Short Yoga Sessions Stimulate Brain Function and Improve Cognition

by Ram

Monarchs Feeding by Melina Meza

Both Nina and Baxter emphasized the need to have a short session of yoga as a quick practice especially during long travel or while taking a break from work (see Mini Office Yoga Practice).  And I recently wrote a piece about the ill effects of prolonged sitting, and suggested taking short breaks and bringing in office yoga or supplementary yoga (see Yoga, Your Compantion Through the Day). All these articles advocated incorporating at least 10-15 minutes of yoga that could not only add new life to the dull and routine tasks of everyday life but also keep us fit physically and emotionally.

One may question the benefits, if any, from a short session of yoga. Not surprisingly, according to a recent study by researchers at the University of Illinois, a single 20-minute session of yoga awakens and sharpens the mind significantly, comparable to walking or jogging. The study involved 30 participants who were either given a 20-minute yoga class or asked to carry out a moderate aerobic exercise regimen for the same period of time. In addition to standing, sitting and reclined yoga poses, the session also included a short meditation practice where participants were encouraged to focus on their breath. In the comparison group, participants worked out an aerobic exercise session, which was also shown to provide a cognitive boost of its own.

When participants were tested for cognitive performance, the authors found some significant difference between the two groups.  Those who’d been practicing yoga and meditation performed significantly better in the assessment tests. Following the yoga practice, the participants were not only able to focus better, they were also processing new information quickly and accurately, and were able to recall the new information more effectively than after performing an aerobic exercise. While there are several scientific studies that indicate that practice of asanas and meditation has beneficial effects on the emotional well-being and general mental acuity, what’s remarkable about this specific study is that even a short yoga session of 20 minutes is sufficient to stimulate brain function and improve cognition. Yoga does so through multiple cellular mechanisms, including:

• releasing brain chemicals that contribute to a feel-good response and ward off anxiety and mental stress
• normalizing blood pressure and stabilizing the heart beats
• reducing anxiety and depression

Simple and short though the yoga session may be, the outstanding benefits are surely long lasting. Got office yoga or supplementary yoga?

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Security Priorities for 2014

In previous posts, I’ve described security as a process, not a project.  It’s like a cold war that never ends with new threats every day requiring new countermeasures.

As I survey the landscape in 2014, I see much more sophisticated attacks at the same time there is much more severe regulatory enforcement.    Where would I put my security dollars this year?

1.  Denial of Service/Distributed Denial of Service Mitigation

In many ways the internet was built on the Blanche Dubois (Streetcar Named Desire) principle

"I have always depended on the kindness of strangers."

No one foresaw evil actors purposely trying to pillage the network for personal gain.

Several companies offer appliances and services to reduce the impact of denial of service attacks.   It’s much easier to be proactive and prepared than reactive when an attack hits.

2.  Security Information and Event Management

As new security technologies are introduced, there is an explosion of log files produced.  Turning that data into action can be a real challenge.   If I log in from Boston 5 times on Monday morning and again from Shanghai on Monday afternoon, there is a good possibility my credentials have been stolen.   Integration of multiple data streams with threat analysis based on analytic rules is essential to identifying threats and managing them.

3.  Intrusion Protection Systems

Today’s threats are subtle and complex.   Think about the high profile events of the past few years - Target, Neiman Marcus, and RSA.   There were infiltrations of building control systems and carefully crafted spearfishing attacks.    Advanced sensors are needed to identify malicious activity, log information about the activity, attempt to block it, and report it.

4.  Network forensics

As events occur, root cause analysis requires specialized tools to reconstruct incidents, identify bad actors, examine actions taken by those actors, and report to appropriate authorities enough information to use in prosecution or to respond to regulatory action.

5.  Anti-malware

Endpoint protection is increasingly important given the virulence of malware that includes screen scraping and keystroke logging.    In addition to anti-virus, various zero-day protections including malware signature identification and removal processes are essential.

There are a variety of other tasks that need to be accomplished by the IT organization to comply with ISO and NIST HIPAA best practice frameworks including asset management, physical/environmental security, access control, incident management, continuity management, and continuing training/education for all human resources.

Given the intensity of federal and state oversight, a mature security program is no longer a luxury but a requirement to mitigate technical and reputational risks in healthcare.

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Featured Sequence: Lower Body Strength Practice

by Baxter

Warrior 3 Pose

Lower body strength is vital to so many of our daily activities, from the simplest tasks, such as, getting out of bed in the morning and moving around the house as we start the day, to elective activities, such as, getting up and down in the garden on a lovely spring day, to unexpected events, such as helping to move furniture for your best friend. So, from from my perspective, we are talking about strengthening the muscles around your hip, knee, and ankle joints as well as the bones that make them up. I’ve designed this Lower Body Strength Practice for you with all that in mind.

In previous posts we have described how yoga asana practices can build both muscular strength and bone strength. Modern exercise physiology and other research has given us suggestions for how long we might want to hold our static poses to either build new muscle or new bone. And although different timings are suggested in the literature, I’d recommend that when you try out these poses on your own, you start by noticing when you start to feel tired or weak or shaky as you try holding the poses. Make a mental note of how long it was before those sensations arose and then make that your starting goal point. And as you practice over time, add a few seconds to your baseline hold until you can safely work up to my suggested hold times. 

Research on bone building has suggested that holding poses or doing weight-bearing poses for up 10-70 seconds will turn on the bone-building activity in thin bones. For building new and stronger muscles, you will want to shoot for 90 second holds of the static poses. So, for combining these two goals, I suggest that you gradually work your way up to 90-second holds over the course of a few weeks or even months if you tire quickly when you start out. I will emphasize both the static poses variations and dynamic mini-vinyasa sequences (moving in and out of a particular pose). The mini-vinyasa sequences make use of strength, while at the same time requiring and challenging agility and balance, two of the other skills we want to develop in yoga for healthy aging!

And even though the following sequence is designed to address lower body strength, keep two things in mind. First, any time you are doing a yoga asana practice, you get way more then just your intended focus. So, even though I am recommending the following poses for lower body strength, know that you are also likely getting some core strengthening, upper body strengthening, and a decent amount of opening or stretching as well. Second, this is by no means an exhaustive list. I am focusing on some of the more common and accessible modern yoga poses, but you could add others on your own, if you find they challenge your lower body strength.

Warming Up 

Dynamic Reclined Hip Stretches: Since we will be working with all the joints of the lower body, it is nice to start by warming them up to their fuller range of motion. Do this a few times on each side. 

Active Practice

1. Bridge pose: Do six rounds of dynamic Bridge pose, inhaling your hips up and exhaling them down. Then come up into the pose and try to hold it for six breaths, gradually working up to a 90-second hold.

2. Locust pose: Lying on your belly, do six rounds of full or half Locust, inhaling while lifting your chest, head and either one or both legs, and exhaling back to the starting position. Then come up into the pose and try to hold it for six breaths, gradually working up to 90 seconds over time. Take your time with this one, as it can be challenging for some lower backs.

3. Boat pose: Sit with your knees bent and your feet on the floor in front of you. Hold onto the back of your knees and rock back to balance on your buttocks with your feet just off the floor. See how long you can stay before your front thighs begin to tire. If Version 1 is easy, try Version 2, which involves bringing your shins parallel to the floor and holding there. If Version 2 is easy, try Version 3, letting go of your knees and stretching your arms forward. Finally, if Version 3 isn’t challenging enough, try Version 4, straightening your knees so your upper and lower body forms a “V” shape. Start with six breaths and work up from there.

4. Hunting Dog pose: Come to your hands and knees. Extend one leg back behind you with your knee straight and toes on the floor. Keep your pelvis and lower back steady as you lift up your back leg about parallel with the floor. Hold for six breaths, gradually working towards 90-second holds. Repeat on the other side, of course!

5. Mountain pose: Practice Mountain pose with a block between your thighs and your feet set so you feel a nice squeeze of your inner leg muscles against the block. Stand for 60-90 seconds with your legs actively squeezing the block. This will strengthen your inner thigh muscles in addition to working all of the standing muscles in your legs.

6. Dynamic Arms Overhead pose with Heels Lifted: Starting in Mountain pose (with or without the block in the previous pose), inhale your arms overhead and lift your heels a few inches off the floor, keeping the balls of your feet evenly on the floor. Then exhale as you return your arms and heels to the starting position. Repeat six times. Then try to hold your heels up for six breaths, adding time gradually. This is great way to strengthen your calf muscles and work on balance!

7. Powerful pose (Utkatasana): From Mountain pose (with or without a block between your thighs), inhale yours arms overhead. Then exhale into high squat, with your knees bending forward, your hips sitting back a bit and your torso leaning out over thighs a bit. Then inhale back to Mountain pose with your arms overhead. Repeat six times. Then try holding the pose for six breaths, gradually lengthening over time. This pose works your hips, knees and ankles.

8. High Lunge: From Mountain pose, take an easy forward fold, placing your hands either on blocks by your feet, or on the floor. Then step one leg way back into a high lunge as you bend your front knee. Position your front knee over your front ankle joint and keep your feet hips-distance apart, side to side. Press down into your front foot and the ball of your back foot and try to use your arms less for support to increase the work of your legs. Start with six breaths and gradually increase to 90 seconds over time. Repeat on the other side.

9. Straight Leg Standing poses: You’ll be doing a dynamic sequence as a warm up for the full static hold. I will use Triangle pose to illustrate this, but you could do this with Pyramid pose as well. Start with your legs apart and feet aligned as usual for Triangle. Inhale your arms up parallel with the floor, and then exhale into Triangle. Inhale back up with arms out to sides, and then exhale your arms down to your sides. Repeat six times. Then hold full Triangle for six breaths, and work on increasing your time in the pose. Repeat on second side. So, do the dynamic sequence as a warm up for the full static hold.

10. Bent Knee Standing poses: You’ll be doing a dynamic sequence as a warm up for the full static hold. I will use Warrior 2 to illustrate this, but you could do this with Warrior 1 and Extended Side Angle Pose as well. Start with your legs apart and feet aligned for Warrior 2. Inhale your arms up parallel with floor, and then, as you exhale, bend your front knee over the front ankle joint. Inhale while straightening your front knee and exhale as you release your arms to your sides. Repeat for six rounds, and then hold the full pose for six breaths, working up to 90 seconds gradually. Repeat on second side.

11. Balancing Poses: You’ll be moving with your breath to enter the pose. I will use Warrior 3 to illustrate this, but you could do Half Moon Pose, Tree Pose or Eagle Pose similarly. Stand with your feet and torso aligned as for Warrior 1 pose. Then inhale your arms overhead. Next, exhale and bend your front leg over your front foot, and as you inhale, tip your torso forward over your front leg, pivoting onto the ball of your back foot. Exhale and step your back foot toward your front foot about six inches. On your next breath cycle, with hands to hips, tip forward and balance on your front foot, straightening your front knee, lifting your back leg up for Warrior 3.  Hold for six breaths, then step back foot down to the floor. While in the pose, attempt to keep your hips square with the floor beneath you, and work toward getting your back leg and your torso parallel with the floor. Repeat on second side. Gradually add more time in the pose.

Cooling Down

After strong standing pose work, it is a treat to rest your legs nicely for a few minutes. I recommend any of the following three poses:

Savasana with a bolster under the knees (see Corpse Pose Variations): 

Easy Inverted pose:

Legs Up the Wall pose (Viparita Karani), my favorite:

Aim for 10 minutes to try and cultivate the Relaxation Response for your body and your mind!

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When Relaxing Isn't Relaxing

by Nina

Cactus Flower by Melina Meza

On Friday, Baxter wrote about how meditation and other forms of conscious relaxation, such as yoga nidra, can be agitating for certain people (see Friday Q&A: Can Meditation Be Dangerous?). I wouldn’t be surprised if that were true for many of us at certain times. Sometimes when you’re feeling anxious or depressed having to sit quietly with your thoughts can be overwhelming. The same thing is true for lying down on your back in Savasana or restorative poses with your eyes closed. Even practicing supported forward bends, which many people find soothing, can cause you to brood rather than quiet down. 

A more active yoga practice will be easier for you when you’re depressed or anxious—the physical challenges and mindful movements will engage your mind—yet it’s still important for you to manage your stress (see One Thing: Yoga, Zen, Whatever). So here are some ideas for different things you can try when classic relaxation techniques just aren’t working for you.

Eyes Open: If closing your eyes in Savasana or any restorative pose causes agitation or brooding, try keeping your eyes open but with a soft focus.

Crocodile Pose: Sometimes lying on your back can make you feel exposed and vulnerable (see Anxiety, Yoga and the Front Body). So try lying on your belly in Crocodile pose (Makrasana) instead to see if that is more comforting. If your lower back curves too much in Crocodile pose, place a folded blanket (long rectangle) under your lower belly. 

If you don’t find Crocodile comfortable, you could try a supported version of Savasana, as raising your torso higher than your legs might feel better than being flat on your back, or even a side-lying Savasana (see Corpse Pose Variations).

Supported Child’s Pose: Like Crocodile pose, Supported Child’s pose allows you to relax without feeling exposed or vulnerable. Many people actually find hugging their bolsters very comforting. You can turn your head to side and keep your eyes open if that helps; just be sure to turn your head to the other side for an equal amount of time.

Supported Inversions: because the Relaxation response is triggered by your physical position, supported inverted poses don’t require a mental focus (see Why You Should Love Your Baroreceptors). So you can keep your eyes open and even listen to music while you are practicing them and you’ll still quiet your nervous system. These are also great alternatives to forward bends, which cause some people to brood and others just find unpleasant. Of course, as with any pose, if you feel bad in an inverted pose, come out of the pose immediately. See All About Supported Inverted Poses to find a supported inverted pose that's right for you.

Choose Appropriate Breath Practices: Never do a breath practice that makes you feel uncomfortable in any way. Practices that encourage you to take a longer and/or deeper inhalation can actually be agitating for people with anxiety. The safest thing to do is just to practice simple breath awareness. But if that isn’t enough to engage your mind and you keep being distracted by depressing or anxious thoughts, try a practice that’s recommended for your particular state (see Balancing Your Emotions with your Breath).

And please let me know if you have any further recommendations! I'd love to add more ideas to my list.

Finally, if you are a teacher who is teaching one or more students with mental disorders, it is always a good idea to let the class know that if anyone becomes seriously agitated, anxious or depressed during meditation or relaxation, they should stop and raise their hand so you can help them find an appropriate alternative. 

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Friday Q&A: Can Meditation Be Dangerous?

Cactus by Melina Meza

Q: I've got a question for Baxter (as one of his former teacher training students and budding yoga teacher): Are there any studies showing that individuals with mental disorders such as depression or schizophrenia should not meditate because it may worsen their condition or otherwise?

A: My students are always spurring me to look more deeply at what I know about yoga and its safe application for so many conditions! And this question opened up a new world of work on yoga and psychological issues to me. I had previously taken a wonderful workshop that Patricia Walden and Timothy McCall did at Yoga Journal Conference many years ago, in which they recommended yoga as a helpful adjunct to the treatment of depression and anxiety. Nina reminded me today as we talked about their work that Patricia did mention cautions on the appropriate use of certain yoga poses and meditation as they related to those two particular conditions. But I was unaware as to whether there existed studies on this.

On the positive side, Timothy lists multiple studies on his 75 Conditions Yoga Helps listthat show yoga having benefits for anxiety and depression. But as I began to do some research, I immediately came across several online meditation sites that warned about certain contraindications. I also found a review article that looked at existing research on meditation and mental illness, which had some recommendations based on their discoveries. Today I’ll summarize some of what I discovered and give you a few links if you’d like to read more yourself.

The good news is that there were no strict or absolute contraindications for introducing meditation to students with mental illness, especially if the teacher is truly experienced with the meditation technique being taught, has a clear understanding of the student’s mental illness, and has given the student proper preparations for the actual meditation being taught. However, having a clear understanding of the student’s depression or schizophrenia may be way beyond the scope of practice of most yoga teachers or yoga therapists, so as a teacher, you might want to collaborate with the student’s therapist to make sure the student is stable enough to tolerate or benefit from learning meditation. And if you are a practitioner with a mental disorder who wants to learn meditation, check in with your therapist first and then try to find a very experienced meditation instructor.

According to The Spiritual Competency Resource: 

“There are conditions and situations when meditation is contra-indicated. A useful rule of thumb is that meditation should be used with caution whenever there are concerns regarding reality testing, ego boundaries, lack of empathy, or rigid over-control. For example, when treating a schizophrenic patient with active psychotic symptoms, it may be inadvisable to include meditation as a component of treatment, as reality testing may be impaired.” 

A 1979 study Precipitation of acute psychoticepisodes by intensive meditation in individuals with a history of schizophrenia looked at the worsening of patients’ schizophrenia when meditation was introduced, whereas a 1986 study A holistic program for chronic schizophrenic patients demonstrated the safe introduction of meditation as part of a holistic program for schizophrenic patients in a state mental hospital setting. So, as with so many things related to yoga, it depends on many factors as to the safety of introducing meditation to this population. 

I also discovered an anxiety condition that I was previously unaware of previously (although I did get hints of this when Richard Miller, PhD added a newer component to his yoga nidra practices for PTSD students that had them establish a “safe space” mentally that they could go to during their yoga nidra if they suddenly became anxious or had a panic attack). The condition, called “relaxation-induced anxiety,” is one in which someone who is unaccustomed to the deep relaxation that often accompanies meditation finds the resulting physiological release and attention to internal sensations, perceptions, and images, to be a source of fearful anxiety-producing apprehension. It turns out this kind of anxiety can happen with just about any relaxation technique, so that includes not only yoga nidra but also simple Savasana or a restorative yoga practice. Being aware of condition seems like a great idea for any yoga teacher who offers such practices to their public students. A 1983 study Relaxation-induced anxiety in a subclinical sample of chronically anxious subjects that looked at 30 chronically anxious patients who were given a progressive relaxation practice found that 17% of the participants had an increase in anxiety during the session.

Another very thorough review article Meditation: concepts, effects and uses in therapy (not a research paper) that looked at the results of 75 scientific selected articles in the field of meditation, including Transcendental Meditation, found that over 60% of participants reported negative side effects. Before I list the reported complaints, keep in mind that I don’t have the percentage breakdowns for them and the authors caution that the research itself has limitations on how well it was done (more on that in a minute). The reported side effects were: 

“relaxation-induced anxiety and panic; paradoxical increases in tension; less motivation in life; boredom; pain; impaired reality testing; confusion and disorientation; feeling 'spaced out'; depression; increased negativity; being more judgmental; feeling addicted to meditation; uncomfortable kinesthetic sensations; mild dissociation; feelings of guilt; psychosis-like symptoms; grandiosity; elation; destructive behavior; suicidal feelings; defenselessness; fear; anger; apprehension; and despair.”

The authors point out that many of these side effects are also symptoms that patients with neurosis might have had the symptoms before trying meditation, so it may be a question of the chicken or the egg. And once again, they warn about the state of the research:

“Research into meditation is mixed, and of poor quality. Most of the studies are methodologically flawed, with insufficient number of cases, lack of standardized diagnostic procedures and being limited to non-psychiatric populations.”

I think the take-home here is that we have some evidence that meditation techniques can be helpful for some people with conditions like depression and even schizophrenia, but maybe not for others who are more unstable and fragile. It would seem prudent for anyone with significant symptoms of any mental illness to be working with a good psychologist and maybe a psychiatrist if medications are required. So yoga teachers and therapists should consider forming working relationships with mental health professionals to best serve their students with mental health issues. And if you are a student with mental health problems who experiences significant anxiety, agitation or depression while meditating, please let your teacher know as he or she may be able to offer you an alternative practice (Nina will have some recommendations on Monday). 

—Baxter

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The April HIT Standards Committee meeting

The April Standards Committee began with a tribute to Jon Perlin, who is leaving his chair role of the HIT Standards Committee so that he can focus on his chair role at the American Hospital Association.   Jacob Reider, Deputy National Coordinator will serve as the Standards committee chair.   I will continue as vice-chair.     Jon Perlin has done remarkable work as chair and I look forward to his continued service as a committee member.

Doug Fridsma presented a straw man for the evolution of the HIT Standards Committee Workgroups to better align with our domain expertise, especially as term limits require the rotation of members.   The committee agreed that it made great sense to organize ourselves into content, vocabulary, transport/security, architecture/api/services, implementation/certification/testing groups.   An overall steering committee will triage questions to the right groups and collate the responses from groups.

We then began a day long look at the 2015 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
Liz Johnson and Cris Ross presented comments from the Implementation Workgroup.    Their key summary is reconsider the cost/benefits of frequent rule changes because there is
*No guarantee that the items contained in 2015 Edition will be part of 2017 Edition/MU Stage 3
*Unclear benefits to provider community related to implementing an incremental update while continuing to gather data for attestation period in any fiscal year on 2014 Edition
*Preference for vendors to focus on optimizing current code releases and begin preparation for MU Stage 3
*Cost burden to both vendors and providers

Next, – Majorie Rallins and Danny Rosenthal presented the Clinical Quality Workgroup NPRM evaluation.     Their key takeaways are that many of the quality standards required for the 2015 NPRM are not mature/fit for purpose and that energy should be spent improving QRDA 1 (patient level), not QRDA 2 (summary), or QRDA 3 (numerator/denominator calculations)

Next, Dixie Baker and Lisa Gallagher presented the Privacy and Security Workgroup Comments.
Their key point was the need to to ensure there is some kind of non-prescriptive functional demonstration of modular EHR components working together to ensure data integrity and privacy.

Finally Dixie Baker and Walter Suarez presented the NSTIC Hearing Update. Their key takeaway is that NSTIC is not making standards, it is suggesting frameworks for use of existing standards.   In particular OAuth and OpenID are likely to be increasingly important.

A great meeting.   I am hopeful ONC will incorporate the balanced comments for the workgroups into their regulation writing.

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Accidentally Karma Yoga

by Nina

Austin Graffiti by Melina Meza

Brad has recently been telling me about how gratifying he finds mentoring his younger colleagues. He said that he’s turning more and more to this activity as a way of finding fulfillment at his work. Then, just last night as we were walking home from dinner out, he told me he’d read an article about a scientific study that confirmed his new approach to his job Meaningful Activities Protect the Brain From Depression by Olga Khazan.

For the original study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers followed a group of 39 teenagers over the course of one year to see whether the way their brains reacted to either eudaimonic (selfless) or hedonic (selfish) rewards correlated with how depressed they felt over time. First, the subjects underwent an fMRI while making a decision about whether to keep money for themselves (a hedonic reward) or to donate it to their families (a eudaimonic reward). They also played a game to determine if they were willing to take risks for the possibility of a greater financial reward (hedonic). Through the use of questionnaires, the researchers determined that depressive symptoms declined among those who made the selfless decision but rose in those who made the selfish decision. As Olga Khazan put it:

“It turned out the teens who had the greatest brain response to the generous, family-donation financial decision had the greatest declines in depressive symptoms over time. And those who got a boost from the risk-taking game were more likely to have an increase in depression. The types of rewards the teens responded to, it seems, changed their behavior in ways that altered their overall well-being.”

I said, “Brad, I have two words for you: karma yoga.” Karma yoga, I explained, is the yoga of selfless service, most famously embodied in the work of Mohandas K. Gandhi, who, inspired by the message of the Bhagavad Gita, worked for the freedom of the Indian people. In fact, Ram has already written about the topic of karma yoga in his post Selfless Service for Harmonious Longevity, in which he defined karma yoga as:  

“This individual puts the well-being of others as a top priority ahead of his/her personal gain or achievement.”

(Obviously, someone’s husband doesn’t actually read all the YFHA posts.) While Ram tied the practice of karma yoga to longevity in his post, he mentioned some benefits of the practice that would also contribute to the feeling of contentment that Brad has been experiencing:

• Stress reduction. When helping others, the body releases an important hormone called oxytocin, which assists in buffering stressful thoughts.
• Morale. Merely thinking of a selfless service releases certain “feel-good” chemicals, namely dopamine and serotonin (lack of which have both been linked with depression and other mood disorders).

And recently in his post Mental Exercise and the Perfect Brain, Ram mentioned that he himself practices karma yoga because it leads to true happiness and improved cognitive skills, bringing “greater fulfillment to my life.”

So, there you have it, Brad! You’re practicing karma yoga without even knowing it—and feeling the benefits. Namaste, dear husband.

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One Thing: Yoga, Zen, Whatever

by Nina

Zen Jewel by Torei Enji

Last night I was thinking about someone close to me who is going through hard times—struggling with rather serious depression. Although he exercises regularly, he doesn't take yoga classes. He's considering starting, though, and naturally I'm the go-to expert on that topic so I spent some time reading up on the studios in his area in an attempt to help. But when it came down to it, I surprised myself by recommending a Zen center in his area instead of a yoga studio. That's because I felt that if he was going to do one thing for himself—in addition to western style therapy—it should be a practice that would reduce his stress levels. Stress, of course, can exacerbate or even cause depression and I know his lifestyle is stressful. And Zen style meditation is a great way to switch your nervous system from Stress mode to Relaxation mode, and to teach you to cultivate equanimity in the face of challenges.

Still, why, when I have been writing about yoga for stress management practically since Day 1 (see The Relaxation Response and Yoga) wouldn't I recommend yoga? Well, the truth is that most yoga classes (like the ones in his neighborhood) are merely exercise classes. They don't teach meditation, pranayama or any forms of conscious relaxation, except maybe a brief Savasana at the end of a sweaty flow class. Gosh, one studio was even offering something called ariel yoga, which looked kind of like Cirque du Soleil. That might be fun but those acrobatic techniques didn't really seem like the most helpful skills for him to be cultivating at this point.  I felt in the end that at least some basic instruction in meditation from an experienced teacher—and I knew he needed in-person instruction not just YFHA written instructions—and a group to practice with in beautiful, peaceful room would be more helpful to him than trying to learn to jump into Chaturanga Dandasana.  It's kind of sad but I just didn't trust those unknown yoga teachers whose bios I read online to teach him the kind of yoga I felt he needed at this time. I know that fancy poses and the promise of a "yoga body" are what sells yoga these days but some really valuable techniques sure seem to be getting short shrift in the meantime. 

Well, that's my mini rant for the day. But I do want to add that if you're going through some difficult times yourself and you want to try just one thing, do something to bring your stress levels down—yoga (see here), Zen, whatever. Besides, the Buddha himself was a yogi, right?

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Unity Farm Journal - 4th week of April 2014

The state of Massachusetts recognized Unity Farm as a 61A agricultural property this week, so 14 of our 15 acres is now deemed as a working, producing farm!

On Easter Sunday, the ducks, chickens, and guinea fowl laid their eggs throughout the barnyard, giving my daughter the unusual experience of a completely natural egg hunt, pictured below.

The plum trees (ume) are in bloom throughout the farm and it feels like Japan

A few weeks ago we planted all our Spring vegetables in the hoop house and they have been growing nicely, until this weekend, when a vole devastated our spouts.   When we created the hoop house, we lined the sides with poultry wire to keep chickens and guinea fowl out of the vegetables, as pictured below.

However the 1 inch spacing did not block chipmunks, mice, and voles.    The end result of a hungry vole attacking a spinach bed is pictured below.   The tender leaves are bitten off at the base.    We did catch the culprit at work, at least the tail half!

Our solution was to run 100 feet of 1/4 inch hardware cloth 3 inches below ground, secured with river pebbles, and topped with soil, pictured below.   We also added live animal traps inside the hoop house to check on the efficacy of our work.   The traps have remained empty and the spouts are growing again.

We bottled another 20 liters of hard cider, using standard 22 ounce capped bottles instead of pressure resistant swing top bottles.   This bold experiment will demonstrate to us if natural carbonation will blow the tops off capped bottles.

Part of the Unity Farm property is a one acre meadow of Forget me nots, adjacent to a stream.   The area has been inaccessible in the past, so we created a trail and a low impact board walk to Forget-me-not Glen.    I'll finish everything next weekend and post pictures.

Five packages of bees (10,000 bees and a queen per package) arrive on Friday and Kathy will install the packages into new hives in our bee yard.

Next weekend we’ll apply 80 pounds of mushroom spawn to a new Oyster mushroom area and new Agaricus (button) mushroom beds.    Two Agaricus beds are in the shade of a large pine tree outdoors and two are in the hoop house.   We’ll experiment with how well this warmth loving mushroom does in outdoor and indoor settings.

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