Getting Primal
Are all advancements improvements? For instance, science and technology have progressed tremendously to heal, cure, and connect. I am thankful for these advancements. On the other hand, there are some advancements that have set us back – culturally, physically and mentally. Just because something is made bigger, faster, smaller, cheaper…doesn’t make it better. Advancements in the food industry, for example, have lead to supermarket shelves filled with overly processed that will last for decades. As Dr. Alejandro Junger says in the documenty film Hungry for Change, “We are not eating food anymore, we are eating food-like products.”
So how did our pre-agricultural ancestors survive before DVR and GMOs? How do we get primal in our technological era? Mark Sisson, American fitness author, offers “10 Get Primal Tips” to help us advance our own health without science and technology. Tips include:
1. Hike – get outside
2. Lift Hard – strength for real-life situations
3. Ditch Grains and Sugar – stay away from processed foods
4. Sleep Smart – remove electronics from the room and make it dark and quiet
5. Relax – find an activity that will clear the mind AND recharge you. (we recommend yoga)
And…Mark Sisson says “Going barefoot is one of the most primal things we can do.”
Get Primal - go barefoot
Being a Warrior
Warrior series has always frustrated me during my asana practice…until recently. My legs shake and I don’t like to hold the pose. I want to flow…not only to feel graceful, but to get the heck out of that lunge! Warrior II works the hips and the thighs to a place that doesn’t seem natural when done correctly. Even Yoga Journal confesses the intensity of the pose:
Few poses beat Virabhadrasana II (Warrior Pose II) at strengthening your hips and thighs. As you might guess from the way your legs burn in a long Warrior II, the pose strongly works your quadriceps muscles, which make up the front of your thighs.
But Warrior II is not just about strength: It can also correct a common misalignment that can lead to many knee problems. To see if you have this misalignment, stand barelegged in front of a mirror. If your alignment is healthy, your kneecaps will point straight out over the midline of your feet. But you may find that your thighbone rotates inward in relation to your shinbone and that your kneecap points slightly inward, too. This position is bad news: It torques your knee, putting uneven pressure on the cartilage and straining the supporting ligaments and tendons every time you bend it.
I continued to practice the pose, and more often than not, I would release from the lunge and straighten my front leg. I couldn’t bear the burn. What kind of warrior am I?! But as with everything in life, there came a shift. Perhaps it was my frustrated and constant internal dialogue – “to get stronger you have to stay here”. Or perhaps, just like in the alignment of the pose, I was finally aligned mentally, physically and emotionally to recognize the warrior I have always been.
Warrior II
Pictured above: Yoga Instructor Jen Pinto deepens her yoga practice and her Warrior II by wearing yoga socks with grip.
Back to School
A local elementary school is teaching their 6th graders about business, finance, goals, and marketing by following the format of a popular reality TV show, Shark Tank. The students are to use their imaginations to harvest an entrepreneurial concept. They have one month to develop their plan and then present it to a panel of judges, just like on the show. ToeSox was asked to be part of the experience. Vice President Christina Patterson presented the ToeSox story and showed them how an Ah-Ha moment can lead to a big idea.
ToeSox concept - long story short
After a year of R&D, ToeSox was ready to launch with it Full ToeSox with Grip. Soon after, they started getting feedback from customers, especially dancers, telling them how ToeSox are rehabilitating their feet. From there, the idea grew. Nearly eight years later, ToeSox is a health and wellness company specializing in five toe footwear.
Three companies presented their business stories. The main message was this: Believe in your idea. Get excited about it. And others will too.
Mat, Meet Mat.
It seems there’s a divide – those that do yoga and those that do Pilates. I’ve always been peacefully on the yoga side. Yoga gets me through my week , helps me through my hard days, challenges me to handle life with grace and patience, and reminds me to respect my body. Until two months ago, I had never experienced a Pilates class. I knew it was about the core, but had no idea past that. Jumping in with both feet, I signed up for a month unlimited of Pilates classes and I carefully placed my yoga practice on hold. The Gemini in me apparently can’t balance two practices at once – one extreme to the other…or so I thought. Turns out the two go hand in hand quite nicely. A brief summary of how I feel when practicing:
Yoga – I feel free… enjoying the flow, the energy in the room, the way my body can fold and open. I like to listen to the words the teachers speak. And I like the practice beyond physical movement.
Yoga Instructor Kathryn Budig
Pilates - I realize how much our bodies can strengthen, how our muscles are designed to function. I also learned how to shake really well. With my muscles fully exerted I’m still shaky during planks and…well, pretty much everything. But I’ve learned that I really am stronger than my mind gives me credit for.
Pilates Instructor Carrie Macy
Now that my month package of Pilates has come to an end, I am back into yoga. I can see a difference in my yoga practice. I am stronger, my core is engaged and it makes a world of difference in my backbends, side planks, and sun salutations.
Today’s Yoga Journal Daily Insight introduces this subject of the two practices in The Other Mat:
Many yogis are beginning to recognize that Pilates—an 85-year-old system of body conditioning designed by German émigré Joseph Pilates—is a rewarding complement to asana practice. And some are finding that Pilates’ focus on building and engaging a strong core can propel their yoga practice into new realms.
While yogis are instructed to either hold poses or flow quickly through them in vinyasas, Pilates is a rhythmic practice of precise movements repeated five to 10 times for each exercise. The aim is to engage and strengthen the transversus abdominis (the deepest layer of abs that wrap around the torso horizontally), the obliques, the lower back muscles, and the pelvic floor during complex movements. By doing so, you develop a strong, corset-like support system that protects your back from injury.Yoga and Pilates are, of course, distinct practices, but there might be times—perhaps when you’ve hit a plateau in your asana practice or are in an experimental mood—when playing with some Pilates techniques on your mat might enhance your yoga practice.
Namaste.
Slow Down
Pop Quiz:
When someone asks, “How are you?”, do you:
a. Reply with a stock answer “Good, and you?” but never really hear their answer
b. Reply “I’ve been crazy busy!”
c. Ignore it, you are in a rush and didn’t even hear the question.
Seems like more and more of us are multi-tasking, but are we multi-doing? Are we staying focused and completing our goals? In a recent Huffington Post article, Yes is the New No, Ira Israel notes that, “The problem is that busyness has become part of personal identity, how we get our sense of self.”
My challenge to you is to slow down. Avoid telling people how busy you are – that doesn’t define you and it shouldn’t answer the question “How are YOU?”. The moments you are connecting with people are special and we should never be too CRAZYBUSY to experience them.
Ready for Minimalist Running?
Minimalist Running Assessment
You don’t have to be running barefoot to accomplish the minimalist running technique. Before you head out for a barefoot run and slip into minimalist running shoes, check out these three self-assessment tests by Jay Dicharry, MPT for Running Times. Watch closely to see if your body is ready to go minimal. It all starts with range of motion…from the ankle to the…yep, you guessed it…to the toes.
Click to view video
Sole Soak
- Soak your soles
via Healthy Lifestyles & Spas – A Soak for the Soles
From ancient times, when weary travelers were greeted at their destination with a warm foot bath, to modern spas that commence full body treatments with a relaxing foot soak, this humble ritual has survived the ages. Both nurturing and practical, the footbath was a way to prevent soil from entering the home, while honoring and acknowledging your guest’s journey. In some cultures, a foot wash was also given to clear all negative energy, stress, and anxiety before crossing the threshold.
Healthy feet support whole body wellness. Soak the soles and soothe the soul with this DIY feel-good footbath from Healing Lifestyles & Spas Beauty Editor, Laurel House:
- Fill a large bowl three-quarters full with warm water
- Add one teaspoon almond oil
- Two tablespoons nonfat dry milk
- A splash of lavender or rosemary essential oil
- Relax and soak for five to fifteen minutes
Happy (Spring) Feet!
- Spring soles start with a pampering pedicure
We take those two planks at the end of our legs for granted. Now that the weather is warming up, it’s time to kick off your shoes and pamper your feet so they are ready for Spring sandals.
Start by following these simple steps for a foot health self-examination by American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS):
Skin: Check your skin for calluses, blisters or areas of irritation. Now stand next to your shoes. Are they shaped like your feet or are they causing areas of constriction that may result in calluses, blisters or irritation? Now put your hand inside your shoe. Are there seams, tacks or rough places in the shoe that correspond to the areas of irritation, calluses or blisters on your feet?
Circulation: Look at the color of your toes. Are they red, pink, purple or blue? Press down on the nail of your big toe until the color blanches. Now let go and allow the blood flow to return to your toe. The return of normal color should take 2-5 seconds in a person with average circulation.
Flexibility: How flexible are your toes? Try to pick up a marble (excellent) or a small dishtowel (good). To test your ankle flexibility, hang your heel over the edge of a stair while standing on the stair facing the stair. Now let the heel go below the level of the stair. If this causes pain, stop the test. If your heel goes below the level of the stair without causing strain in your calf, that is excellent. If there is some strain, this can be improved with flexibility exercises.
Sensation: Take a pencil eraser and lightly run it on the top, bottom and both sides of your feet. The sensation should feel equal in all quadrants. It may tickle on the bottom of the feet. That is normal.
Pain: There should be no pain in the average foot.
Balance: A good test for balance involves standing on one foot, with your arms out to the side and your eyes closed. If you are less than 30 years old, you should be able to balance for 15 seconds, 30-40 years old for 12 seconds, 40-50 years old for 10 seconds, and over 50 years old for 7 seconds. This can be improved with exercises.
Next, treat your soles to a pedicure. Spring and summer fashions call for strappy dresses and sandals so Women’s Health Magazine covers how to Fix Ugly Feet at Home with a step-by-step DIY indulgence for pretty toes. TIP: After the massaging lotions put on pedicure socks to lock in the moisturizing nutrients and still allow for a flawless polish.
Breaking down a broken down foot
Shoes make the outfit. We kick off our shoes or sandals when we get home. Somewhere in between putting them on and taking them off, our feet can suffer from some uncomfortable shoe side effects. Do your feet ache, throb, hurt? It’s important to take care of your foot health as they support the rest of your body, its posture and balance. Let’s see if we can break down what’s causing your broken down foot.
- Foot Pain Chart
Athlete’s Foot. Fungus on the foot (usually between the toes or on the bottom of the feet) that causes redness, itchiness, tiny bumps filled with fluid, or peeling skin. A common skin condition that can affect everyone, not just athletes. It is most commonly located between the toes or on the bottom of the feet.
Bunion. A pathological bump on the side of the big toe caused by an enlargement of bone or tissue around the joint. With a bunion, you may experience irritated skin around the bunion, pain when walking, joint redness and pain, and possible shift of the big toe toward the other toes. Blisters may form more easily around the site of the bunion as well.
Corns & Callouses. Areas of thick, hard skin. Corns are hard, thick skin that forms on your toe, while a callous is thick, hard skin that has forms elsewhere on your foot. They are usually caused by rubbing or irritation over a boney prominence.
Hammer Toe. An imbalance of the tendons (either above or below the toe) causing toe(s) to curl. Also called a claw toe or mallet toe.
Ingrown Toenail. The sides or corners of the toenail usually curve down and put pressure on the skin. Sometimes the toenail pierces the skin and then continues to grow into the skin. This may cause redness, swelling, pain and sometimes infection.
Plantar Fascitis. A thick fibrous band of connective tissue originating on the bottom surface of the calcaneus (heel bone) and extending along the sole of the foot towards the five toes. It has been reported that plantar fasciitis occurs in two million Americans a year and 10% of the population over a lifetime.
(source: www.foothealth.about.com)