The Right (and the Wrong) Yoga Workout for a Good Night’s Sleep

I learned the hard way.

In one of those days when I was really gungho about working out, I decided one evening to up my workout. It was the first time I was wearing my ipod with a sports armband and I had a favorite workout song as well to get me going. I cranked up the music, started the treadmill, and before I knew it, I had doubled the laps that I normally do.

To add to that, I did a full hour and a half of yoga which included some intense asanas.

Well, that evening, I paid the price. No matter how I tried, I could not get myself to sleep. From 11PM to about 4 in the morning the next day, I had my eyes closed but fully aware that I was not asleep. How frustrating!

A friend was guessing that maybe the workout was an energizing one. I thought so too.

But over the next few days, I thought about that night and the routine I did and after reading some yoga articles, I came to the conclusion that while too much energy could keep you awake, the opposite could also be true. You could also be TOO EXHAUSTED to sleep.

If that happens to you, you can try some of these asanas (photos from Yoga Journal):

Viparita Karani (Legs Up the Wall)

Balasana (Child's Pose)

Supta Baddha Konasana (Reclining Bound Angle Pose)

I have lavender fragrance for the sheets since I’ve read aromatherapy articles that lavender scent is good for relaxation. I also keep ample supply of chamomile tea as this is a non-caffeine variety and is very good for getting you into a relaxed state.

Here is an article also from Yoga Journal which gives you some tips on how to counter insomnia depending on the type of energy imbalance you may have.

Do you have your own way of getting into a relaxed state before sleeping? Do share these tips with me.

Namaste.

A Rare Treat

Two of my good yogi friends and I met up for lunch the other day at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (CBTL) Megamall.

Chona is now a professor teaching Research Methods.  Jon teaches almost full-time at Yoga Manila. I, on the other hand, was busy preparing for my kids’ vacation to the province, the house repairs, and other preparations for enrolment time. All busybodies whose schedules are very difficult to coordinate!

Fortunately, Chona and Jon were both available that day and providentially, I had a CBTL gift certificate about to expire. Great combination for bonding and eating, haha.

When 3 free spirits get together, anything goes. Our conversations hopped from yoga classes to poring over yoga pictures in a book and giving them thumbs up or down to plans for the wedding of our friend yogini to even some inane stuff. Free expression and laughter were the order of the day. If this is what busybodies call wasting time, I will gladly “waste” time again.

Here are pics of our lunch date. When can we do this again, Chona/Jon?

My Girl Does Yoga with Me

My girl C2 was an asthmatic as a baby and toddler. Actually, all my 4 kids were, but C2 bore the brunt of it. I remember the many asthma incidents we had experienced with her. She was frequently placed on steroids by her pedia which I now think was a bit too much. The nebulizer was always part of our luggage when we traveled and I remember spending a small fortune monthly on asthma medicines. On one boat trip, she had an asthma attack and I realized too late that the trigger was the boat’s pillows made of kapok. From then on, we added nonallergenic pillows to our baggage list.

I encouraged her to take up yoga as her P.E. class and was glad she did last year. I even got her a Scooby-Doo Gaiam yoga mat for her birthday to further motivate her.

 

C2's is the blue mat (extreme left)

Well, the semester came to an end and so did her yoga classes. 

This summer, I broached the idea of her joining me for classes at Vinyasa Yoga Center. After all, I had already paid in advance for classes and she could share these with me. She agreed and last week, we went for our first class with Pio. It was my first time back with Pio in a LONG time.

The Slow Flow class began with breathing exercises and a short meditation, after which we went through the sun salutations. I was glad that Pio called out modified poses for those less flexible so that C2 could cope. After class, we had a short bonding time at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. I asked C2 how she found the class and was glad she was positive about it. In her school’s P.E. class, there were so many of them that it was hard for the teacher to pay close attention to many of them. As we were only 6-7 that night, he was able to come to her several times to adjust her stance.

The youth these days see themselves as almost invulnerable to sickness and tend to abuse their bodies with lack of sleep, alcohol, smoking and other unhealthy habits. If only they realized that the body does not forget and when they are past their prime, all this unhealthy living will catch up with them. I know. I have been there. And honestly, I feel that my body is in a much better shape and condition now than it was when I was in my 30’s.

Last week, C2 came up to me. To my great surprise and delight, she asked me to continue her yoga classes even after school starts. Yehey! Happy day for this yogini mom!!! And my wish is that yoga will be a great equalizer for C2 and bring her to a higher level of health.

Stress Can Age You

If stress does not kill you, it will at least age you.

Here’s a quick question. If you were to ask your friends (who obviously do not know your real age) how old you are, what do you think would their guess be. Would they think you are older or younger than your chronological age?

I just concluded a project with a company that had very high levels of stress. Although I promised myself that by going back to corporate work I would not let go of my yoga classes, I found myself missing first one class, then two, and before I knew it, I was going months without a yoga practice to speak of. Without my knowing it, I became too absorbed in work and its toxic effects. When I settled back into home life in January of this year, I got sick – TWICE. I think my body, running on adrenalin for the longest time, suddenly felt the letdown of all those months and broke down.

A few months into a home-based life again, I find myself able to resume yoga, be with my kids more (esp. now that it’s summer) and attend blogging events which are far, far from stress. Ever since I ventured into yoga, I have gotten comments from people I bump into and who knew me from decades ago when I was an upcoming corporate executive well-entrenched in the rat race, that I look younger now than I did then. I call yoga my age-regressing stress management treatment.

A finding that was presented at the 114th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association (APA) shows that “age may be more related to reactions to stress and the absence of disease rather than to a person’s chronological age…“ Chronic stress, the kind that drags on rather than being just a momentary crisis, can drastically affect hormonal levels and shift the body’s hormonal balance.

Researcher Elissa Epel of the University of California, San Francisco, says it is likely that the imbalance in the hormones is responsible for many of the psychiatric and medical diseases associated with aging. Epel also said that chronically elevated cortisol reduces lean mass, bone density and shifts fat distributions that can precede the onset of many age-related diseases like osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease and major depression.

An article “Chronic Stress May Make You Age Faster” states that older adults often face chronic stress in the form of social isolation, bereavement, financial stress and caregiving. However, not all adults handle chronic stress the same way. Those able to take such stressors in stride often look younger than more stressed adults their age.

But there is good news: a healthy lifestyle and exercise can modify some of the hormonal effects that seem to accelerate aging. The article gave out some stress management techniques which I used as a benchmark against how I was doing in these areas:

* moderate exercise (reason why I am into yoga!)

* adequate sleep (this is still an area I need a lot of work on)

* being able to manage one’s goals and expectations (a trial and error situation till now but I am continuing to learn)

* accepting that one cannot always control things (yes, I used to be a control freak; I am learning to let go more often…)

* finding meaning in life (the raison d’etre for my other blog, Here’s to Life!)

* strengthening social ties (one of the major reasons why I am into blogging. I draw life from being around young bloggers)

* having spiritual or religious beliefs (being part of a prayer community for many years has given me a link to the Divine that I call on under stressful situations)

Are the effects of aging stress reversible?

If I go by my own personal experience, the answer is a resounding and reassuring YES!!!

Go ahead. Take the age test. Go ask a friend how old he/she thinks you are. Do not be upset by the answer if it was not what you expected. Take their answer as a chance to honestly look at yourself in the mirror and see how the stress you are subject to is affecting how you look. Identify those stressors and see what stress management techniques you can apply to start you off on the road to reversing its aging effects.

Do something NOW, while your body has not yet fallen into the disease traps set by stress. This is your gift not only to your loved ones, but most especially, a gift to YOURSELF!

Report Card: March 16-17, 2009 & Wishes for Yoga for Seniors

I still have not resumed formal yoga classes with my teacher. Instead I have been doing self yoga just to keep my muscles exercised.

Yesterday, I went beyond my normal 2-3 lap warmup walk on the treadmill and went for 1.6kms of brisk walking in preparation for this Saturday’s Walk a Green Mile Walkathon with Ipanema. That took me all of 25 minutes. And my stamina was still up afterwards. That’s a good sign!

I went through a 1.5 hour yoga routine — slowly, at my own pace, breathing slowly, trying to get the asana right. This is the part I enjoy. I have all the time to get into the pose without having to follow the teacher’s count. This way, I can take it slow and easy but still reap the benefits of holding the pose and sweating it out.

A difficulty I noted at certain points of my practice was a pain I had on the inner right thigh running from the crotch area to the knee. I felt that pain doing Trikonasana (Triangle) and the Wide-Angle Forward Bend so I ended up modifying my poses and easing up whenever I felt the pain. It seems like my muscles here have become inflexible once more so it will take patience to work out the kinks once again and bring flexibility back.

This week, I plan to resume formal yoga classes. Maybe that will help me get back into shape faster.

On another bright note, I had the chance to talk about my yoga experience with friends who are in the prime of life. One of them is into Taebo, a regimen she took up after retiring from work. But she confessed that it did not seem enough as she felt not all her muscles were being exercised. I showed her some easy yoga asanas she could do and she seemed really interested in taking up yoga.

This brings me though to a thought because I believe that those starting yoga at her age should not be placed in classes with students half their age. They should be in gentle yoga classes — those cut out for senior citizens or maybe for those 50 and above who are just testing the waters of yoga. And the program has to be tailored to certain concerns at that age — how to combat the onset of osteoporosis, achieving balance to avoid falls, building mass and reducing fat, and gland disorders, among others. And the poses must all be modified and easy, at least until they can become comfortable moving to the next level.

But most yoga classes being offered are too intensive for their age category!

I hope I can find a studio that is willing to take up a program for this category of students in the future. Yoga benefits people of ALL ages and the ones who really need it most are those who have led stressful, unhealthy, inflexible lives and are just realizing it at this point in their senior lives and wish to reverse at least part of the consequences.

Namaste.

Report Card: January 16, 2009

Yesterday was my boys’ Parent-Teacher Conference. I had to visit several teachers and this got me walking up and down the various floors, from 3rd to 5th floors. After the last teacher, I headed off to the gym to do a round of yoga.

These have been really cool days so after my usual 2 laps on the treadmill, I felt like I could do a lot more so I upped my walking to 3 laps, then 4. All in all — 25 minutes of treadmill. And if not for the time, I believe I could have done still another lap.

This would be my 3rd self-practice this week and slowly, my muscles are remembering what I used to do. After my first yoga, the muscles began hurting (in the shoulders, my arms, back of my legs). As I began my routine, I realized that there was no sign of pain where I was hurting a few days ago. At least if there was any, it was tolerable.

I took my Surya Namaskars very slowly, trying to hold each one at 4 breaths each and making sure I paid attention to alignment and breath rather than doing it at a hurried pace. In a sense I was glad I wasn’t in a formal class where I had to catch up with everyone else. This time, I could go into the pose slowly, at my own pace, taking care that I did no abrupt movements that could cause injury. I went on to balancing poses, twists, forward bends, the shoulderstand, and chest opening asanas. And during Trikonasana (Triangle Pose), I extended my outstretched arm further back than I would do in a vinyasa class — the Anusara way.

It just felt so good to do the familiar asanas once again!

I still have not dared many of my ‘enemy’ poses for fear of injury but over the next few yoga sessions, I will attempt them once again. My greatest difficulties, as always are the hip opening poses as well as those involving my shoulder joints due to tightness and inflexibility.

Wish me luck!

Namaste.

The Trek Back to Yoga

It’s shocking to realize that my last yoga post was dated September 2008!!!

Yes, folks, the last quarter of 2008 was not good in terms of my yoga practice. Work overtook me, overwhelmed me, sucked me into the rat race, stressed me out. Yoga was definitely put in the back burner. I was lucky if I got to squeeze in time for home practice even.

Yesterday, I went back to the gym and yoga for the first time….excited to be working out again…and yet anxious to find out what I had to re-learn and work on again.

The first thing I did to warm up again was to hit the treadmill. After 10 minutes of brisk walking, I found myself still eager to go on. Another 5 minutes. Still not breathless. Whoo! Think all that walking from office to the MRT station almost daily had kept me fit at least for walking! So, I added another 5 minutes of walking. Total of 20 minutes. Not bad for a balik-gymnista!

I planned to do a light yoga routine. No pigeons, no camels, definitely no monkey poses. Just the balancing poses, Surya Namaskars, forward bends, some twists and a few supine asanas.

Here is a report card of last night’s workout:

Balance poses – pretty good. I was not falling out like I did a few months back. Good sign that I still had enough balance to keep me upright. But…I felt tight around the hips and need to work on opening them up once again.

Surya Namaskars – fair and basic. I did them mostly with knees to floor with a few where I tried the staff pose. No transitions though from staff to upward dog. That will be for much later when I get into better shape. In the run-up to doing the Trikonasana (Triangle) when one foot is in front of the other (both straight) and I had to bend forward, I clearly felt my hamstrings tighten up. So I went forward only as far as I could without aiming to touch my knee. I also felt myself getting tired easily doing these Sun salutations. A sign that I am NOT in shape. More work here!

Forward bends – I did them standing and seated. Felt some tightness in some poses but got my forehead to my calves most times. Did the wide-angle forward bends and somehow managed to get forehead to floor still. My hamstrings though really feel tight and at times cause me pain. I think the day-long seating in the office is really harmful in terms of flexibility. How long it will take me to loosen the hamstrings again is up in the air…

Supine poses – Did the Fish, Bridge and Shoulderstand. Not bad but again, they all stand a lot of  improvement!

Twists – The only ones I did were on my back, sole of foot to other knee, twisting left and right. Yes, my spine was tight because I could not get bent knee to floor, both ways. Another set of asanas that need to be worked on! *sigh*

It was not disappointing, this first workout for 2009. I guess I am just glad to be back on the machines and on my mat.

The trek back to yoga will not be easy but I know I will be learning lessons once again as I take up my passion from where I left off.

I am definitely looking forward to this freedom once more, to open up my 5 senses to the world around me, casting away the stress and toxins, nurturing my body and soul once again, and basking in the moments given me to enjoy precious time with those I love.

Namaste!

Yoga Update (Sept. 27, 2008)

Just a short post…

I found the energy and will to go to the gym yesterday. There were only a few people working out so I had a choice of which treadmill to use.

Did only 2 laps on the treadmill just to jumpstart my muscles, then proceeded to the vacant room where I laid out my yoga mat and rug. A long meditation period followed.

My sun salutations were slow and unhurried. I chose not to jump backwards though I would jump forward. And I tried to pay attention to my alignment, going slow but ensuring I did it as teacher Pio would have wanted.

I was glad for one thing (relieved is a better term, maybe) that I managed decent forward bends this time (standing and seated) unlike the last time when these were very difficult to manage. At least I got my forehead to the floor doing the wide-angle seated forward bend!

Spinal twists were ok, some difficulty experienced but nevertheless passable. And my shoulderstand was still ok although doing the plow made me experience some discomfort in the thighs.

I could feel some inflexibility still. Got to find a decent schedule for attending yoga classes. My work only allows me to get to Ortigas for the Tuesday-Thursday classes but these are intense and I cannot do intense yoga yet. Unless I am setting myself up for injury. So I need to be patient and do self practice until I can bring myself back to my form prior to my long absence.

Fingers are crossed for now…