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The concept of positive thinking and affirmations is a popular topic throughout the media and mainstream self-improvement channels. We will discuss how intentional modifications of thought processes actually help us to improve quality of living.

Thoughts can be viewed as a system of processing information and extracting neural data from our memory stores. For most people, very few thoughts actually coincide with the action that is occurring in the present. The mind is wandering and distracted by thoughts of the past or the future. These waves of irrelevant thoughts can be easily tainted with negative attributes fueled by the Ego: anger or resentment from past interactions, jealousy or envy from unfulfilled desires, worry or anxiety from future events.

By addressing these negative thought patterns and modifying the resulting manifestations, we can avert a cascade of negative energy on the body and mind.

When the mind is saturated with negative thinking, these thoughts gradually manifest into the physical as dysfunction. Negative thoughts are often accompanied by stress. The brain releases specific stress-response hormones to facilitate reactions in body necessary to react to this stress. If the negative thoughts and stress remain constant, these hormonal reactions generate chronic strain on the organs and physical systems.

By tuning into our response systems, we can clearly recognize the signs of this harmful cascade of negative energy. We can experience many health conditions like muscle tension, headaches, poor sleep and fatigue, poor digestion, weight gain, high blood pressure and circulatory problems, poor breathing patterns, and organ dysfunction like diabetes.

Instead of waiting for these negative health conditions to arise, we can monitor our thought patterns through the other path of manifestation-our emotions. Our inner and outer emotions immediately reflect our current thought patterns and are an indication of eventual physical manifestations.

When our emotions turn negative, heavy, and burdensome, we can stop, take a deep breath and simply reflect. What has generated this emotion? What thought has taken hold to create this toxic mental state? By just reflecting, we often observe this thought (and emotion) dissipate and loose its’ hold on the mind and body. Through practice and discipline, we can more readily remain in a sattvic state (one of harmony, calm, and presence).

Here are some suggestions in supporting the practice of positive thought generation:

*Address your environment and the stimuli that are entering the mind. Avoid places and interactions that are filled with negative energy. Newspapers, gossip columns, and radio/TV news thrive on negativity. Surround yourself by a network of positive-minded people. Reduce your interaction with relationships that foster thoughts and actions that flow against your positive intentions.

*Start and end your day with a simple pause allowing time to reflect on appreciation. Take note of several things you are truly thankful for. Sincere expression of appreciation is a powerful tool to facilitate positive thought processes and generate a sense of fulfillment in the moment.

*Speak only when it improves upon silence. This subtle, yet powerful Buddhist phrase says it all. Speech is another physical manifestation on thought. Controlling our words trains our thought processes. If a conversation can not be steered to a positive tone, end the conversation.

*It is what it is. See the world with less judgment. Judgment is another toxic element of negative thinking. Practice finding the ‘good’ in everything. Experience the freedom of releasing established biases and expectations. Often when we judge, we too have issues with being judged. A non-judging mind becomes free of the ‘eyes’ of the outside world and we begin to live within ourselves and not through others.

*Engage in lifestyle habits that support healthy thinking. Regular exercise, proper rest, meditation, proper nutrition plans, and uplifting activities help keep the mind fresh and expressive with positive energy. Also consider how you can modify your work environment with changes like taking more consistent breaks to proper work ergonomics.

*Get things done and organized. Just as thoughts manifest into the physical, the physical environment manifests back into the mind. Finish incomplete projects. Organize your home and workspace. An environment that is unorganized or filled with incomplete tasks has a burdening effect on the nervous system. Declutter and make your environment flow with spacious, positive energy. Clean out closets and cupboards so the first and last thing you see in the day is organization and order. This physical order supports mental calmness and control of emotions.

Rather than trying of purge negative thoughts, focus more on generating positive interactions and expressions. This aspect of sankulpa (the practice of establishing an intention) attracts further positive thoughts and experiences. With this shift into harmonious thinking, the physical manifestations are seen and experienced by others. We begin to attract more people with like minds and intentions. Again, the key element is reflection and observation. What are our emotions saying about our thoughts? Use your emotions as a tool. Breathe new life in your thinking and experience the freedom of positive thought energy.

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Our Warrior Yoga poses bring warmth, strength, and expansion into our yoga flows. These standing asanas offer higher levels of physicality, thus requiring fine-tuning and continuous attention to detail in order for these poses to deliver maximum benefits. Besides our requirement for proper alignment and energy locks, we can also apply subtle rooting effects to further improve the reception of benefits from Warrior poses.

Once we have properly aligned our lower limbs and have positioned the front knee over the heel (perpendicular line to act harmoniously with gravity), we can explore light variations of what can be termed rajastic rooting. In Ayurvedic philosophy, we strive to move into a sattvic state-an existence of calmness and harmony. Rajastic states are typically considered to be disturbing one from the existence of harmony-unfocussed states of creating heat. In the context of our subtle rooting, this rajastic rooting will be done so with mindful control, which will facilitate a sattvic state in later stages of the yoga practice.

As our heel floats over the knee in our Warrior pose, we can discernibly feel the effects of gravity. The quadriceps (thigh) and gluteal (buttock) muscles contract to hold the lower limbs in place. The longer we hold the pose, the more we develop our endurance in the muscle tissues. When the knee is taken into this flexed position against gravity, sheer forces act directly on the knee joint. If we start off the pose or collapse the pose so that knee drifts over the heel, the angle of knee flexion increases and the sheer forces increase in the joint structure. Over repeated applications of misalignment, the sheer forces may generate chronic injuries in the knee.

Rajastic rooting through the foot can help reduce the effects of sheer forces on the knee. We can feel the various pressure points coming into our feet-the toes, toes mounds, and heel. With controlled rajastic rooting, we wish to lightly feed down through the contact points with the intention of lightly pressing the earth away from us. As with the laws of physics, the earth reciprocates and presses back. This energetic pressure can be received up the body through to the crown. This energetic lift helps emphasis expansion in the pose, creates lightness, shifts us away from collapse and increases our endurance capacity.

More importantly, the rajastic rooting protects the knee. But in order for the knee to receive the full benefits of the rooting, we should be aware of exactly how and what the foot should be experiencing. It is very common for yoga practitioners to allow Warrior poses to ground into the toes-generally manifested as grabbing of the toes into the mat. This effect of grabbing creates tension in the arches of the foot and can often encourage the knee to collapse forward. Therefore, we strive to relax the toes, bring lightness into the arches, and to avoid rajastic rooting with the toes.

The ideal contact point to explore rajastic rooting is in the heel. With subtle pressure, we can ground down through the heel point while visualizing the knee floating back over the heel line. Many often feel a shift of energy out of the knee joint and into the quadriceps (thigh) muscle. The muscle takes better control of the standing pose and we experience less sheer forces in the joint. As we work through the heel, we continue to emphasis expansion in the foot, right down through the toe mounds and toes. This lightness, again, flows up through the vertebrae and often is received into face.

As we increase the depth of our Warrior poses, we continue to apply this rooting principle along with our protective core locks. The posture retains integrity and purpose. We can also appreciate how this rajastic rooting can be taken into other standing yoga poses like Chair Pose (utkatasana) and Crescent Moon Pose. Exploring and enjoying new techniques like rajastic rooting brings growth to our practice and encourages holistic progression.

Read Related Articles:
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Recognizing that yoga is a life-long practice, the benefits and changes achieved with yoga require patience, respectful observance, and consistency. Without these basic elements, one’s yoga practice often strays, losses focus, and lacks holistic results. This article discusses some of principles behind these basic elements and offers tips in creating a fulfilling yoga program.

Principle of Progressive Overload

In any physical activity or exercise program, the general concept of ‘progressive overload’ should be observed. The body is highly adaptable and settles into the dominant state it is placed in. If one is sedentary and pursuing unhealthy lifestyle habits, the body readily collapses into blockages, loses healthy tissues, and shifts into states of disease.

Likewise, when one introduces yoga or other forms of healthy exercise into the body, the body (muscles, bones, organs, nervous system) will adapt to this conditioning. Progressive overload is where one mindfully introduces holistic ‘stressors’ on the musculoskeletal system. To define ‘stressors’, this is where one would apply gradual increases in intensity or duration of an exercise to encourage the musculoskeletal system to adapt and improve. These adaptations occur at the microscopic level, so one can then imagine that only slight increases are needed and should be applied to avoid over stressing the body’s systems.

How is progressive overload applied to yoga?

In our yoga practice, we aim to heal the body with our practice and not stress it to points of injury and overwhelming fatigue. We can, however, gently add slight increases in depth or holding of postures. We can incorporate slightly more challenging variations of poses or transitions. Whenever we apply this overload principle, one must shed the Ego and listen fully. Am I able to retain postural integrity, control, and fullness of breath with this increase? How does my body feel the next day-no discernable soreness, fatigue, or decrease range of motion due to stiffness?

Here are some tips to generating a consistent yoga practice that follows the progressive overload principle:

*Know your appropriate level. Starting off (or returning to) with high level practice without prior experience can shock the musculoskeletal system by going past the desired overload effects and into injury. Begin easy and move forward gradually. Many high level yoga programs are marketed as “suitable for everyone”. This is not true. One would not go from being sedentary to suddenly running a marathon. If you are a beginner, practice like one-learn the fundamentals through introductory programs and monitor how your systems receive the gradual increases in practice depth.

*Apply the concept of cross training. By doing on type of yoga practice/style, the body develops memory and adapts often to a point where progression slows or ceases. With traditional exercise, one is encouraged to ‘mix up’ their program placing different exercises in one’s routine or changing the order of exercises. This systematic reorganizing does not allow the body to settle into a stagnant state and can be beneficial in preventing overuse injuries. In yoga, consider reordering the postures and flows and try different styles. Adding changes and variety will also offer inspiration and motivation that will promote better consistency.

*Modification and Rest days. When we continuously stress the body with holistic overload, we need to also schedule consistent rest periods or modify the yoga practice routines so key muscle groups and joints receive recovery time. When one stresses a particular muscle group, it is commonly accepted that this muscle group requires at least 24 hours of rest. The adaptations at the microscopic level need time to set in. Without this rest period, the tissues can develop overuse/chronic injuries, prolonged fatigue, and atrophy (muscle loss). With yoga, consider how you can schedule your daily/weekly classes so they target key structures while also giving proper rest.

*Be purposeful with your practice. Make a set schedule of your practice on a calendar. Make your yoga practice a true priority. Invite your family or friends to participate with you as this will create a great support system for consistency and growth.

*Get inspired. Look for workshops and other available programs that will introduce new, interesting concepts to your yoga practice. Yoga is about learning and growing. If your practice has been primarily hatha/physically based, consider trying more meditation and/or breathing (pranayama) programs. One is often amazed at how a simple, new technique or application can readily transform one’s motivation and exploration.

Consistency is key in one’s yoga program. Through this consistency, embrace the moment and how the whole system exists immediately. It is perfect to have stiffness and limitations. One can work around injuries and health conditions-wellness can be pursued by everyone at some level. But positive change requires regular application and patience. Time is on your side when holistic intention and harmony are brought into your yoga practice.

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My Yoga Online is proud to introduce a 3 part series by Vijai Sharma PhD, RYT titled “Breathe Right”. This series of articles addresses signs of incorrect breathing, provides structured tips on correct therapeutic breathing exercises, and presents concepts on Diaphragmatic and Pursed Lip Breathing. These articles offers beneficial information for everyone learning to bring more breath and vitality into their yoga practice and daily living.

Part 1: Do You Need Breathing Retraining?

Usually we breathe in the automatic mode and are not conscious of our breathing. We become conscious of it only when we experience a breathing problem such as shortness of breath, chest tightness or a feeling of suffocation. Eastern societies in the ancient times emphasized conscious breathing for physical, mental and spiritual benefits. Importance of deeper, fuller and relaxed breathing for health and wellness cannot be overstated. Everyone healthy or otherwise should learn and make sure they breathe correctly. They should receive breathing retraining if they identify any signs of incorrect breathing in themselves. Read more…

Part 2: Breathe Correctly, Consciously and Relaxed

Chronic mental and emotional stress or a medical/structural problem can create tension in the muscles and nerves in the entire body including the muscles of respiration. When you are physically, mentally and emotionally relaxed, your breathing is naturally slow, deep and relaxed. You can change your breathing if it is tense or incorrect by putting yourself in a state of relaxation and practicing relaxed breathing. Read more…

Part 3: Diaphragmatic and Pursed Lip Breathing

Set a goal to breathe consciously, diaphragmatically for most part of your waking hours. If you experience any breathing problem or irregularity in your breathing, start practicing PLB. Your continued breath awareness and monitoring will prompt you at the earliest sign of irregular breathing. The moment you notice the first sign, start practicing PLB to regulate your breathing. Read more…

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Learn about diabetes, the underlying causes of this common disease, and some new research on phytonutrients that improve insulin sensitivity and stabilize blood sugar. Enjoy this new health and wellness article by naturopathic physician, Dr. Danny Jui.

Life at the cellular level is a roller coaster fuelled by sugar. Glucose, a type of sugar, serves as an important energy currency in our body. Most of the foods we eat are converted into glucose, which is used by our cells to carry out their functions. Properly managing our intake of and paying close attention to our body’s response to this sugary guel is key in maintaining optimal health. Keeping the blood sugar roller coaster steady on track may prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes.

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We have had the opportunity to try out an organic and sustainable clothing line called Mission Playground. Besides bringing awareness to sustainable consumption, this company is committed to raising awareness for issues that concern playgrounds. Mission Playground has established S.E.E.D. which pledges 1% of sales to non-profit organizations that share the same passions for playgrounds.

More about Mission Playground:

Mission Playground has introduced new innovative fabrications that will be introduced to the public in February 2009, including 100% recycled PET bird’s eye knit with technical attributes, 100% merino wool jersey, 100% organic cotton poplin, and exclusive to Mission Playground is MIPAN regen recycled nylon from pre and post consumer waste.

The company takes pride in supporting fair labor suppliers and will continue to explore sustainable design techniques, production methods and fabrications as time and resources evolve.

http://www.missionplayground.com

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Dr. Robin Armstrong has added a new yoga anatomy article to My Yoga Online addressing the important applications of twists in our yoga class. This article looks at how different yoga positions (standing versus seated) have different approaches to insure proper alignment and safety in our twisting yoga poses.

Twisting postures are an enjoyable, challenging, and some might say vital part of our yoga practice. Poses like marichyansa/Marichis pose, revolved poses like parvritta trikonasana/revolved triangle, and parvritta parsvokonasana/revolved extended side angle pose allow us to move and lengthen our spines to improve our spinal and pelvic flexibility, as well as our strength. Traditionally twists are thought to be detoxifying, literally wringing out the organs of digestion and detoxification. To better understand the benefits and considerations surrounding twists, let’s take a closer look at the spine.

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Dr. Carla Cupido has written new, inspiring article about the application of twists in yoga and daily life. Learn how twisting can present contraindications and hazards for the spine. This is an important article for all yoga practitioners and yoga teachers. Enjoy.

When we think about twisting through the low back, we often think about the muscles we could be strengthening or stretching through the movement. However, we do not often consider the risks of twisting as for those of us with healthy backs; it does not seem that precarious a movement. For those of us in careers that require repetitive twisting, the dangers of twisting may be apparent to you. Twisting has been proven a factor in the incidence of occupational low back pain.

If this motion has been recognized as a threat for employees in some jobs, how does that relate to a yoga practice? Are all types of twisting bad?

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My Yoga Online has posted a new article addressing yoga practice for COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) by Vijai Sharma, PhD, psychologist, certified yoga therapist and yoga teacher.

Yoga is unique program for self-management for people with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) or other chronic illnesses because yoga is one of the most comprehensive body, breath and mind systems I know.

Yoga can be particularly beneficial for us with COPD. We must constantly work on improving our physical health, breath function and emotional strength.

Click here to read Dr. Sharma’s article and suggested yoga practice for COPD.

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As the busy and stressful holiday season approaches, it is important to examine your powerful emotions authentically with this new yoga article by Alexandra Goldwell, Registered Clinical Counsellor and yoga instructor.

As spiritual beings having a human experience, we sure have a huge range of emotions we are capable of experiencing and sometimes several show up at once! The holiday season is upon us which can be one of the most stressful times of the year where emotions run high. It’s a good time to begin to become more aware of your emotional experience in yoga practice and use the practice and breath to release tension and pent-up emotion.

So whether you’ve been practicing asanas for a while or you have just started, the best starting place is simply to know that yoga can bring a whole gamet of emotions to the forefront. You may notice yourself in Savasana choking back tears. Or maybe the teacher holds the class in warrior posture forever and you feel anger. Maybe you look at others in the room that seem to be balancing perfectly or are more flexible and you feel jealous. You could be in childs pose and feel relief or sadness or anxiety. Yikes! Why does this happen? What to do?

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