Mind Body Messenger
Issue #25, June 2005

Keeping Up With Heather…

Late spring in Canada is an amazing time. The grass is lush and green and the trees are full of leaves. In the garden the tulips are on their way out to make room for the peonies just starting to bud. And, most interestingly to me, the maple keys are spinning out of the trees in spiraling waves with each passing breeze. I am writing this column at my desk with the door open, and with each warm gust of wind, more maple keys spin into the room with me. I will definitely need to sweep up later.

But aside from a little bit of extra housework, the keys are a delight to me. They are a great reminder of the evolution of life. The winter here in Canada sometimes seems like it will go on forever. It is all we can do to simply maintain our lives, our waning energy levels, and our lifestyle goals. But, with the spring comes renewed energy and vitality, a sense of the future, of progress, of new life and brilliant new possibilities. This is what I am reminded of as more keys make their way on the breeze onto my desk, into my open filing cabinet, and across the floor. After such a long winter and hibernation, this tree has not only renewed itself, but has also sprouted millions of new seeds to create more trees.

This is just an example of the progress of each of us as individuals, and as a part of the great organism of life on Earth. There are times in our lives when it is all we can do to simply sustain. We sit back and take stock of our lives, assess where we are and where we are going. We take time to rest, to recover from and integrate our challenges, and store our energy in preparation for the next growth phase. And, although we can sometimes wonder if our inner winter times will ever end, they always do. There is always a new springtime within each of us, a time to not only renew and grow and blossom, but to also spread our own seeds of new ideas, new connections, and possibilities for the future. Not every maple key becomes a new tree, just like not every new idea or inspiration comes fully to fruition. But, it is important to know that it is through the abundance of seeds that many maple keys will find homes in the earth, will be nourished and sustained and receive what they need to become trees.

So, with that thought I ask you…what seeds are you sowing right now? Are you allowing the ideas, inspirations and goals that are conceived within you to be spread out into the world? I suggest to you, no matter where you are or what season nature is currently presenting, that you take some time to make possible some of your dearest desires, and allow the coming full moon to help you to make them realities. Write them, collage them, and dream them into being. You never know which of those maple keys will become trees, but unless you let them go on the wind, you will never give them a chance at life.

Namasté, Heather.

Thoughts On…

The Seven Wonders of the World

A group of students were asked to list what they thought were the present "Seven Wonders of the World." Though there were some disagreements, the following received the most votes:

1. Egypt's Great Pyramids
2. Taj Mahal
3. Grand Canyon
4. Panama Canal
5. Empire State Building
6. St. Peter's Basilica
7. China's Great Wall

While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student had not finished her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many."

The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help." The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the 'Seven Wonders of the World' are:

1. To See
2. To Hear
3. To Touch
4. To Taste
5. To Feel
6. To Laugh
7. And to Love.

The room was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. The things we overlook as simple and ordinary and that we take for granted are truly wondrous!

A gentle reminder --that the most precious things in life cannot be built by hand or bought by man.

Fitness Tune Up

Is your fitness program getting a little stale and repetitive? Looking for a new challenge? You can add intensity to your program without changing your exercises by adding a little extra challenge with added moves that test balance, agility, coordination, and rhythm. Let’s look at a few standard exercises in your current regime and see how we can pump them up:

Super Size Your Strength Routine:

Push Ups: Instead of regular straight leg or modified push ups, try:

• Putting your feet on a Fitball.
• Make it a 6-count movement (3 counts down, 3 counts up)
• Move your hands under shoulders and elbows into your sides for more triceps activation.
• Extend one leg off the ground for a few reps, then switch and repeat

Triceps Dips: To challenge the body further try:

• Dip off a bench with fully extended legs
• Dip off a bench lifting one leg up to parallel and maintaining it straight and strong while you do a few dips, switch legs and repeat.
• Use a Fitball
  a) Hands on the ball with the ball against a wall
  b) For more intensity keep the ball away from the wall
  c) Hands on a bench, feet on a ball.
  d) For the most intensity and challenge, hands on a ball, feet on another ball.

Lunges: Change up a stationary lunge by:

• Slow it down to six counts (3 counts down-3 counts up)
• Reverse lunge off a Bosu or step bench
• Lunge with back leg resting on a Fitball.
• Lunge and then kick the back leg forward for balance and coordination, do all reps on one side then reverse and repeat
• For even more balance and coordination have a partner lunge and kick across from you, and toss a medicine ball between you matching your rhythm.

Plank/Hover: Like it’s not hard enough to hold your body parallel for a whole minute try:

• Hold a plank in full push up position
• Hold with legs and/or hands on a ball Hold with one foot lifted off the ground with a straight leg, hold 3 seconds then switch

Free Weights:

• Instead of using a bench for your chest press, rows, flys and triceps presses, try lying or sitting on a ball for better balance and core stability.
• For standing exercises like biceps curls and lateral raises, practicing standing on one leg for a few reps and switch. Challenges mind and body balance and core stability.
• Slow it down. Take a super-slow approach and try to take each movement into a 6 count (3 counts up, 3 counts down) for more intensity.
• If you’ve been doing the same number of reps for a while, try increasing the weight and decreasing the reps (sets of 5-8) for more strength and bulk. Or, for muscular endurance and a long, lean definition, increase the reps and decrease the weight (sets of 15-25).
• Switch to a Flexband for a few weeks for a new challenge.

Change Up Your Cardio:

If you’ve been doing the same cardio, at the same intensity, and for the same duration…change something. The body is smart (genius actually) and it adapts to exercise pretty quickly. If you’ve been following the same cardio routine for a while, try the following to give the body and mind a new challenge:

• interval train; alternate walking and running, or play with your speed, intensity and grade in 3-5 minute intervals of high intensity, followed by 3-5 minutes of medium intensity, keep repeating the intervals for the duration of your workout, followed by a cardio cool-down.
• take it outdoors: walk, bike, run, climb, hike, dance, roller-blade, row or swim in the great outdoors. The body will be challenged by variations in surfaces and grades, and your lungs will appreciate the fresh air. Plus, your mind and imagination will be activated by nature.

Flow With Your Flexibility

Of all the elements of fitness, flexibility is the first to improve. So, if you are wanting quick results, a boost in energy, and an improvement to your posture, try the following tips to get deeper into your stretches…and get into the F L O W:

• Hold your stretches for 5-10 long breaths. As stretching is the last part of our fitness program, we tent to rush through to get back to life. Try to give your body a bit more time in each stretch to maximize the benefits.
• Use a strap, belt, towel or flexband for those stretches that make you tense or tighten your body. It’s important that your body is relaxed while you stretch, so use whatever props are necessary to provide your body with a relaxing environment in which to stretch.
• Stretch with a partner. Often we share a run with a friend, or hit the weights will co-workers, but who do we stretch with? There are great books and DVDS on partner stretches that you can practice at home with the kids, your spouse, or a friend, that will make your flexibility program a bit more fun and enjoyable.

If you are currently not involved in a fitness program, these suggestions may be great for you. However, it is beneficial to have a program professionally designed just for you, your needs, your goals, your body type. For more information on fitness and lifestyle appraisals, program design, and personal fitness training visit www.yogatrinity.com or ring Heather at 416.722.7154 for a certified trainer in your area.

Part of an ongoing series offering yoga postures for men, women, and children to practice at home, school, on the road or in the office. With special thanks to Ross Pottinger of Wink Photo Design in Brisbane, Australia for the photos and the support in this project. And many thanks to Louisa Dick for taking part in the project. Do check with your health care practitioner before beginning a yoga practice. Many postures are not suitable for pregnant women, people with joint replacements, those with hypertension or other medical conditions. If you have a posture that you would like to see in this column, I welcome your suggestions. Namaste, H

Halasana – The Plough ... printer friendly version

To Begin: From lying on the back, first slide the shoulder blades in towards the spine to feel the shoulder blades flat against the ground. Extend the legs over the body, bringing your weight into shoulders and arms as you reach the legs overhead. Note: it is common and beneficial to move into Plough from Sarvangasana-The Shoulderstand. The Pose: With hands flat on the back, fingers pointing up, allow the shoulders to stretch down into the ground to open the chest and bear the weight in shoulders and arms. The neck should be relaxed. Keep the core and hips lifting up to the ceiling, the legs strong, and imagine creating a long line through the spine.

To Intensify: Once your feet can reach the ground in this pose, you can release the hands from the back and interlock the hands, extending the arms out on the ground for an added chest stretch. Be sure the weight doesn’t shift to the neck.

Breathing: Hold for 5-10 long deep breaths. Focus the breath throughout the abdomen and back body to facilitate the massage of internal organs.

To Modify: Place a chair or large bolster behind head to rest legs on raised surface until your flexibility allows you to bring the legs to the ground.

Focus: It is said that the plough helps to relieve stagnation in the body. Just like a plough tills a field to break up the soil and prepare it for planting, this pose helps to break up toxins, stiffness and resistance in the body, and prepare it for new growth and development.

Cautions: Bearing the weight in the cervical spine is not recommended at any level of practice. In this pose be sure that your upper arms and shoulders are bearing your weight, and your core muscles are stretching up and away from the ground to keep the pose active.

Benefits: The plough helps to stretch and release the back of the body, stimulates the endocrine system, and inverts the body for better spinal expansion and mobility