall longterm health.  

So remember to engage the ujjayi breath and become more connected to the feedback your bodies gives you as you breathe more fully and with a little more control. 

[The photo is of the murti of Abhayankara Mahaganapati (Ganesh) at the Broome Street Hindu Temple, the studio where Ganesh Mohan is giving his workshop.  For more information please take a look at their website: www.ayny.org)

Yoga Therapy: Taming and regaining control of the breath

I am taking a Yoga Therapy Course this Saturday - Wednesday with Ganesh Mohan, a physician trained in both western medicine and ayurveda.  It is his 3rd yoga therapy module and this time he is primarily focusing on the breath.  Yes, we will be talking about breathing and doing breathing exercises for 5 days!  It has only been one day, but already, I'm at the edge of my yoga mat! 

I will try to share one thing that I learned during the day for each of the next 5 days.  I have been taught from the moment I set foot on my mat, that the breath is an integral part of our physical or hatha yoga practice.  The breath allows us to ease through the challenging poses and we inhale whenever we're moving up and exhale when the flow requires us to move back down toward the mat.  Ganesh wants us to realize that while control of the breath is important, part of that control is the ability to truly let it go and let it flow naturally - deeply and at the right pace for us.  And mastering that release can take a long time, but we can get there by tuning into our breath throughout our day and observing its state at different times, and especially when we're in different life situations - talking to a stranger vs. our boss vs. a dear friend, when exercising, when watching a pleasant movie, when stressed, when happy.  Our the depth, rate, and rhythm of our breath changes throughout the day!  

I find this subject fascinating.  While breathing is such an involuntary action and we go most of our day without noticing our breath because it simply happens, when we break the breath down and inquire into its subtleties, we realize how complex the act of breathing can be and how much mastering our breath can assist us with coping with the stresses of our everyday lives.  Just like the physical practice of yoga, all the asanas that we do, the discipline we develop of the flow through which we lead our body, can permeate into our life and allow us to garner a better sense of well-being and take little steps to make our lifestyles healthier and more fulfilling, the breath allows us to do the same for our bodies.  

I'll leave you here to ponder the breath and will share more tomorrow!   

Love, affection and the brain

The NYTimes recently published a beautiful article entitled The Brain on Love by Diane Ackerman.  It's about how our interpersonal relationships, and love especially, can influence our mental and physical well-being.  It presents a new field called interpersonal neurobiology, which "draws its vigor from one of the great discoveries of our era: that the brain is constantly rewiring itself based on daily life. In the end, what we pay the most attention to defines us. How you choose to spend the irreplaceable hours of your life literally transforms you."  I think this is deeply true.  Our relationships, the types of people we choose to surround ourselves with, the activities we perform, and all the choices we make every moment of the day, shape our brains, our personalities, and how we respond to everything around us whether positive or negative.  

Ackerman also addresses the mother-child bond that is created even before the child is born and how when we're older we search for it in our relationships.  In fact, she gleans, being in a supportive, loving relationship with someone who you trust and love wholeheartedly and who reciprocates those same feelings can shape our neurological conditions and well-being.  She writes, "Dr. Siegel, a neuropsychiatrist, refers to the indelible sense of “feeling felt” that we learn as infants and seek in romantic love, a reciprocity that remodels the brain’s architecture and functions.... Scientific studies of longevity, medical and mental health, happiness and even wisdom, point to supportive relationships as the most robust predictor of these positive attributes in our lives across the life span.”

The intuitive psychiatrist, Dr. Judith Orloff, in her book Intuitive Healing reflects on the idea that our bodies respond to people around us all the time if only we paid attention.  Love can hurt when it ends abruptly or it's not reciprocated, but if we can be attuned to how our bodies respond to someone, we could possibly learn more quickly whether this person is contributing to our well-being or not.  For example, that sinking heavy feeling or those uncomfortable butterflies in our stomach can reveal so much if we only pay attention.  I'm not talking about how we feel around someone during intimate moments, but rather consistently on a moment to moment basis.  It is such a blessing being around someone who puts you at ease, who you trust with your whole being, who you know supports you in every choice and decision you make, and whose touch and embrace your body responds to positively, always.   Ackerman says, "If you’re in a healthy relationship, holding your partner’s hand is enough to subdue your blood pressure, ease your response to stress, improve your health and soften physical pain. We alter one another’s physiology and neural functions."  How many times do we allow ourselves to maintain toxic relationships whether it's with a friend or significant other without paying attention to the body's signs. Our mind typically gets in the way.  If we listened, perhaps we'd be able to address whatever underlying issues existed in that connection.  Think about a time when something felt intuitively right.  You know the feeling when it's there, though it may be difficult to tell when it's not.  When it truly feels right, you know it, but when it doesn't your rational mind interferes and you keep weighing the pros and cons.  

I wanted to share this article because I've learned how important interpersonal relationships are to my own well-being.  The sense of touch can do wonders for us, which is a reason I love those big cozy hugs.  We are affectionate beings.  And yoga, while it is inherently an individual practice, gets us connected to our bodies in such a way that enables us to become more compassionate and loving toward ourselves.  In turn, realizing how incredibly important that love, compassion and affection is, we want to share it with others.  This support that we can give each other, whether to a friend, family member, significant other or even a stranger, can reduce our fears, anxieties, and stresses and program our brains to better deal with adversity.  The proof is in the science, but we can only fathom if we truly observe.  "During idylls of safety, when your brain knows you’re with someone you can trust, it needn’t waste precious resources coping with stressors or menace. Instead it may spend its lifeblood learning new things or fine-tuning the process of healing. Its doors of perception swing wide open."  Isn't that so liberating.  It's all within our control, if we're only mindful and observant of our bodily intuition. 

 

 

Healthy snacks when you're on the go!

My new favorite snack: Yellow bell peppers with sheep's milk feta and fresh ground pepper. 

I took this with me on a train and I loved the combination of the crunchy juicy pepper, mild feta, and piquant ground pepper on my tongue... which made me think how easy it is to eat well and deliciously when you're on the go; all it takes is a little bit of forethought and preparation.  In 5 minutes you have a beautiful healthy snack!  

When I started really paying attention, I realized that apart from the fruit carts scattered in NYC or if you're lucky a bowl of apples and bananas at a Starbucks or Au Bon Pain, most of the snacks I see are laden with sugar and flour neither of which has much nutritional value.  I feel better when I have my green apple, banana, bell peppers or any other wholesome snack than when I have a glazed donut, or a pastry.  Of course I love my croissants, Donut Plant donuts or Dunkin Donuts, chocolate, I could go on, but I want to eat those things when I intend to.  I want them to be treats; something I look forward to on occasion.  Knowing my health requirements and what makes me feel good, I love not having to have to grab those things because I don't I other options, which I must say can feel like a great excuse! Don't let your mind trick you!  So whenever I'm hopping on a train, a plane, a bus, or a lengthy car ride, or I know I'll be away from my house for a while and I'll get hungry (which happens a lot :)) it is so worth it for me to take an extra 10 minutes (at most!) and prepare a snack.  It gives me that nice nutritious boost of energy and a dose of vitamins.   And you know what else?  It's a lot cheaper too! 

I've gone too many times without my favorite wholesome snacks and in turn have developed an unshakeable habit.  I'm kind of proud of this one! :)