Extra! Extra!
Announcing:
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Heart health is important for us all! Although fatal and damaging heart attacks are devastating, heart disease doesn’t only involve classic myocardial infarction. It also takes the form of conditions such as high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation and venous insufficiency. The body and mind can gradually die away, often with a significant amount of associated pain. Many people suffer a great deal for the last ten years of their lives due to chronic cardiovascular disease. And when a person is being treated for other serious diseases such as cancer, having heart disease causes all kinds of serious complications or even precludes many forms of treatment. What’s even more surprising is that a significant number of people don’t realize that they have a “heart problem.”
The costs to people with cardiovascular disease and their families, and society as a whole, are huge.
Today, heart disease and stroke take one life every 7 minutes and 90% of Canadians have at least one risk factor. – http://heartmonth.heartandstroke.ca
I became familiar with Dr. Dean Ornish and his then-controversial work, Program to Reverse Heart Disease, in 1995, just shortly before my mother’s untimely death from heart disease at age 51. Since then I have learned a great deal more. As a matter of fact, contemplating my life’s purpose in the wake of my mother leaving her body, I realized that life was (and is) too short to live mindlessly now for some imagined future benefit, and that I wanted to share with others some of what I gained from practicing yoga. Not long after, I commenced my formal teacher training and left my desk job as an IT management consultant.
Me and Nischala in 2009.
One of my teachers, Nischala Joy Devi, then a swami at Satchidananda Ashram, tells me that Dean Ornish was a photographer when he first met Swami Satchidananda. It was their mutual guru who encouraged Ornish to become a doctor. A major part of Dr. Ornish’s eventual program came from what he learned living at the ashram and was fleshed out by Nischala, including adoption of a yoga practice. This Yoga Journal article by Dr. Timothy McCall outlines the basics of Dr. Ornish’s program and is very easy to read!
And I urge you to do on-line assessment of your cardiovascular risk here.
In support of Heart Month, and just because I would like to offer it, I’ll be running a 2 1/2-hour workshop on Thursday, February 13, 2014 called, “Yoga for a Healthy Heart”. Please consider attending. Time: 6:30 – 9 PM Place: Shaganappi Community. Cost is $35 and all proceeds after costs will be donated to this year’s Heart Month campaign, MAKE HEALTH LAST.
This restorative therapeutic yoga session, is founded primarily on the work of Dr. Karandikar, a physician from Pune, India who has been formative in the work of my teacher, David McAmmond. It employs blankets and bolsters to maintain the body in a number of positions that are known to be supportive of the physiology of the circulatory system, the heart, and the nervous system.
If you can’t make it to the yoga workshop, please consider making a donation: My Heart and Stroke Donation Webpage.
The foundation has set aggressive goals that will help reduce Canadians’ rate of death from heart disease and stroke by 25% — and their overall risk factors by 10% — by 2020. Your gift can help us change the future. – Heart Month 2014 brochure
Did you know that the first successful open heart surgery on a patient in Canada (in 1954) used a technique that was developed through a Foundation research grant? I actually have met a scientist whose work is funded by the Heart and Stroke Foundation on my neighbourhood canvassing rounds!
My Heart and Stroke Donation Webpage
Thank you for taking the time to get down here! You deserve a pat on the back, and a heart-healthy break!
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Recently a long-time student asked if I knew of any remedies for excessive ear wax. She wanted to avoid having to go to the doctor to have it removed. Certainly, warmth is the first thing that comes to mind.
While one wants to be sure that the eardrum is not perforated and also guard against inserting sharp objects (some experts say anything smaller than an elbow – ha!ha! – a picture of an elbow in an ear comes to mind!) into the ear, ayurveda (sister science to yoga) advises that
can help to soften the wax and also to heal any infection that might be present.
I’ve also heard that placing a geranium leaf over the ear can help to soothe an earache. Whether this would be the true geranium or the pelargonium, I am unsure. LIkely the cranesbill, or true geranium is what is intended.
Eating properly, drinking plenty of fluids and taking lots of rest are helpful.
How about some self-study (svadhya),a mudra, some sound therapy, imagery (bhavana) and an affirmation (sankalpa)? Gertrud Hirschi’s book, Mudra: Yoga In Your Hands, outlines an interesting approach that combines all of these non-asana yoga practices.
Swiss Hirschi, who is informed a great deal by Acharya Keshav Dev, asserts that hearing problems are experienced by people who either aren’t able to hear or who don’t want to hear, either as a blessing or a curse. Hearing impairment can be a potent form of protection, physiological and psychological, but it also prevents hearing beautiful things. And sometimes it is due to a misguided form of stubbornness that has no good purpose. Svadhaya, or self study, can enrich our lives if we scrutinize the reasons behind our inability to hear. Making amends for old offenses or forgiving another person can be transformative.
In addition to self-study, Hirschi suggests using Shunya (Heaven) Mudra for problems with ears and hearing. This can be performed on an as-needed basis, or three times a day for 15 minutes. With both hands, bend the middle finger until it contacts the heel of the thumb and lightly press down on the middle finger with the thumb, extending the other fingers. Hold only enough to stay alert without undue tension. Feel the sensations in your hands and elsewhere.
Either at the same time or separately, attentively listen to gentle, flowing and relaxing music (music therapy). Notice as thoughts and inner images arise, and let go of unpleasant phenomena (bhavana). Imagine pleasant things and affirm, “I recognize the goodness of the universe in the heavenly sound.” (sankalpa).
Integration in the nervous system and through the faculties of learning occurs when many tools are employed at the same time. Give it a try, and let me know how it works for you.
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