Mountain Views News          Saturday, March 8, 2014

Mountain Views News Saturday, March 8, 2014 
11HEALTHY LIFESTYLES Mountain Views News Saturday, March 8, 2014 
11HEALTHY LIFESTYLES 
THE JOY OF YOGA 
HOW DOES YOGA HELP 
WITH STRESS? 
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.

 Take the time to get into class and learn to stress less. Everything will get better. 

Namasté, René 


Dr. Tina is a traditional 
naturopath and nutri-
tionist at Vibrant Living 
Wellness Center


IMPROVE VISION THROUGH DIET 

As we age, so do our eyes. Many people in the second half of their life 
begin to develop eye problems. Problems such as cataracts which is 
clouding of the lenses or macular degeneration which is a thinning at the 
center of the eye’s inner lining that can bring about loss of central vision. 
Glaucoma is another disease that damages your optic nerve, leading to 
vision loss. Some will deal with something as simple as chronic dry eyes. 
There are things you can do to keep your eyes healthy as you age. 
The most important thing that a person can do to protect their eye sight 
is to NOT smoke. Smoking dramatically increases a person odds of 
developing cataracts or macular degeneration. Smoking also, exacerbates 
dry eye syndrome and allergic eye conditions. 

Next to smoking, proper rest for your eyes is very paramount. This is 
especially true if you work at a computer. It is important to take even a 
small break every half hour or so to give your eyes a rest. 

Eating your greens, not just your carrots is very important to eye health. 
Green leafy vegetables are the best like kale and spinach, which contain 
the phytochemical lutein. Lutein is a naturally occurring carotenoid that 

studies show, may reduce the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration. Try to include a serving of 
at least one of these in your diet daily. 

Lastly, vitamins such as Vitamin C, Vitamin E, beta carotene, Zinc and copper are essential for eye 
health. Of course the best way to get these vitamins is from whole foods or whole food supplements. 
Lowering your insulin levels is also very important. This can be done by avoiding sugar and processed 
foods such as pastas, breads and 
cereals. 

Following a healthy lifestyle will go 
a long way toward protecting your 
vision. By improving your diet, you 
not only get the benefits of stronger, 
healthier eyes, you also get an overall 
healthier body. 


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