Mountain Views News          Saturday, November 1, 2014

9

HEALTHY LIFESTYLES

Mountain Views-News Saturday, November 1, 2014


THE JOY OF YOGA

TRUE FREEDOM 


If there were a 
list of qualities to 
aspire to in our 
yoga practice, 
freedom would 
be on that list. 
Our bodies call 
out for freedom, we all desire that stretch and 
range of motion in our joints. We especially 
want personal freedom, or spiritual freedom, 
the ability to be who we are without reservation 
or resistance. 

 There are some with the opinion that freedom 
gives a license to do whatever want. This school 
of thought can often lead to excess (food, drink) 
and depletion. We end up cutting out healthy 
practices that nourish us in lieu of instant 
gratification. The end result leaves us unsettled 
and restricted. 

 Having a framework, or structure in place in 
our physical and spiritual practice can actually 
provide more of the freedom we desire. Take 
our asana practice, for example. We can practice 
without presence, moving in and out of poses at 
half measure. Alternately, we can find alignment 
in each pose, stick with our breath and complete 
challenging parts of the practice. What do you 
think the benefit is in each practice? Which 
practice will give us the freedom to be who we 
want to be? 

 How about our spiritual practice and 
life habits? What benefit would a structured 
discipline provide there? Yes, I said it. 
Discipline. Freedom requires discipline. I’ve 
heard discipline defined as “ intellect winning 
over disposition”. We act with the greater good 
in mind, and move past our own resistance. In 
this case, intellect can be our friend and help to 
keep us on the Path. 

 To me, true freedom is defined as our ability 
to live our true purpose with joy and happiness. 
We remain stable in the midst of change, yet 
easily adjust to life’s unexpected twists and 
turns. We actually become more flexible, 
possibilities open to us. With this freedom, our 
own resistance diminishes and our own joy 
and inspiration leads the way. We’ve just got to 
provide the structure and alignment. 

Namaste, 

Keely Totten 

Yoga Madre


LET’S FIGHT FATIGUE!

More and more 
Americans complain 
that they suffer some 
sort of fatigue. It may 
range from needing 
a nap mid-day to 
symptoms more severe 
like chronic fatigue. 
Fatigue is frustrating 
and can be debilitating. 
For some people they 
have to push through 
every day. For these 
same people, at the 
end of each long and 
exhausting day, sleep is 
yet another challenge. 
Oddly, for many people 
the more exhausted 
they are during the day, 
the worse sleep at night. After a restless night of 
tossing and turning, the cycle begins again as the 
sun arises. 

 Feeling great and energetic requires reversing 
the things that contributed to the problem in the 
first place. Fatigue is something that gradually goes 
away so you have to be committed. Supporting 
your body with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables 
which will improve your body’s immune system 
will greatly aid in restoring normal energy levels. 
Here are 5 more things that you can do to get 
started on a path of eliminating fatigue. 

1. Cut back on caffeine. 

 Adrenaline is what gives athletes that winning 
burst of energy and also gives a person the strength 
to lift a car that has rolled onto a child. Adrenaline 
is the source of our “fight-or-flight” response, 
which enables us to run for our lives if the need 
arises. Caffeine stimulates your adrenal glands to 
produce this fight or flight response. When the 
over stimulation of your adrenals wears off you feel 
fatigue, and possibly irritability and headaches. If 
you are constantly using caffeine you are keeping 
your body in “flight-or-flight” mode.

2. Try to relax.

 Make your world as small and uncomplicated 
as possible by reducing your everyday needs. 
Start by filtering news and information. If you 
cannot do anything about it and it stresses you, 
you do not need to be concerned with it. Learn 
to practice relaxation techniques whenever you 
can. Meditation, even for a couple of minutes can 
relieve stress as can a few slow deep breaths. 

3. Generate feel good hormones through 
movement. 

 Endorphins are the “feel good” chemicals 
induced by exercise. Of course, you can be so 
fatigued that doing anything seems impossible 
which is a real “Catch 22” because moving is 
needed to eliminate fatigue. We need to be 
physically tired as well as mentally or emotionally. 
A simple walk can be the first step. Once you have 
established a routine, begin to walk farther or 
slightly faster. Yoga is another great option to get 
your body moving again and to relieve fatigue. 

4. Try to develop good sleep habits. 

 Our bodies need a mini tune-up daily. Sleep, 
especially deep sleep, is when our bodies do this 
repair and maintenance. There are many things 
you can do to promote a good night’s sleep. Once 
you have done 1, 2 and 3 above to improve your 
odds of sleeping well then try to; establish a 
schedule, don’t eat too close to bedtime, and keep 
your bedroom as dark as possible. 

5. Embrace whole food or herbal therapy instead 
of drug therapy. 

 If you are taking any type of drug therapy, 
be aware that it may actually be contributing 
to fatigue. Nutritional deficiencies can make it 
difficult to get your energy levels back even when 
you are doing all of the above. There are whole 
food and herbal supplements that feed the body 
what it needs to overcome fatigue without side 
effects. Herbs can help relieve the symptom of 
fatigue directly by enhancing immune function, 
balancing hormones, and stimulating the healing 
systems of the body. 

 Feeling good every day does require a healthy 
lifestyle and some effort but it well worth it!

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


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