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I trust the internet more than my pediatrician

Posted December 15th, 2008 | 4 Comments » |

This is from guest poster, Catherine. She’s a dedicated yogini and a new mom whose agreed to write a few guest posts for us here. I thought it would be great to get her perspective about life with an infant. Thank you Catherine!

———-

Uh Oh. I trust the Internet more than my pediatrician.

I have a big, healthy four-month-old son. Everything about him so far is very normal and average (which is great!) When I was pregnant, my belly would measure exactly on target for the week that I was in and I actually went into labor on his due date.

Given that I had such a low-risk pregnancy, I didn’t think much of the choice of his pediatrician. Around our 38th week, the midwife asked for the name of the pediatrician and my husband and I looked at each other as it dawned on us, “Oh, right. We should probably do that before he’s born.” Given that we were attempting to get 1000 other things done before he arrived, we went to the first pediatrician that we could find who was close to our house and covered by our insurance. We didn’t think much about the choice at the time. After ten minutes talking to the pediatrician, we thought she seemed like a very reasonable, knowledgeable woman.

And she DID turn out to be a reasonable, knowledgeable woman, but not the right pediatrician for us.

She wasn’t right for us for a few reasons. First of all, there was the Eye-Gunk Issue. From birth, my son would get mucus-y stuff in his eyes. It happened particularly when he slept, but occasionally at other times as well. For the first 6-7 weeks of his life it didn’t get worse or better, there was just always eye gunk in his eyes and I would wipe it away whenever I could with a warm washcloth. When it first started happening, I looked it up on the Internet (of course, right? Why go to a knowledgeable professional when you have Google?) and it seemed to simply be a clogged tear duct. All the sites say to just keep it clean and the tear duct will eventually open on its own. When we saw the pediatrician, however, she saw the eye gunk and prescribed erythromycin to rub on his eyes.

I said, “But is it an infection? Isn’t that an antibiotic?” She said, “No, it’s not an infection but this will clear it up.” I remained confused by her answer but after another week where the eye gunk level stayed the same, I decided to actually fill the prescription and start applying it. We had a messy several days of me trying to coat the inner eyelid of a baby with petroleum-based goo. He would then always rub his eyes with his hands and then of course stick them in his mouth. Being a new mom, I then became worried about him eating the eye goo. Since it didn’t seem to help the eye gunk issue, I simply stopped administering the goo and just didn’t tell our pediatrician. I just made sure that his eyes were nice and clean right before we went to see her. Now that he’s four months, the eye gunk issue is totally gone. Chalk one up for the Internet.

Next time I post I’ll write about another major issue – all about Vaccines.

Posted under Guest Poster, Postnatal Information, Yoga

Practice for One Month with Us

Posted December 10th, 2008 | 1 Comment » |

It’s been a week since I’ve posted because I’m right in the middle of finishing up preparations for the Yoga Odyssey. This is the month-long home practice program that I’ve run twice now, and I can’t wait for it to start again January 4! You can sign up here for the Odyssey.

We’re starting to get a critical mass of yogis signed up and ready to practice – very exciting! I wanted to post because the early registration deadline is December 15. Register by December 15 for $30. It’s good to register in advance because you’ll be able to mark your calendar and go through holiday time without this hanging over your head to do. Also, I’ll send you a preparatory email with tips (including optional book, video, and music selections) on December 16, just to get you thinking about setting up your life for a little more yoga practice.

In the spirit of preparation, here’s a little article I wrote about how to practice at home. It might help you roll out your mat today, and definitely will help you as you embark on the Odyssey next month.

Enjoy!

KICKSTART YOUR HOME PRACTICE

If you struggle when you try to practice at home, you’re not alone! Many people are daunted by the prospect of creating a yoga experience without a teacher to lead them. I have been leading a month-long self practice course several times per year wherein students have explored how to develop their own practice.

Here are some tips that have come out of those courses:

1) Take a moment to plan the logistics of your practice.

Sometimes this is the biggest impediment. Where in your house will you practice? At what time? Can you free yourself from distractions, like phones ringing and kids/pets needing attention? Sometimes students have needed to talk with their family members to make sure they will have some uninterrupted time to devote to their yoga practice.

2) You only need a minimal amount of time.

Often, we sabotage ourselves by thinking we need to find 60-90 minutes to practice yoga, because that’s how long a yoga class is at a studio. Thankfully, that’s not true! Yoga postures are so potent that you can feel a difference after only about 10 minutes. Commit to 10 minutes of practice for the next week or two, and notice how much better you feel. Within a short amount of time, you’ll likely want to practice for a bit longer. Students have often commented to me that it is easy to find more time when yoga has become part of the daily routine.

3) There are lots of postures to practice.

As for what to practice, draw your inspiration from any number of sources. Many yoga books have suggested sequences to follow. Several websites offer free yoga sequences, such as yogajournal.com. Consider writing down a practice that your teacher led you through in class, or even ask your teacher to write something out for you to practice at home. Many of my students simply practice the traditional morning yoga warmup of Sun Salutations – energizing and easy to remember!

4) Be kind to yourself.

In our home practice program, my students have mentioned over and over how much they needed to hear that any little bit helps. It’s okay if you don’t practice for a day, or even a week! Life happens – the important thing is not to feel so guilty that you never start again. And it’s okay if you only practice for 10 minutes and never longer – I bet you still feel better than when you weren’t practicing at all. Many of us need one space in our lives where we don’t have to be perfect. We don’t even have to be good. Yoga can be that space. Give yourself permission to do nothing but child’s pose for your yoga practice, if that’s what you feel. Cut yourself some slack if you don’t make it onto your mat – can you just close your eyes for a moment at your desk and take a deep, relaxing breath? That’s yoga at work for you as well!

Enjoy your practice – Namaste!

Posted under Health and Wellness, Local Interest, Personal Experiences, Upcoming Events, Yoga

Somerville becomes a Fit City

Posted December 3rd, 2008 | Leave a comment » |

Just ran across this article about how promoting walking and biking in Somerville has helped kids and adults alike get more fit in the last several years. I was a proud Somervillain for almost 8 years, and still work there every week, so this makes me happy.

The article also talks about fresh and local produce being more accessible to kids in school and to residents through farm shares.

It reminds me of this article earlier in the week, about a doctor who eats only organical food for 3 years. He’s coming out with a new book on “green” living during pregnancy. Should be interesting!

Posted under Education, Food, Health and Wellness, Local Interest, Prenatal Information

The ‘Inconvenient Truth’ of Childbirth

Posted December 1st, 2008 | 2 Comments » |

I just finished watching the documentary that the Tribeca film festival dubbed “The ‘Inconvenient Truth’ of Childbirth.” It’s called The Business of Being Born, and it is produced by actress Ricki Lake. I’d been meaning to see it for a long while, and as soon as I saw it available on Netflix Instant, I watched it.

It’s an amazing video for those of you thinking about your birth options, now or in the future. It’s pretty well-balanced, interviewing a range of providers and families, but the central story it tells is about why giving birth, and the place you give birth and the way you give birth, is controversial. And why it matters to many women and their partners.

I want to recommend it to anyone who is planning on being pregnant in the next few years, or to anyone who cares about healthcare and access to a range of care options. I found particularly compelling the parts of the documentary about how few birth centers there are, and about the lobbying actions of ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) to make homebirth illegal. In Massachusetts, we had 3 birth centers when I started working in the prenatal field – one closed about 3 years ago, and 1 is on the verge of closing now, as I’ve written about here in this blog. That leaves only one left, the Cambridge Birth Center. They are maxed out, filled to capacity, months in advance. Clearly, there’s a desire on the part of women to avoid the excess of interventions in birth, and yet there’s little access to low-tech birth options.

Anyway, when I watch something like this, it confirms to me that prenatal yoga is more important than ever. As you’re growing your baby, you need a safe and sacred space away from all the hype, and the fear, and the questioning. Each of us need that space in our lives to be still and silent, and let our bodies’ wisdom shine forth. I think if more women felt good about themselves, from yoga or childbirth education classes, or from positive, empowering visits with their midwives/doctors, then we’d have better outcomes for women and babies.

I encourage you to watch the documentary – it’s compelling! Next on my list is to read Birth and Pushed. Anyone read them?

Posted under Education, Health and Wellness, Postnatal Information, Prenatal Information

8 Basic Postures

Posted November 26th, 2008 | 1 Comment » |

I’ve been thinking about the most important yoga postures recently. I love lists, so that’s part of it. What would my list be? Also, I recently read on yogajounal.com, Dharma Mittra’s list of the 8 most important postures.

He writes:

“Most important, there are eight basic poses I recommend that will give you everything you need for good physical health: Sirsasana, Sarvangasana, Matsyasana, Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose), Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend), Ardha Matsyandrasana (Half Lord of the Fish Pose), Maha Mudra (One Leg Back Stretch), and Siddhasana (Adept’s Pose). Practicing these postures daily will help bring self-control and radiant health and will destroy the suffering and ravages of old age.”

I always love this kind of language in yoga – “destroy” the toxins in the body, wipe out the “ravages” of old age, etc. It’s dramatic, and I don’t usually write or think in such dramatic terms. But I also think the effects of yoga can be dramatic, so I appreciate the force and the passion in the language. Also, Dharma Mittra is an amazing, compassionate yogi, so I take what he says seriously!

Interestingly, those 8 postures are not my 8! In fact, I don’t really even practice some of the postures (Maha Mudra, classic Matsyasana). It’s making me wonder what an experiment of practicing these eight for a week or two might feel like. Would I notice the “self-control and radiant health?” Seems worth a try!

I took a stab at making my own list of 8 most important postures. I really came up more with groups of postures, rather than specific poses. Is that cheating? I don’t know J

8 Most Important (Groups of) Postures

1. Sun salutes – some kind of flowing sequence, for any age

2. Standing postures – I’d choose Warriors and Triangle

3. Balances – I’d choose Eagle, and any arm balance (Titibhasana is my current favorite – google it!)

4. Inversions – I’d choose Legs up the Wall (Viparita Dandasana), Handstand, and Shoulderstand

5. Backbends – I’d choose something belly down, like Bow; and Wheel

6. Twists – I’d choose Easy Noose pose, and Half Lord of the Fishes, but lying down twists are good too

7. Forward Bends – Baddha konasana is my favorite

8. Savasana – my most important, I’m on a mission to have everyone practice Savasana!

I didn’t put it in here but I also try to consciously think of opening the hips and shoulders regularly (you know this if you practice with me!). So I’d add pigeon and cow to my list if I could expand it. I’m also thinking some kind of core strengthening is important regularly, although I don’t have a regular posture I do. In general, a well-rounded yoga practice probably gives you a lot of core strength (especially entering into inversions and arm balances).

It’s been fun to construct this list, because it’s making me think of the Odyssey, which is coming up in January. I’m writing the home practice sequences now, and maybe I’ll have a home practice sequence that has a little bit of each of the above. I think that could be interesting!

Speaking of the Odyssey, if you don’t know about it, read about the home practice course here. I started the Odyssey a year ago, and it’s been wonderful! Over 100 students have participated. FYI, there’s an early bird discount for signing up by Dec. 15 ($30 until Dec. 15, $40 after).

Let’s hear your favorite postures – ones that would make your top 10 (or 8, as the case may be).

Posted under Yoga

Self Massage

Posted November 21st, 2008 | 4 Comments » |

As a complement to my yoga practice, I often do a bit of self massage. Sometimes I teach this in class with tennis balls, but in my own practice, I use a bunch of other tools. I’m working on a workshop to teach these techniques because they’ve been so helpful for me.

Update on my hamstring tenderness: I use a lot of self massage to relax my hamstring and help it feel better. Also, it’s been going very well to just say a little something in class about how I’m protecting my hamstring. I’ve been using other people to demonstrate a lot, instead of demonstrating myself. Sometimes I will show something, but I definitely feel I’ve laid off of doing too much.

I’m also being a little more diligent in my own practice to strengthen the hamstring, and not overdo the stretching. I’ve been focusing on inversions and backbends now that it’s getting cold, so I can avoid overdoing the hamstring in both of those kinds of postures.

Mostly, I’m self massaging and using Yamuna Body Rolling to stimulate healing. Body rolling uses heavy duty plastic balls (about 8-10 inches in diameter) to help you roll from the origin to the insertion of a muscle. This is the proper way to lengthen and release a muscle – not rolling back and forth on it. So, I’ll start at the buttock of the hamstring, and slowly roll down to the back of my knee. It’s pretty cool to feel the congestion in a muscle – the knots, the tender spots, etc. My leg routine has been to do my hamstring, then my quadriceps (the opposing muscle), and then the side of the leg down the IT band (wowser! That’s intense!). You can use a foam roller for this leg work, but I like the balls because they’re more versatile for other parts of the body.

Even if you don’t know much about massage, if you have an injured area, just giving it some release by palpating it can be very helpful. And if it’s an area you can’t reach, like your low back, using a tennis ball or foam roller can really help relax clenched muscles around your back.

I find this work to be a new frontier for me to eventually teach people, because it’s so much a part of my self-care routine. Do any of you give yourself a massage regularly? Or use tennis balls (which I pass out in class frequently) for self-care? It’s interesting for me to know how intuitive and easy it is to practice this on your own.

Posted under Health and Wellness, Personal Experiences

How You Walk Affects How you Feel

Posted November 19th, 2008 | 4 Comments » |

In high school, I remember seeing myself in a video and saw that I tended to stick my chin way out. My neck was not aligned with the rest of my spine – I was very cerebral so I interpret my poor alignment to be a symptom that I was always leading with my brain and nothing else. Also, in middle school, I remember someone pointing out to me that my dad and I walked the same way – with toes pointed way out. They laughed and said we had a “duck” walk.

Over the years, these two memories stayed with me. I was in theater in high school, and started practicing yoga quite seriously in college, and both of these disciplines helped me evolve in my posture. I think I still have “bad” habits, including sticking my chin out and turning my toes out. But not to the degree that I used to. Best of all, I think just knowing this about myself has helped me learn a bit more about how to walk and carry myself.

I’ve been reflecting on this since I read this article in the NYTimes last week. It’s about people curing chronic aches and pains from improper walking. More and more yoga teachers, bodyworkers, chiropractors, and Alexander technique teachers can help you with this.

Anyone else resonate with this? Have you learned something about the way you carry yourself from practicing yoga? Have you changed your gait, or your stance, and found an improvement in the way you feel? I’m curious!

Posted under Health and Wellness, Yoga Articles

Fall Yoga

Posted November 18th, 2008 | 3 Comments » |

I took this picture a few weeks ago, in Ithaca, NY. These rocks were just irresistable 🙂 I was taking a hike, and stopped to do a quick photoshoot. I want to go outside and practice now!

Posted under Health and Wellness, Yoga

Homebirth in the News

Posted November 13th, 2008 | 2 Comments » |

I am a big fan of women and families having choices, options and alternatives throughout pregnancy, birth, and childraising. That’s why it’s always bugged me that if the medical establishment had its way, homebirth would be illegal everywhere in the US. It’s already illegal in several states for a midwife to attend a woman in labor at home – see mana.org (Midwives Alliance of North America) for more details. FYI, for those of you in Massachusetts, it is alegal – meaning it is unregulated and there is no law for or against homebirth midwives practicing (although Mass Midwives want to change this and create a bipartisan regulatory board).

It’s heartening to read this front page news in the NYTimes about more women choosing home birth. I think enough information is out there about women not being listened to in some hospital settings, and of the huge number of unnecessary interventions happening these days (I’ve written on this before here).

My sincere question is – if ACOG (the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology) and the AMA (American Medical Association) really want satisfied customers and good outcomes for healthy and happy babies *and* moms, why don’t they try to support homebirth with the best kind of backup support and communication between midwives and doctors? Instead, doctors are strongly discouraged from developing relationships with homebirth midwives. Why don’t they try to establish a more nurturing atmosphere in the hospital so that more families are satisfied with their hospital birth experiences? Instead, more often than not, women are pressured into following hospital protocol, and aren’t encouraged to question their care on anything – from the easy (do I have to wear a hospital gown – why can’t I give birth in my own clothes?) to the more complicated (why do you induce labor? when do you induce labor? what are the many methods of induction? what if I don’t choose to be induced?).

Finally, it’s all well and good that ACOG says they support births in either a hospital or “accredited birth center on hospital grounds.” But how many birth centers are left these days? We had three in Massachusetts. The Wellesley Birth Center closed abruptly a few years ago. The North Shore Birth Center is about to close as we write (click here to get in on the consumer actions being taken to try and save the birth center). Only the Cambridge Birth Center remains – which fills up months and months in advance. The fact is, the climate exists where birth centers can’t operate freely – the owners/practitioners are scared out of business. It’s only because of the homebirth midwives, who really are tenacious, amazing women who will not be silenced, intimidated or scared, that we still have a national conversation about a family’s rights in the birthing world.

To all my wonderful prenatal and postnatal students, present, past and future: every birth is sacred. On some level, I don’t care how or where someone gives birth (that’s only one part of the whole experience of pregnancy and parenthood). I only care that every mom and family feels respected, cared for, and informed. I am supporting homebirth midwives, birth centers, and all other practitioners who are working for this same right to choose how you will bring your baby into the world.

Posted under Local Interest, Postnatal Information, Prenatal Information, Yoga

Yikes – An Injury!

Posted November 12th, 2008 | 1 Comment » |

Writing yesterday about the science of stretching made me realize I have more to write about on a personal level. For the past 4-5 months, I’ve been “aware” of my left hamstring, right at the origin where the hamstring connects to the sit bone (so, think at the bottom of the buttocks/top of the thigh).

I am extremely flexible – partially, just naturally – and definitely because of a sustained yoga practice for the last 16 years. I’ve never had a yoga injury, really never had any kind of an injury.

Except that I got hit by a car 8 years ago. I was walking in the crosswalk and the damn car hit me! Thankfully, he’d started to slow down, so I wasn’t seriously injured (though, I’m still angry at bad drivers when I’m walking – my “pedestrian rage” is a post for another time though).

At the time of the accident, I didn’t go for treatment – there was nothing really wrong. But over the weeks, I realized my back was sore and it wasn’t going away. After a visit to my regular doctor (useless), lots of chiropractic (marginally helpful), and lots of massage and yoga (tremendously helpful), I was back to normal. Except I could feel a bump on the right sacro-iliac joint – scar tissue that had formed. The bump is still there to this day.

For years, I had no problem. But then I started running, and I kind of overdid it. I did too much too fast (very common when people discover something new and challenging). For the first time in 4 years, I felt my back again. I was surprised – I didn’t think I had anything still in there. I stopped running and it went away. I started running again 6 months later – it came back. This time I’d also just ended a long-term romance and that really seemed to compound the situation. It took longer to sort out my back, and more treatment from bodyworkers. I stopped doing backbends during this period of time, which in retrospect, was a mistake.

Over the 4 years since these recurrences, I’ve felt my back off and on. A flare-up always happened if I got overzealous in physical exercise, or if I had an emotional stress in my life. It’s very interesting. I’ve learned that my back is awesome and strong, and it also tells me what I need to know. And I’ve been lucky that on the painscale, all of this has been pretty minor. I haven’t ever been laid-up in bed, unable to teach or in a lot of pain.

The hamstring is a new manifestation of this old injury. It’s been telling me I’ve been overdoing certain parts of my yoga practice (leg stretches like triangle and straddle – things that typically feel really good) and underdoing other parts (leg strengthening, back bending). Also, a big thing is that I’ve been demonstrating postures too haphazardly in class – just popping into a triangle as I’m talking about a certain aspect of the posture, for example.

I’m consciously learning that I have to use other people to demonstrate. I teach 15 sessions a week – it’s very demanding on my body, and I have to recognize that if this hamstring is going to stop nagging me, I’ve got to let it be when I teach. I’m also realizing that it might help to “admit” this to students in class. It’s hard, because it doesn’t really “hurt.” I’m not really “injured.” I want to demonstrate postures, because it makes it easier to teach. I don’t want to talk about myself, because class is for the students, not for the teacher. But I think I need to treat this as if I am injured, and be honest in order to model how to work with your limits in yoga practice. Otherwise, it feels clear that it’s only going to get worse, not better.

I’ve gotten some good chiropractic to adjust my pelvis. I continue to get massage on it, and self massage (more on this in a later post). I’m working on changing my own practice. Now you can help me by not letting me overdo it in class 🙂

This has gotten long, so I’ll write more in a future post about what I’m doing to help this injury. Lots of you have hamstring or other issues, and I’d like to write more about how to develop a therapeutic yoga session.

Thanks everyone, for helping me with this latest “inquiry” into the power of yoga and the beauty of our body’s messages. Even when they’re messages we’d rather not hear 🙂

Namaste,

Barrett

Posted under Health and Wellness, Personal Experiences, Yoga

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