How to have a healthy neck

Saturday was a great morning for many reasons, the main one was that a group of yoga practitioners came together to learn from a knowledgeable, inspiring and friendly yoga teacher: Mark Uridel.
You may not think that the neck area requires much attention unless you feel the heavy weight on your shoulders, tension headaches or just the sensation of having a head that weights like a ton over your shoulders.

Mark gave a round and amazingly clear class in about 2h. We became aware that the reason our neck can feel tight is for basically four reasons:
1) Tension
2) Upper chest breathing
3) Weakness of usually front muscles
4) Bad posture

The solution? Awareness!
Simple isn't it? During the day be aware of how you breath, take some time during the day to breath on your belly, relax, try to stretch the muscles on your neck and release the shoulders from tension with a good gentle yoga practice and to check your posture he recommends to be more aware of it and use a gentle chin tuck to align the cervical area and the shoulders.

Though the neck muscles need to stretch and strength, Mark recommended to be gentle as over-stretching this area can be as detrimental as having lack of strength.

We also moved into a yoga practice using sidhasana, vajrasana, virabhadrasana I, trikonasana, to mention some of the poses but gaining special attention on how we move neck and shoulders.

After a relaxing Savasana, with our minds clear and body happy after the stretches, we enjoyed chanting some mantras and affirmations to heal the area around the mercury chakra or Vishuddha.

After the class, a 67 year old man who had never done yoga, told me how good he felt after the practice and hopefully he will continue to use the practice to heal some of his tightness in the neck area.

We all left with a sense of openness and grateful for having this great teacher in our area.

Mark has a DVD call Yoga for a Healthy Neck with a 20 and 40 minutes practice included. For more information follow the link http://www.healingartsstudios.com/products.html
Mark has 23 years of experience and training in the health care field. He is a Licensed Physical Therapist, Registered Massage Therapist and Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher. He is a professional member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Mark integrates modern Medical Research with ancient Yoga Practices to provide a healing and transformational experience.

It is official: watching TV can kill you!

You can blame the Australians for a change this time. On a recent study by Australian researches who traced more than 8000 people for an average of six years found that "those who said they watched TV for more than four hours a day were 46% more likely to die of any cause and 80% more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than people who reported spending less than two hours a day in front of the tube" as reported on the Wall street Journal last Tuesday.

What is shocking is that these results not only affect people that don't exercise, it affects those who exercise too. How come.? Well, the problem is the inactivity that brings to watch TV for long periods of time.
Think about those long football games that many men watch for more than three hours or the long hours you spend in front of the computer (ouch!) and you can have something else to be worry about.

And those results are only in relation to the TV, what about the amount of violence that you can watch in less than two hours. This information goes directly to your subconscious mind without even notice it. No none really knows the effects but I wonder if all those stimuli have anything to do with our moods and ways that we respond to our environment.

Is there a solution? Yes! do a little bit of exercise if you are in front of the TV for a long period of time, fold clothes, put the elliptical in front of it and actually use it!, move around, take the dishes out of the dishwasher, and stretch every so often.
Not only watching TV can affect you, long commutes, long flights, and any activity that requires you to be seated for hours should be a concern.
Dr. Dunstan, a researcher at Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, in Melbourne mentions that the "research shows the important role of muscle movement in how the body processes blood sugar and blood fats. the absence of movement can slow down or metabolic processes"

Here are simple yoga exercises that can help you move your muscles after a long time in front of the TV or computer. Take breaks every hour or so and stretch!

a) Shoulder rolls. Sit on the edge of your chair. Keep your back straight, breath. On your next inhale start rolling your shoulders towards the back. After 3-5 times, stop check that your back is straight and change the direction of the movement.

b) Twists. Sit again on the edge of your chair, put your left hand on the table in front of your right shoulder, right hand towards the back of the chair or in a place that is comfortable for you. Turn your whole back towards the right, be gentle with your neck. Take 3-4 breaths, release and go to the other side.

c) Neck turns. Same position as before, keep your chin level with the floor and slowly turn your head towards the right, then center it and turn towards the left and center again. Alternate the sides. Inhaling turn to the right, exhaling turn to the center and do the same to the other side.

d) Arm stretch. Bring your arms up to the sides of your head, release your shoulders and if you can interlace your fingers and bring palms up to the ceiling. Stretch your arms up and to the sides, breath.

e) Stretch your legs. From siting , bring your hands under your right knee and lift the leg closer to your belly. With the leg on the air, extend the leg completely towards the front level to the floor, keep alternating bending and stretching for 4-5 times and then do the same with your left leg.

f) Bound angle pose. This is a great way to work out and watch TV. Sit on the floor or on top of a blanket, extend your legs forward, bring your right hand towards the back of your right knee and gently bend the knee and bring the sole of your foot towards the side of your left leg. Any part of the side or your tight is fine or close to your pubic bone. Do the same with your left leg and bring the soles of your feet together, keep your back straight and take 5-6 breaths. Relax.

Caution:
As with any workout, please ask your doctor if you have any health concerns before starting any of these exercises.