Transforming Unhelpful Core Beliefs

by Beth

Egg by Melina Meza

Oh, the crazy things we believed as children. My friend Laurie fell off a swing while hanging upside down. She fractured her sternum, spent weeks with a taped chest, and for years believed she would never grow breasts. I believed that in order to get married, I would have to go door to door in my neighborhood to find a husband. One of my son�s childhood friends would not eat bread crusts because a neighbor told her they were baked worms.

Beliefs can be defined as thoughts we hold to be true even though we don�t have proof. When proof appears, beliefs become knowledge. Fortunately for Laurie, my son�s friend, and me, time and knowledge proved our childhood beliefs false. Even so, the emotional attachments to some beliefs defy knowledge and can have an impact on our lives as we age. Laurie did grow breasts but the emotional attachment to that accident left her uncomfortable inverting or hanging upside down in aerial yoga class.

Some core beliefs we hold are helpful and productive but others are not. For example, I believe that asking for help is a sign of weakness. I know this is not true but the emotional attachment to that belief results in responses like "Thanks, I got this," when unsolicited offers of help come my way. I can trace it back to watching the women in my family seemingly "do it all," alone. The key word here, as you may have guessed, is �seemingly.� The women in my family could have used help but I never saw them ask for it. Why? I can guess but I don�t know. They�ve passed on and I can�t ask them. But I�m left dealing with an emotional attachment to that belief (fear of dependency), which still impacts my behavior and quite possibly my emotional health.

It�s our emotional attachments to these core beliefs and our reactions to them that cause distress and discomfort. However, once we become aware of a counter-productive core belief and recognize the emotional attachment, we can take steps to transform it.

One helpful way of promoting healthy thinking comes from Patanjali�s Yoga Sutras: pratipaksha bhavanam. Joseph LePage, Director, Integrative Yoga Therapy, says that pratipaksha bhavanam is the �redirection of negative thoughts to positive ones.� Another interpretation comes from Gary Kraftsow�s American Viniyoga Institute:

Patanjali says if you have negative thinking that comes from anger, greed, or delusion, whether you�re actively in it or just thinking about it, the fruit will be unending suffering and ignorance. Therefore, �Pratipaksha bhavanam:� Take another view, reframe your perspective on the situation. Sutra [2.34]

To practice pratipaksha bhavanam, we need to recognize that one or more core beliefs may be impacting the balance of our lives in a counter-productive way. Next we can select a positive thought, intention, or resolve, and find ways to use it. We can write it down and tape it to the fridge or bathroom mirror so it�s visible every day. We can repeat it often, silently or out loud, as we move through our yoga practice, and we can keep it mentally handy every time we find that counter-productive core belief rising in the mind. Over time and with practice, the emotional attachment will gradually lose its charge and its power, enabling us to transform an unhealthy reaction into a positive, productive response.

Here are a few counter-productive core beliefs and suggested bhavanas to transform them:

Core Belief/Bhavana (Positive Resolve)

1. I can�t trust anybody/I trust myself
2. I�ll never be happy/I enjoy my life; I�m content
3. I�m too different/I am unique � how cool is that!
4. I don�t belong/I attract the right friends
5. I�m too old to (add your words here)/ I�m young at heart and I can (add your words here)
6. I�m too (fat, skinny, ugly etc.)/I love and accept my body

In my case, I need two bhavanas.

1. I ask for help when I need it.
2. I accept help when it is offered.

This practice requires discipline, patience, and consistency but the juice will be worth the squeeze because as we reduce emotional attachments to counter-productive core beliefs, we can better manage our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. 

Do you have a core belief that needs to be transformed?

Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email � Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook � Join this site with Google Friend Connect

Read More

Using Stress Management Techniques for Medical Conditions

by Baxter and Nina

Dandelion by Melina Meza

If you're suffering from a stress-related disease, such as heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity and digestive disorders, reducing chronic stress can be very beneficial. Stress management can also help with emotional disorders�including anxiety and depression�that are caused by or worsened by stress.

Because stress management helps reduce inflammation, reducing chronic stress can also help with inflammation-related problems, including most forms of arthritis, as well as certain gastrointestinal conditions, such as celiac disease and leaky gut syndrome. 

In general, yoga stress management techniques can be preventive medicine, as lowering overall stress levels may reduce your chances of even developing stress-related illnesses. They could also be curative because spending significant amounts of time in Rest and Digest keeps your immune system and repair systems functioning optimally. Finally, you can use stress management as a palliative technique to help you cope with the stress of living with a chronic illness, improving the quality of your life.

This provides some basic tips for practicing stress management when you have a medical condition. We'll address physical disorders first and then discuss emotional disorders. See The Relaxation Response and Yoga for general information about using stress management when you're healthy. 

Cautions: Generally stress management techniques are very safe. However, meditation is generally not recommended for depression or anxiety, because sitting alone with your thoughts can cause you to spiral downward. So avoid meditation unless you have a teacher experienced at working with your condition who can guide you. People who have uncontrolled high blood pressure should not practice full or partial inverted poses. 

For Physical Disorders

For digestive disorders, for periods without active symptoms, practice a well-rounded stress reducing sequence, combining active poses, both dynamic and static, and restorative poses, as well as meditation and breath work. For periods with active symptoms, stay with gentle poses, including easy dynamic poses and restorative poses, that do not create pressure on your abdomen (for example, no Cobra or Locust pose), and avoid twists. But you can practice any stress management techniques that work well for you, including focused relaxation, quieting breath practices, and meditation. For most digestive issues, you can include supported inversions. However, for hiatal hernias and gastro-esophageal reflux (GERD), symptoms will often worsen with inverted poses, so you should avoid them. 

For inflammation-related conditions, for the non-asana part of your practice, you can practice whatever stress management techniques work best for you. For arthritis of the lower back on down to the feet, supported inverted poses can be particularly helpful. 

For cardiovascular disorders, all of the stress management tools can be helpful, particularly meditation, calming breath practices, restorative poses, and focused relaxation. Just be aware that for certain conditions, such as congestive heart failure, lying flat in Savasana may bring on symptoms. In such cases, elevating your head and chest may relieve the symptoms. the head and chest may permit you to do Savasana safely. 

For cardiovascular diseases for which your doctor has warned you about situations that may increase your blood pressure, such as coronary artery disease and risk of stroke, practice supported inversion only if they do not cause an increase in your blood pressure. (Check your blood pressure with a home monitor immediately before trying a short hold of supported inversion and check again immediately afterwards to see if your numbers go high. Discuss with your doctor if you are uncertain how to proceed.)

One of the significant issues for people with just about any chronic is that the illness itself if a significant daily stressor. Examples are cardiovascular disease, diabetes and related conditions (metabolic syndrome), autoimmune diseases such as and rheumatoid arthritis, to name just a few. For all these conditions, you can use whichever stress management techniques make you feel better and do not aggravate your symptoms. Obviously, if you are seriously ill, practices that are physically undemanding, such as meditation, breath work, and focused relaxation (which you can do lying down as well as sitting) will be more accessible to you.

For Emotional Disorders

Because emotional disorders, including depression and anxiety, are either caused by or worsened by stress, practicing stress management for these medical conditions is extremely beneficial and may make you feel better, either immediately or with consistent practice over time. 

However, many stress management practices, such as restorative yoga, focused relaxation, and mediation are typically practiced with closed eyes. If this causes you to become more depressed or anxious, try practicing with your eyes open instead, keeping them softly focused. If trying to concentrate on your breath or physical sensations causes your symptoms to worsen, try using a mantra, a formal meditation practice, or a recorded relaxation practice that employs vivid imagery.

Anxiety. Because people with anxiety often have a hard time staying still, we recommend that you begin with a strong asana sequence to tire yourself out a bit before trying stress management techniques. Supported Inverted poses are particularly beneficial for anxiety, as the physical orientation of the poses triggers the Relaxation Response and concentration isn�t as essential. But if you find other techniques effective, use whichever ones you prefer. 

Lying on your back with your front body exposed can increase anxiety in some people, so for you prone restorative poses, such as Child�s pose, may be better than supine poses, such as Reclined Cobbler�s pose. If Savasana on your back creates anxiety, try lying on your belly or on your side instead, or skip the pose entirely and do Legs Up the Wall pose instead. 

Depression. For clinical depression, which has symptoms of lethargy and despair, if lying or sitting still causes symptoms to worsen, try a mindful asana practice with either short holds in static poses or slow dynamic poses. For restorative poses, choose backbend shapes, such as Reclined Cobbler�s pose, which can be uplifting, rather than forward bend shapes. In Savasana, try a supported version, with your torso lifted and your chest open, rather than lying flat.

For agitated depression, follow our suggestions for anxiety, adding in restorative backbends if those work for you.

Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email � Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook � Join this site with Google Friend Connect

Read More

Video of the Week: Arms Overhead pose with Lifted Heels

This mini vinyasa improves your balance, opens and strengthens your shoulders, and strengthens your inner thighs and the calves.

Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email � Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook � Join this site with Google Friend Connect

Read More

Friday Practical Pointers: Changing Your Relationship with Pain

by Baxter and Nina

Jim Coughlin, Age 60

Those of you with health conditions or injuries that have resulted in ongoing, chronic pain or intermittent pain, (think low back injuries, fibromyalgia, and chronic migraine headaches, to name just a few) may have developed a certain adverse relationship with pain over time in the form of feelings of anger, fear, worry, anxiety, despair, sadness, or loss. Unfortunately these responses to pain will often trigger your stress response, which typically increases your pain. And brooding about the pain in general can increase your perception of your pain levels, something we call �the pain on top of the pain.� 

In addition to allowing you to actually reduce your pain levels (as your pain reduces, your attitudes and feelings toward it may also shift), yoga enables you to actively change your adverse relationship to pain in the following ways: 

1. Because brooding or thinking excessively about your pain can distort your accurate perception of your true pain levels, using yoga stress management techniques to quiet your mind allows you to short-circuit your mind�s tendency to focus on pain. In your new, clear state of observation, you may discover that your true pain levels are lower, sometimes significantly, than the pain you experience while focusing on it. 
2. You can improve your pain tolerance by listening to your body and improving your overall self care. You can also improve pain tolerance by cultivating mental and emotional equanimity, which enables you to be more content with what you have and what you don�t have. 

The following sections provide details about how to use this techniques.

How to Quiet Your Mind While in Pain 

To short-circuit your tendency to brood about pain, use any stress management techniques that work for you. We particularly recommend:

• Breath Awareness. Repeatedly coming back to your sensations of breathing interrupts your thoughts about pain 
• Structured Breath Practices. Simple breath practices that require concentration, such as timed 1:1 or 1:2 inhale/exhale patterns and alternate nostril breathing, keep your mind focused on your breathing. 
• Guided Relaxation. Recorded or self-guided relaxation practices keep your mind engaged on physical relaxation or positive imagery. 

As you practice these techniques, your pain levels may decrease, your tolerance for pain may improve, and your typical mental-emotional responses to your pain may become less intense or may even dissipate. 

In addition to quieting your mind, meditating on positive emotions, such as gratitude or joy, or on positive images, enables you to transform feelings of sadness, frustration, fear and anger into more positive states of mind. One study showed that meditating on joy literally activated the areas of the brain that produce positive emotions. This surge of positive emotions may reduce your pain levels, while also improving your pain tolerance and your attitude about the pain.

Meditation also has the long-term benefit of teaching you about mental habits that might be contributing to your pain, allowing you to consciously choose new, healthier ones. For example, your chronic pain may have triggered stress eating, which led weight gain that is worsening your pain (which can happen, for example, with knee arthritis). By observing your thoughts during a meditation practice, you may become aware of the chain of events that leads to your stress eating and then choose a healthier response to the pain, such as taking a short movement break that actually lowers your pain, rather than turning to food. 

How to Improve Your Pain Tolerance 

Mindfulness practices where you focus on your physical sensations other than pain, such as meditation, breath awareness, and mindful practice of asanas, allow you to tune into your body and recognize its needs. These practices teach you to differentiate between chronic, low- level pain and acute surge in pain, which will allow you to have a better sense of when to exercise and when to rest, of how far you can safely move in various yoga poses, and of which practices actually help your pain. (Of course, If your pain becomes severely acute and disabling, it would be wise to get to your doctor urgently.) 

Tuning into your physical sensations will also allow you to improve your self-care in general, as you, for example, realize you need more sleep or to schedule a health care treatment. Becoming an active participant in your self care can give you a sense of control, which can help you move past your adverse relationship towards chronic pain And improving self-care may even allow you to start participating more in the activities that matter to you, improving your overall quality of life.

Another way to improve your pain tolerance is to cultivate equanimity, the original aim of yoga:

When a man has mastered himself,
he is perfectly at ease in cold,
in heat, in pleasure or pain,
in honor or in disgrace. �Bhagavad Gita 

Studying yoga philosophy provides you with an alternative way of thinking about your life, enabling you to be more content with what you have and what you don�t have. And that includes accepting chronic pain as part of your life, which allows you to tolerate the pain more easily. In general, cultivating contentment as described in sutra 1.33 Patanjali�s Yoga Sutras, can be very helpful. 

1.33 Through cultivation of friendliness, compassion, joy, and indifference to pleasure and pain, virtue and vice respectively, the consciousness becomes favorably disposed, serene and benevolent.

Another particularly helpful technique for countering the negative reactions of your mind is pratipaksha bhavana, which means �cultivating the opposite.� 

3.3 When disturbed by negative thoughts, opposite [positive] ones should be thought of. �Swami Satchidananda 

Here�s an example of how to apply pratipaksha bhavana: If you had an increase in pain, your first thought might be, �I won�t be able to go to work today with this level of pain.� But practicing pratipaksha bhavana could allow you to reframe this thought to, �I will be able to work today, despite this pain level� or �Let�s see if I can work today, despite this pain level.� See Cultivating the Opposite for more information on pratipaksha bhavana.

But any yoga philosophy that speaks to you and helps you cultivate balance and equanimity in your mental and emotional life is going to help you increase your pain tolerance and improve the quality of your life.

Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email � Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook � Join this site with Google Friend Connect

Read More

Happy News!

by Nina

In January we announced our fundraiser for YFHA contributor Jill Satterfield, who needed heart surgery to repair her mitral valve (see Fundraiser for Jill Satterfield). Today I thought I�d update you with the good news that Jill�s surgery was successful, and she will be going home today! She still needs quite a bit of time to fully recover from this serious operation, but we�re so happy to see her back on the road to health at long last.

So I just wanted to take a moment today to express my happiness at the good news of the day, and thank all of you who contributed to our fund at GiveForward. I�m so grateful to everyone who has made it possible for Jill to get the medical treatment she needed and to stay in her home during her recovery period.

Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email � Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook � Join this site with Google Friend Connect

Read More

Observing Unhealthy Breathing Patterns

by Nina

Trees are the Lungs of the Earth by Melina Meza

Your ability to breathe in a healthy way can be compromised unhealthy breathing patterns, such holding excessive tension in your abdominal muscles. However, by practicing breath awareness with special attention to the movements of your chest and belly, you can learn about your particular breathing patterns and potentially identify any problems. 

In normal, healthy breathing, as you inhale, your chest and ribs will expand slightly and your belly will rise up or bulge forward, and as you exhale, your belly will relax back and your chest and ribs will relax back toward center. 

Although not common, there are two different breathing patterns that occur in some people that can be problematic:

Chest Breathing. Instead of your belly expanding on your inhalation and relaxing back on your exhalation, there is no movement in your belly at all. All the movement during respiration is in your chest alone. 

Reverse Breathing. Instead of your belly expanding on your inhalation, it actually sucks in during the inhalation and your chest expands dramatically. And on your exhalation, your belly rises as your chest relaxes. 

To observe your own breathing patterns: 

1. Start by setting yourself up in a comfortable reclined pose, such as Savasana or Reclined Cobbler�s pose, or a comfortable supported seated pose, such as Easy Sitting pose with your back against the wall. 
2. Take a moment to relax completely and breathe naturally, with an easy, relaxed breath. 
3. Keeping your breath easy and relaxed, turn your awareness to your chest and belly as you inhale and exhale. Just watch. Is your belly rising/expanding/bulging with your inhalation and relaxing back with your exhalation? Or is something else going on? 

If you do identify a problematic breathing pattern�or think that you have�unless you are a very experienced practitioner of pranayama, it�s best for you to work with your yoga teacher or yoga therapist to change your breathing habits. Your present pattern of breathing is likely to be a well-established one. And an expert will not only be able to observe your breathing with a trained eye but will also have techniques available to effectively coach you to change your ingrained habits. 

Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email � Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook � Join this site with Google Friend Connect

Read More

Techniques for Supporting Your Respiratory System

by Baxter and Nina

Joy Sassoon, Age 60, photographed by Tanya Constantine

Your respiratory system is essential to life, and a completely healthy chest and lungs make a full life more likely. Today, we are recommending techniques for supporting the health of your respiratory system, whether you are healthy and want to stay that way, or whether you have a respiratory disorder or medical condition that directly affects or may eventually affect your respiratory system. These recommendations apply to people who: 

• Are currently healthy
• Are sedentary but wanting to improve your respiratory system
• Are ex-smokers 
• Have lung diseases, such as asthma, exercise-induced asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (emphysema)
• Have been exposed to lung toxins, such as asbestos
• Have heart conditions such as congestive heart failure that directly affect the lungs or heart valve problems that may eventually affect the respiratory system

Start by considering your current condition. If you are currently healthy, you can use a combination of any of our recommended active and relaxing practices. 

For those who have a compromised respiratory system, increased activity could cause unwanted stress on your system. So start with more passive, gentle practices, such as restorative poses, beginning level breath practices (for example, 1:2 ratio breathing) and slow, gentle dynamic poses such as Cat/Cow pose. When you observe gradual improvement in your respiratory system, you can advance your practice. 

If you are currently having trouble breathing, such as from a sudden flare of asthma, we recommend that you focus on stress management practices, such as restorative and supported poses, such as Cobbler�s pose (Baddha Konasana) at the wall, version 4 of Supported Backbend, and version 2 of Reclined Cobbler�s pose, and guided relaxation. (Of course, you should also continue using the protocols prescribed by your doctor for an acute situation.) 

If you have a severe lung disease, such chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (emphysema), unless your doctor says it is safe to advance your practice, you should focus on supported poses and gentle breath work. When you are ready to advance your practice, try a gentle, active practice, as this may provide you with important benefits, including less shortness of breath, better exercise tolerance, and improved sleep. 

Cautions: In general, if you become suddenly short of breath, stop whatever yoga practice you are doing, sit down with some support, in a chair or against a wall, and see if reducing activity quickly resolves your symptoms. If not, seek prompt medical attention. Shortness of breath can be the sign of more serious underlying problems, such as a dropped lung (pneumothorax) or a heart attack. On a less urgent level, be mindful that Savasana or other reclined poses (supine or prone) could make breathing more difficult for a person with lung disease. Adapt supine poses by raising the torso with a support, such as using a bolster under your back in Reclined Cobbler�s pose (Supta Baddha Konasana). Adapt prone poses by finding more space for the belly to move, for example, by widening your knees in Child�s pose. If these adaptations do not improve your breathing, skip these poses for now and practice meditation or breath practices in a seated position. 

How Often to Practice. If you are healthy, practice up to six days a week, alternating days of active practice with days of gentle and restorative practice. If you are currently experiencing respiratory problems, try practicing four days a week, also alternating between active days with restorative days. If you see positive changes, slowly add more days of practice. 

Breath Awareness. Practicing simple breath awareness can reveal breathing habits that you are not currently aware of. You can practice breath awareness in both active poses and relaxation poses to reveal breathing patterns you might want to change, such as chronic shallow, rapid breathing that might not be so healthy during Sun Salutations or physically demanding postures. You may decide to skip this technique However, if you are experiencing shortness of breath, such as an acute asthma episode, you may wish to skip this technique, as focusing on your breath may make you more anxious. 

Balanced Practice. Because one of the primary benefits of yoga asana for your respiratory system function is releasing any tension in the muscles and fascia around the chest region, we recommend practicing a balances sequence that includes: forward bends to open your back, backbends to open your chest, side bends to open the sides of your torso, and twists to release tension from the diagonal muscles and fascia around your chest. Include a mix of both dynamic and static poses. If you have been sedentary for a period, an asana practice that includes these elements can help you regain strength in all the muscles that assist in breathing and improve your overall lung capacity. Round out your practice by including breath practices, restorative poses, and stress management practices.

Breath Practices. Since there are times in your everyday life when you need to breath fast and deep and other times when you should be resting and breathing comfortably, your breath practices can help support whatever context you find yourself. So you should do both stimulating as well as relaxing breath practices. For relaxing your respiratory system a good way to start is by using a 1:2 ratio breath or by slowing and slightly deepening both your inhalation and exhalation equally. To improve your total lung capacity, start with an even breath of 2 seconds in/out,. Then, gradually over time work up to 6 seconds or more in/out, up to your tolerance. 

Dynamic Poses. Focus on dynamic poses that stretch and strengthen the muscles and tissues around your chest area. For example, moving with your breath between Mountain pose, Arms Overhead pose, and Standing Forward Bend and back stretches and strengthens both the front and back of your chest. Moving between Arms Overhead pose to Crescent Moon pose (the side bending version of Arms Overhead pose) stretches and strengthens the sides of your chest. And a dynamic seated twist stretches and strengthens the diagonal muscles of your torso. 

Start with 6 rounds in and out, and work up to 10 rounds. Initially move at a comfortable breath pace. Experiment with slowing down your breath and movement pace or speeding both up gradually to train the body for different situations. 

Static Poses. Focus on poses either stretch or strengthen your torso, including forward bends, backbends, and twists, or standing poses that include or combine those movements. Some examples are Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana), Triangle pose, Extended Side Angle pose, Warrior 1, Cobra pose variations, Marichyasana 3 or Easy Sitting Twist. While passive stretches such as a Supported Backbend will only improve flexibility, many active poses can improve both flexibility and strength. For example, Triangle pose strengthens some muscles along the slides of the torso while also stretching others. So for improvements in flexibility, combine those active poses with passive, supported stretches, such as a Supported Backbend or Reclined Twist. 

If you are new to practice or have a respiratory condition, start off with short holds 10 seconds. Then gradually work up to 30 seconds. From there, to maximize improvements in strength in flexibility and strength, aim for eventual holds of 90 seconds or more. 

Restorative Poses. In general, restful poses are beneficial to the overall functioning of your respiratory system, as they rest your overall respiratory system and lower stress levels. We recommend practicing restorative poses that gently stretch and open your torso area but do not trigger shortness of breath, such as Supported Backbend, Childs�s pose with or without a bolster, and Legs up the Wall pose with arms to your sides or overhead. If focusing on your breath in these poses causes anxiety, try any focusing instead on a different physical sensation, an image, or a mantra. 

Stress Management. Reducing stress has positive effect on your immune system, which could lower your chances of getting infections of the respiratory tract, from the nose and mouth all the way into the deep lungs. In addition, your lungs need downtime to rest and repair, so spending time in Rest and Digest mode provides a beneficial break for them. And for those with chronic respiratory system conditions, practicing regular stress management can improve the quality of your life by reducing anxiety and fear. Use any of the stress management practices we have described elsewhere (see The Relaxation Response and Yoga) that you can tolerate and that also lead to improvements in your breathing.

Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email � Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook � Join this site with Google Friend Connect

Read More