Unity Farm Journal - Second Week of October 2014

Several important updates.Mint, one of our pregnant alpacas, had a false pregnancy.   Although she gained weight and had all the features of a pregnant camelid, she is no longer pregnant.   However, she is 30 pounds overweight and we’ll now have to restrict her access to grain.  Time for the alpaca stairmaster.Mulan, our Harlequin duck with aspiration pneumonia is improving after 10 days on tetracycline.  She’s regaining her quack...[Readmore]

Getting Up into Upward-Facing Bow Pose (Urdva Dhanurasana), Part 2

by BaxterB.K.S. Iyengar in Urdva DhanurasanaLast week in my pose Friday Q&A: Arm Strength and Urdva Dhanurasana, I described the movements of the upper body in the challenging yoga asana Urdhva Dhanurasana, known in English as Upward-Facing Bow pose or Wheel pose. Because our reader was asking us about upper body issues he had as they related to Upward-Facing Bow, my answer about how to get up into the pose really only dealt with a part of the...[Readmore]

The View from Underneath the Bus

EHR causes Ebola!  EHRs hold data hostage in stovepiped legacy systems!  There is no interoperability in America!How many headlines have you seen over the past month that are either completely false or a vast oversimplification of complex issues.As I tell my staff, there is no problem that cannot be morphed into an IT shortcoming.There a point at which CIOs, EHR vendors, and those working on policy feel like each day is spent being thrown...[Readmore]

Attached to My Face

by Jill SatterfieldEven with over 20 years of meditation practice, I recently re-discovered just how attached I am to my face. Yes, the pun is that we are all attached to our faces—they are part of our heads. However, what the pun insinuates but doesn't explore is just how emotionally attached I am to my face. Some recent surgery showed me the hidden extent of it.As I attempt to faithfully see everything as practice, being self reflective, looking...[Readmore]

Practicing Yoga Mindfully (Rerun)

by NinaRaindrops and Reflections by Nina ZolotowAlthough it’s a rather new concept, approaching yoga poses as a mindfulness practice is a very powerful tool for improving your physical and mental health. Whether you are trying to change your eating habits, reduce your stress, or heal from disease, learning to listen to your body is crucial. In his wonderful book Full Catastrophe Living, Jon Kabat-Zinn points out what happens if we simply operate...[Readmore]

Friday Q&A: Arm Strength and Upward-Facing Bow Pose

B.K.S. Iyengar in Upward-Facing BowQ: I have a shoulder impingement with a possible tear in the supraspinatus muscle. I also have arthritis in the AC joint. I tried chair version of Urdhva Dhanurasana Sunday but I could not raise myself up. Question: Which muscles of the shoulder and back are used to raise up the torso and straighten the arms in Urdhva Dhanurasana? Is there a way to strengthen those muscles with resistance training?A: First,...[Readmore]

Practicing Yoga for Your Health

by NinaHygeia, Goddess of Health by Peter Paul RubensOne of the reasons, I wrote about body image yesterday in The Body You Want—besides the fact that I was feeling a bit rant-y, I guess—is that I knew I was going to write today’s post about practicing yoga for health benefits. And I wanted to have a way to clearly distinguish between practicing yoga asanas for health benefits and practicing yoga to “get the body you want.” This topic was on...[Readmore]