Mountain Views News          Saturday, December 14, 2013

10

HEALTHY LIFESTYLES

Mountain Views News Saturday. December 14, 2013 


THE JOY OF YOGA

HOW DOES YOGA HELP STRESS?


SLEEP BETTER THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

Everyone knows that sleep is essential to good health. The body needs to 
do it’s house cleaning which can only be accomplished while we are asleep. 
Many people find it harder to sleep well during the holiday season than 
they do the rest of the year. This may be due to shorter days (less sunlight) 
or it may be because we are under more stress trying to accomplish too 
much and attend holiday events. 

Whatever the reason for your less than stellar night’s sleep, here are a few 
things that may help you sleep longer and sounder. 

The first is to make good evening meal choices. Eating healthy but high 
glycemic foods, like rice and potatoes, for dinner or no sooner than 4 
hours before bed where shown to help people fall asleep 49 percent faster 
according to a study published in The American Journal of Clinical 
Nutrition. This is because those foods increase the concentration of 
tryptophan, a precursor of serotonin, which is a sleep-inducing agent.

The next thing you can do is take a brisk walk for 20 minutes. Exercisers are more likely than non-
exercisers to have a sounder night’s sleep. 

Lastly, use lavender oil or even sprigs of dried lavender to scent your bedroom. Herbalists have 
known for centuries that lavender has calming and sedative properties. It is also thought to decrease 
heart rate and blood pressure. 

We’ve all heard it, maybe your doctor told you. You don’t need all this 
stress. But shy of crawling into a cave, the stress will still be there. The 
yogis have a unique perspective on this. Just sitting down to try to 
meditate when your head is full of all kinds of thoughts and worries, is 
impossible, so we give you something to do. First yoga asana (postures) 
that work with specific breathing. Calming the breath calms the mind. 
So increasing the challenging poses and still calming the breath teaches 
you to breathe in challenging situations. We also focus on back strength. 
To meditate – you must have a strong spine that can sit straight for a 
while, but also a strong healthy spine helps handle stress.

 In addition to getting some of the nervous energy under control, 
strengthening and loosening the joints and muscles, yoga balances your 
prana. Prana is that wonderful life force energy inherent in everything. 
We can’t see it, but we certainly know when our energy is low. Yoga 
teaches us to work with it and balance it. It then teaches us to cultivate it and direct it. This is done 
through breath and concentration exercises. The gathering of energy and the focused direction of 
it are what make yoga so unique and wonderful. You can give less energy to the things you don’t 
want in your life and direct more energy to the things you do want. Sure that can sound simple, but 
practice makes……it easier. If nothing else, you can come to a yoga class and just move and chill. 
The best and most important part of class is the relaxation.

It’s hard to do at home this time of year, with all the gifts pilling up to be wrapped. 

So get in to class and learn to stress less. Everything will get better.

Did I mention that the gift of yoga is the best gift you can give your loved ones?

We have many packages available, online purchasing and a Holiday special!

You can plan now for the New Year and get that task off your plate!

I can’t wait to see you after class, all calm and content.

Namasté, René

Dr. Tina is a traditional 
naturopath and nutritionist 
at Vibrant Living 
Wellness Center


JUST FOR BEST FRIENDS


THE MYTHICAL, MYSTICAL, 
MAGICAL OWL

LOOKING FOR A BEST FRIEND??

Happy Tails

by Chris Leclerc

So is Weebo!! He is asking 
Santa for a home of his own for Christmas!! 
Weebo came to the shelter in August of 2012 
in a very fearful state of mind. He was found 
in dirty living conditions, tied to a bed, and 
his demeanor suggested that he might have 
been abused. He was very hand-shy, timid 
with people, and nervous around loud noises 
and a lot of activity.

 Volunteers have spent many hours working 
with Weebo to reduce his anxiety levels. He 
has come a long way, has learned to trust 
the people he sees often, and has shown an 
interest in “normal” dog play. He has always 
got along well with his kennel mates, and 
enjoys playing with them. 

He loves to go on walks, and if you sit down 
with him on the grass or in his kennel, he 
will snuggle up close and ask for a belly-rub. 
He is a very loving little dog who just wants 
some love and security.

 It will take someone special to adopt Weebo – 
he needs someone with patience who will take the time to get to know him, and give him the 
extra attention he needs. He would do better in a quiet home where there is not too much 
activity. He would enjoy a nice yard to play in, and going for daily walks. He would probably 
do well with another dog in the household to play with.

Weebo is believed to be a miniature pinscher/spaniel mix, about 2-3 years old, and weighs 
around 15 pounds. 

He currently resides at the San Gabriel Valley Humane Society located at 851 E. Grand 
Avenue in San Gabriel. We are located off San Gabriel Blvd., north of Mission and south of 
Las Tunas. 

To arrange a ‘Meet and Greet’ with Weebo (aka….5090), please stop by any time from 
10:00am to 4:30pm Tuesday thru Sunday. 

His adoption fee is $120 which includes his neuter surgery, a microchip, first vaccinations and 
a free wellness check-up at a participating veterinarian. Feel free to call us at (626) 286-1159 
for more information on Weebo. 

 

See our website at www.sgvhumane.org for information and photos of all our available pets. 

 
I so enjoy 
observing the 
local wildlife 
that resides in 
and around 
Sierra Madre, 
and I absolutely 
adore hearing 
the musical calls 
of birds echoing 
through the 
air. I especially 
love hearing 
the audacious calls that come from the 
enormous birds of prey living among 
us. In fact, when I hear the unique, low-
tone hooting of an owl, I feel a sense 
of warmth and comfort that is hard 
for me to describe. Just knowing that 
owls nest in the trees close to where I 
live is like an honor to me. We are truly 
blessed with nature’s goodness in our 
hillside village!

 I recently came across an article 
entitled Homeless Owls Need Homes, 
Too, about a project that provides 
alternative habitation for owls 
rendered homeless due to development 
in the San Gabriel Valley. I decided to 
contact the author, Steve Scauzillo 
to ask him a few questions, and he 
was kind enough to take the time to 
chat with me. Steve admitted that he 
is not an owl expert and may not be 
the best person to consult about local 
owls. His column covers a variety of 
current issues and concerns regarding 
the environment, and this particular 
article just happened to be about owls. 
Steve suggested that I contact Kimball 
Garrett at the LA Museum of Natural 
History, who truly is an expert on owls, 
so I gave Kimball a call.

 Kimball Garret was more than 
willing to share what he knows about 
the owls that inhabit our foothills. 
Apparently there are a few types that 
might be seen nesting in the forest 
right behind us and visiting our village, 
but the ones we may hear exuding 
resonant hooting sounds (“hoo, hoo-
hoo, hoo“) back and forth to one 
another are most likely Great Horned 
Owls (Bubo virginianus pacificus). He 
explained that this particular owl is 
more prominent in our parts because 
they are adaptable to changes in 
their environment, so they are 
willing and able find alternative 
nesting spots when preferred 
locations are not available. Great 
Horned Owls prefer nesting in very 
tall trees, but when older, taller trees 
go missing, which seems to be more 
of a trend now than ever in our town, 
the Great Horned Owl is wise enough 
to take up residence in lower lying 
canopies. Some will even nest in man-
made boxes built on stilts where they 
are protected from predators, high 
winds and hard rains.

 Like all living things, owls play a 
very important part in keeping nature 
in balance. With this in mind, the next 
time you are tempted to complain 
about having too many rats running 
around in your yard or under your 
house, let it be a reminder of how 
important the big trees are. Indeed, big 
trees provide a place where owls and 
other birds of prey will stay and help 
keep that rat population in check.

 I had a remarkable experience with 
a couple of local owls on the morning 
my dad passed away. I slept in a little 
later than usual that Saturday morning, 
so I was still lying in bed at 8am when 
I suddenly heard two owls calling out 
in unison, one slightly higher pitched 
than the other. They were so close and 
so loud that the huge picture window 
on the north wall of my room seemed 
to vibrate from the resonance. My 
husband was there to witness the 
experience, so I can always rely on his 
confirmation when I share this story 
with my friends. They may not believe 
it really happened, otherwise. 

 We both laid there listening, amazed 
at how loud those owls were. We 
assumed they had to be very close by, 
maybe even perched in the avocado 
tree in our side yard. To me, having 
owls visit my property is a blessing, 
like nature’s reward for being a good 
steward on behalf of the environment. 
This is not to say I think I am a saint 
when it comes to giving earth the 
respect it deserves, but I do try my best 
to treat it with kindness by cleaning up 
trash I find on the trails and sidewalks, 
and abstaining from the use of toxic 
chemicals on my property. I also 
allow fallen leaves to remain where 
they lie, so they can return to the soil 
and nourish the trees and fauna they 
fell from. I even talk to trees, telling 
them how important they are and how 
thankful I am for their beauty, their 
shade, their photosynthesis and their 
fruit. I truly believe that humane and 
respectful treatment toward any living 
thing is our duty as human beings.

 When I heard those owls hooting 
away so loudly near my bedroom 
window that morning, I thought is 
sounded like some sort of heavenly 
choir singing a sacred hymn just for 
me. Just moments after hearing the 
owls, I got out of bed and went down 
to make coffee. That’s when I got the 
call from my family back east, telling 
me the sad news that my father had 
just passed away. When I hung up with 
my brother, I sat for a while crying and 
trying to take it in, that I would never 
again have the chance to see or talk 
to my dad here on earth. With such 
shocking news to process, the owls 
left my thoughts completely until later 
that day when it dawned on me; at the 
very moment my dad died, I was lying 
in bed listening to the amazing sound 
of two owls hooting louder than I had 
ever heard before.

 There are many mysterious, mystical 
myths associated with the owl, passed 
down through oral traditions of 
various peoples. One myth says that the 
owl is an omen of death soon-to-come. 
Another regards the owl as the bearer 
of the deceased soul as it passes from 
this world into the next. I have never 
subscribed to mythical theories about 
animals before, but I must say that the 
experience I had on the morning my 
dad passed away made me think twice 
about whether those ancient theories 
might hold some truth.

 One thing that is definitely true for 
me is that I love these amazing birds 
of prey. I love them because of their 
beauty and elegance, their tenacity 
and their symbiotic relationship with 
nature, not to mention the fact that 
they provide excellent examples to us 
humans through their loyal, familial 
life-style. They work very hard to 
overcome life’s hurdles, just to survive 
in today‘s world where fast-paced 
development is so quickly stealing 
away the places where they used to 
stay. I thank God every day for this 
beautiful earth and all the creatures he 
placed on it, particularly the mythical, 
mystical, magical Great Horned Owl.