Lumin https://livinglumin.com Let it Shine Thu, 22 Apr 2021 13:38:06 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://livinglumin.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/cropped-LTlogo-1-32x32.gif Lumin https://livinglumin.com 32 32 228895609 NO STRUGGLE, NO STRENGTH https://livinglumin.com/no-struggle-no-strength/ https://livinglumin.com/no-struggle-no-strength/#respond Thu, 22 Apr 2021 13:32:32 +0000 https://livinglumin.com/?p=9094

“Where there is no struggle, there is no strength.”

– Oprah Winfrey

 

It’s important to consult your physician or physical therapist before beginning any new physical activity or exercises and always listen to your body and respect the warnings you hear.

Sadly, all are probably too well familiar of the struggles that we can face as a country, a community, or as family members. Nearly every person I speak to these days is stressed out, hurt, scared or confused by the chaos, the unknown, the struggles we face throughout this nation with jobs, health, relationships, school, the list goes on. The heavy loads that we all carry during a global pandemic alone are enormous strains and many are getting hit with forces from all directions, on all fronts.

 

But is all the stress we face in life a bad thing? Can a crisis illuminate opportunities?

 

How can we grow stronger without the stress? I am hopeful that what has been broken will be repaired. Somehow those fissures will all draw closer, the divisions disappear, and strength rebuilt where the struggle was the greatest. We just need to connect back with our foundation, our own strength within for that sense of stability and confidence to handle whatever will come our way. We are all going to come out of this stronger than ever. I have to believe this.

“There is a crack, a crack in everything

That’s how the light gets in” (Leonard Cohen)

 

This is how the physical body works. We will never build strength in our muscles if we do not put these tissues through some stress. If we want to increase the bulk of our muscles, we first have to tear them down a bit. With the stress and strain put upon muscles, small muscle cells or fibers may be torn. The body then responds by sending new muscle cells to repair all of the little microtears that occurred, bulking up muscle mass. The more we build that resistance over time, the stronger the muscle grows.

 

Our bones work in a similar way: to increase strength, we must increase stress. For individuals who have suffered from bone fracture, the strength of the bone was unable to withstand whatever load was given. Through physical rehabilitation, we can assist the remodeling process of fractured bone after it begins to heal. Your physical therapist will gradually introduce weight-bearing and resistance exercises to your plan of care to build up the strength at the fracture site from all angles.

 

This protocol is based on Wolff’s Law, after the German anatomist and surgeon from the 19th century, which states that bones will adapt to the stress placed on them. As you increase the load or increase the stress and strain, the bone will continue to remodel itself stronger and stronger in all the areas where stress is applied. This law is why we emphasize the benefits of weight-bearing and resistance exercises throughout the aging process. Because the inverse of this is true as well, if one decreases the amount of load put throughout, the bones will lose mass and density and become weak and brittle.

 

We can give resistance through moving the body and limbs through space, against gravity, using our body weight as resistance, bands or dumbbells. The power and strength we can get behind the muscular contraction can come through an increase in neural motor connections. In other words, if we focus and use the mind-body connection we can recruit a larger number of nerve endings to fire efficiently and attract the greatest force from the muscle groups. This comes from mindfulness and repetition—the more we practice, the greater the neural muscular connection.

 

Let’s begin.

Mountain: This pose is the essence of stability and foundation, it can be done in many positions and is often found in other postures or poses. Engage core by maintaining a neutral spine with the navel drawing inward. Legs and arms are fully engaged with an open heart. Feel connected and grounded to the Earth, while lifting your crown to the Heavens. Feel solid, strong, like a mountain, nothing can knock you down. Breathe in this moment stability and strength.

Plank: Think about the strength of Mountain pose for trunk and core, maintaining neutral spine.  Arms are extended out, bearing weight through hands to strengthen wrists, elbows, shoulders and tone muscles of the arms. Options to start with low resistance by performing a plank at the wall, counter, or a chair. The more horizontal the body to the ground, the more gravity puts a greater load through muscles and joints. Breathe in this moment stability and strength.

Boat (with variations): The goal again is to maintain that neutral spine like in Mountain. Reclining backwards slightly will increase the load on the core, but avoid going beyond the muscles ability to maintain that neutral spine. Numerous variations of this pose can include, arms helping to support the lift of the heart, feet on ground, knees bent or extended. Try this pose in a chair with various positions of the legs and/or arms. Always keep your boat looking lovely and afloat with your heart center lifted. Do not compromise your spine in this pose by losing the neutral position and rounding throughout the back. Stay with whatever variation in which the core can maintain a long, neutral spine. With continued practice, the muscles will strengthen and then you can advance to greater intensity if you wish. Breathe in this moment stability and strength.

When performing any exercises always listen to your body, move slowly, and remember to breathe. It can be common to a feel gentle pulling sensation with stretches or toning of muscles through engagement and holds. You should not feel any numbness, tingling, sharp, shooting, intense, or burning pain. If you do, back off until it goes away or consult your physical therapist.

Siouxland Magazine
This article was first published in Siouxland Magazine among other conversations.
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PASSION FOR THE PAUSE https://livinglumin.com/passion-for-the-pause/ https://livinglumin.com/passion-for-the-pause/#respond Thu, 22 Apr 2021 13:19:29 +0000 https://livinglumin.com/?p=9069

I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.

  -Albert Einstein

It’s important to consult your physician or physical therapist before beginning any new physical activity or exercises and always listen to your body and respect the warnings you hear.

I’m passionate about the PAUSE—the pause in-between breaths and movements, in-between seasons and cycles, and in-between memories and the millions of moments that shape them. I’m passionate about the PAUSE because it is instructional, because it is healing, and because it is, in its own curious way, fun.

 

It’s one of the hardest practices, though: to take that second for a breath, a stretch, or a word. Even harder, if you’re anything like me, is to find that moment in a space free of self-doubt or self-loathing. How great would it be if in these moments of mindfulness, of awareness, I could meet myself as the witness and the not the judge?

 

Sometimes the hardest part is just beginning. Having the courage to start. Being comfortable enough to just be. Recognizing that all the cheesy affirmations of Stuart Smalley are true—that “I am good enough, smart enough, and dog-gone-it, people like me.” We’re all telling stories. What if ours just started sounding a little kinder, a little more forgiving, a little fuller of grace?

 

Being a physical therapist, I’ve always been interested in the body, but it took becoming a yogi to finally learn to be interested in my own body. And it’s in this journey through the physical body that I’ve learned to connect to those deeper parts of myself, those spaces that lay dormant way too long. And it’s in the pause that I’ve learned to access that space, that I’ve learned to rediscover and reimagine my being. That I am more than Mother, Wife, Daughter, Sister, Therapist, Teacher, Friend—more than it all. That when all the layers of my identity get peeled away, there is still that part of me that’s left. Finding that is my passion. Helping you find it is my purpose and mission.

 

It’s out there in the field, in the pause, in the space of the in-between. I’ll meet you there.

Centering Breath can help to bring focus and clarity. Start in a mindful seated posture, fingertips connected to the earth. Pause for one breath of gratitude for all the diverse, rich and worthy life that resides on this beautiful planet. Inhale, reach arms up and overhead, pause with prayer hands towards the heavens to connect with your angels, ancestors, and Divine light, energy and love. Draw prayer hands to heart center to pause and connect with your own breath within. In that pause we can find gratitude for the earth below us, the heavens above us and the breath which unites us all.

Ocean breathing involves constricting the back of the throat to encourage lengthening each breath cycle. Mouth stays closed and you can slowly inhale through the nose with the back of the throat partially closed. Remember to pause your breath at the top of that inhale to notice. Maintain the partially restricted throat as you slowly exhale through the nose. Pause at the bottom of the exhale to notice. The breath cycle remains full, deep, slow and controlled through the constricting of the back of the throat. Match your breath with the motion of the ocean, visualize those beautiful crystal-clear blue waves rising and falling as they dissolve over the smooth sand. Repeat often, remember the pause.

Half moon (chair version): Due to joint stability, strength and balance required for this pose, this pose is for intermediate to advanced practitioners. Caution needs be taken with all versions of this pose for safety.

 

The wall may be used for balance to support your back side. The seat of the chair should be facing you at the top of the mat. Step into a wide stance, back towards the wall and toes near the chair pointed towards the seat.  Bend into the front knee as you extend your trunk over the legs reaching the bottom hand to the seat of the chair. Top arm can reach to sky as you straighten the standing leg and lift back leg with knee extended.

Half moon: If you are an advanced yogi and this pose is in your practice, let’s focus on safety and alignment with this posture. The advanced yogi will determine where the hip can allow for safe range of motion below the pelvis hinging diagonally. Focus on a neutral spine from pelvis to crown with strong core engagement. Do not sacrifice a sidebend of the trunk to reach the hand closer to the earth, then we have lost the connection of the expansivity of the pose. Any support as high as a chair or block could be used.  Imagine creating the largest diameter of your moon. Think length from lifted heel to crown as well as from hand to hand, with an open heart.

When performing any exercises always listen to your body, move slowly, and remember to breathe. It can be common to a feel gentle pulling sensation with stretches or toning of muscles through engagement and holds. You should not feel any numbness, tingling, sharp, shooting, intense, or burning pain. If you do, back off until it goes away or consult your physical therapist.

Siouxland Magazine
This article was first published in Siouxland Magazine among other conversations.
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KEEPING IT KIND https://livinglumin.com/keeping-it-king/ https://livinglumin.com/keeping-it-king/#respond Mon, 30 Nov 2020 17:24:12 +0000 https://livinglumin.com/?p=9022

Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping them up.

-Jesse Jackson

It’s important to consult your physician or physical therapist before beginning any new physical activity or exercises and always listen to your body and respect the warnings you hear.

 

If you have helped raise children, you are well aware of the meltdowns that occur the moment your child enters their home after a long day of working their brains, their bodies, following rules and the strict schedule of meals and bathroom that may not fit with their own natural urges or needs. A word, a look, or movement can send them into a swirling tailspin of big emotions of anger, rage, sadness, and pain. They throw themselves to the floor, arms flailing, legs kicking. Please tell me I am not the only one who has witnessed this.

I recall as a new mother being shocked by this and asking my daycare provider, “Can you please tell me what you are doing?” She would usually say that my child was great, no issues all day, behaved well, helped others and followed all the rules. But the minute he either gets into my car or walks into the house he is screaming and crying with tantrums and out of control behavior.

The exact opposite of what I would expect.

The last thing I would want after a long day of keeping it all together myself.

With years of experience working with children, she described how home and especially mothers are a child’s safe zone and explained why my children will always behave the worst for me. Great, thanks kids!

I guess they’re worth it.

Over the years and talking with other parents I have understood this more and more to just be the way it goes with many of those young growing bodies and minds.

Well guess what folks, us adults are the same exact species, and behave darn nearly the exact same way. We all live our busy lives that are full of stress, complexity and unpredictability. We often do not have the opportunity to process all that has occurred throughout the day—the good, the bad, and the ugly, until we gather with our loved ones back at home. Fortunately, my home is my safe zone and so is my family, and sadly that turns into my raised voice, tears or tantrums towards those I love the most.

I yell to stop my kids from yelling to teach them that yelling is wrong.

Logic sucks.

Allowing all of the negativity, the fear, the pain and the hurt to overwhelm oneself often allows you to lose sight of the love inside. Again, I know that I am not alone, and many folks allow their meltdowns to occur in their safe place with those they feel safe around, the ones we love the most.

We hurt those we feel safe in hurting, but here’s the deal. Maybe some of that energy could be directed towards the individuals and experiences that are the cause of the pain. We all need to be firmer in our boundaries with our employers who too often take more and more and give less and less, and in our other relationships that take more from our bucket than fills it. That’s on us, folks. We need to stand up for ourselves in those spaces, so we don’t feel the need to unload in those spaces of refuge.

How can we love another if we cannot love ourselves first?

And if like me, you tend to have all these tantrums towards a partner, a spouse or your children, then it often snowballs into feeling terrible about yourself. Now your inner dialogue and language towards yourself spins to anger and self-loathing for your behavior, which then tailspins of destructive self-talk which would never be acceptable towards anyone else.

These tantrums that occur internally are detrimental and damaging for not only yourself but for all of those around you. So, the takeaway: be kind to yourself first, forgive yourself for being human, hold space and unconditional love for yourself.

Through you,

the world (through me too).

This gives us that practice to remember that the love that binds your family and home together is the same love that binds your own being together—- body, mind and spirit. And when you feel like you have lost that love, there’s always the one tool that can help you find it again: your breath.

Inhale and notice, now exhale and release.

The places where we feel safest are the places we can find ourselves the most lost. So, our practice is to always to return to that unconditional love and kindness: for our God, for ourselves and our family; for our failures, and for the lessons learned on our own crooked paths to glory.

When performing any exercises always listen to your body, move slowly, and remember to breathe. It can be common to a feel gentle pulling sensation with stretches or toning of muscles through engagement and holds. You should not feel any numbness, tingling, sharp, shooting, intense, or burning pain. If you do, back off until it goes away or consult your physical therapist.

Humble Warrior: Find a lunge stance with front knee bent, starting with trunk upright. Ensure a long spine and neutral pelvis with feet wide to sides of the mat. Draw hands behind back by either grabbing opposite elbows or clasping palms together. Keep legs firmly connected and stable to the earth as you gently bow your trunk forward between legs, lifting arms to keep your heart open.

There’s nothing more powerful than a humble person with a warrior spirit who is driven by a bigger purpose.

Pyramid Pose:  Find a lunge stance with front knee straight. Ensure a long spine and neutral pelvis with feet wide to sides of the mat. Draw hands behind back by either grabbing opposite elbows or clasping palms together. Keep legs firmly connected and stable to the earth as you gently bow your trunk forward between legs, lifting arms to keep your heart open.

Pyramid (chair version): Option to use the support of the chair to keep heart open, and spine long, strong and lifted.

Revolved Pyramid (chair version): From your chair Pyramid pose, which ever leg is positioned in front, fly the same side arm behind you or up to the sky. Revolving your ribcage open but keeping hips and pelvis neutral.

Be humble for you are made of the earth.

Be noble for you are made of the stars.

-Proverb

Extended Side Angle: Position legs in a wide stance with one knee bent, toes pointing to front of mat. Back leg is straight with foot flat to mat and positioned comfortably at an angle to ensue hips and pelvis are in a neutral position, pelvis open to sides of mat. Start with trunk upright lifting up off pelvis and arms are lifted shoulder height pausing in Warrior II. Exhale lower arm down towards bent knee while other arm lifts to the sky.

Do not speak badly of yourself. For the Warrior within hears your words and is lessened by them.

Extended Side Angle (chair version):  Try this powerful and graceful pose positioned with the support of a chair. Find leverage with arm pressing into thigh to length trunk diagonally over hips. Keep legs firmly connected and stable to the earth while you comfortably position yourself with the support of the chair.

Siouxland Magazine
This article was first published in Siouxland Magazine among other conversations.
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AN EARTH EDUCATION https://livinglumin.com/an-earth-education/ https://livinglumin.com/an-earth-education/#respond Wed, 09 Sep 2020 01:13:20 +0000 https://livinglumin.com/?p=8968 It’s important to consult your physician or physical therapist before beginning any new physical activity or exercises and always listen to your body and respect any warnings you hear.

My husband and I were recently re-watching The Revenant (2015), the story of one man’s struggle for survival after he was abandoned and left for dead. In the film, there’s a reminder that if you were to only focus on the branches of a tree during a storm, you might think the tree will fall, but if instead your awareness is on the trunk, you’ll see that the tree is strong and steady.

Like the tree, when our roots are strong, when we are connected, we are a mighty creation.

To be grounded is to be aware and present, to be able to keep things in perspective with equanimity. We need this now more than ever, this ability to keep our internal compass aligned to our soul’s true north. Enter grounding, or earthing. When the human body is in bare contact with the earth, like when walking barefoot through sand or lying flat in the grass to watch the clouds, we are transformed. If you haven’t tried this in a while, here’s your invitation.

Studies point to several health benefits including improved muscle recovery and decreased tissue damage and inflammation from grounding,[1] in addition to reducing sleep dysfunction, pain, and stress from cortisol regulation.[2]  Recent studies illustrate cardiovascular benefits of grounding as well. Grounding increases the charge of red blood cells, which decreases blood viscosity and clumping.[3]  How profound is it that we can decrease cardiovascular disease and events like heart attacks and strokes simply by connecting with Creation? It’s no wonder then that research also suggests that grounding increases pleasant and positive moods.[4]

Why are we all not taking large dosages of this earth medicine? Many are, I’m sure. All the filled local, state and national parks reveal how this pandemic has reshaped the contours of both our personal and collective experiences—reminding us that almost all the best things happen outside and that in reconnecting with nature we are re-envisioning that deepest part of ourselves. What a gift and opportunity it has been to get out of our office buildings, off airplanes, and back out into our environment on our feet again!

Try these 3 yoga poses to ground down, to cultivate a positive relationship with this island Earth. To experience the maximum benefit, perform these poses on bare earth.

Savasana or Corpse Pose: Lie down. Be still. Do nothing. Moments to learn, a lifetime to master.

Bridge Pose: Start by lying on your back with knees bent and feet on the earth. Track your knees in the same direction as your toes point and keep the knees steady and strong. Lift your pelvis and sacrum up to the sky as you draw knees away from hips with the strength of hamstrings and quadriceps together. Feel yourself bridge up from your roots to your heart.

Single Leg Bridge Pose: To increase demand on the hip stabilizers and core muscles, extend one knee at a time and keep the pelvis level and steady by drawing core muscles in to stabilize.                                                    

Warrior II: Stand with a wide stance and point the front foot toward the front of the mat/space and bend into that knee while you keep your back leg and knee extended and grounded toward the back of the mat/space. Keep the hips open as the arms raise to shoulder height with fingertips reaching in opposite directions. The trunk is open and upright, spine neutral, over the hips and pelvis. Stand strong and confident in the present moment, aware of the past that’s guided you and the future you manifest.

Modified Warrior II: Same as above, just performed seated in the chair.

One of the great wisdoms included in the Book of Ecclesiastes is that the sun still rises and that Earth endures forever. We cannot destroy this Earth, only our capacity to live on it. There’s no geographical cure. Our destiny is inexorably bound to our planet’s. Now, more than ever, we are called to stewardship—healing this Earth requires healing ourselves first. So, take off your shoes and step outside. Our work begins.


[1] Müller E, Pröller P, Ferreira-Briza F, Aglas L, Stöggl T. Effectiveness of grounded sleeping on recovery after intensive eccentric muscle loading. Front Physiol. 2019;10:35.

[2] Ghaly M, Teplitz D. The biologic effects of grounding the human body during sleep as measured by cortisol levels and subjective reporting of sleep, pain, and stress. J Altern Complement Med. 2004;10(5): 767-776.

[3] Chevalier G, Sinatra ST, Oschman JL, Delany RM. Earthing (grounding) the human body reduces blood viscosity-a major factor in cardiovascular disease. J Altern Complement Med. 2013;19(2):102-110.

[4] Chevalier G. The effect of grounding the human body on mood. Psychol Rep. 2015;116(2):534-542.

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LIVING TO PRACTICE, PRACTICING TO LIVE: MINDFUL RESILIENCE FOR TRAUMA RECOVERY https://livinglumin.com/living-to-practice-practicing-to-live-mindful-resilience-for-trauma-recovery/ https://livinglumin.com/living-to-practice-practicing-to-live-mindful-resilience-for-trauma-recovery/#respond Tue, 08 Sep 2020 02:34:06 +0000 https://livinglumin.com/?p=8956 The world is hurting. It’s all right in front of our faces on the nightly news, on our feeds and in our lattes. It’s not rocket science. Russian hacking, civil war in Syria, the break-up of glacial ice, human trafficking, the opiate epidemic, racial, ethnic, gender, and economic inequality, the global healthcare crisis, the list goes on. Day after day, year after year, we seem to be on a trajectory that’s bending toward destruction. What’s worse, the politicians we elect to solve these big problems only exacerbate the issues and make things more and more toxic. At a time when we should be more connected than ever, the grim reality seems to be that we’re falling apart. Civilization is a thin, translucent veil. We’re on the brink—stand still long enough and you’ll feel the wobble.

Trauma Unbound.

In The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (2014), Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., cites the research of Felitti and others, who note: “Research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shown that one in five Americans was sexually molested as a child; one in four was beaten by a parent of a mark being left on their body; and one in three couples engages in physical violence. A quarter of us grew up with alcoholic relatives, and one out of eight witnessed their mother being beaten or hit” (van der Kolk, from Felitti, et al.). Our families, our neighbors and our friends are feeling the bite. One doesn’t have to be a combat soldier coming home from a tour in Afghanistan to experience the sleepless nights, the dissociation between mind and body, or the feelings of anxiety, rage, or guilt, although these hero humans are disproportionately suffering these effects compared to the rest of society. Translation: trauma is a fact of life.

There’s enough to be afraid of out there in the big-bad-world, no doubt, and yet, somehow I feel that we live in one of the most hopeful moments of all human history. It’s true, trauma may be one fact of life, but I also cling to another—that human beings are a resilient bunch, a rag-tag band of wandering gypsies on a ten-thousand-year journey to understand who we are, where we are, and where we might be going. Van der Kolk reminds us how “[s]ince time immemorial we have rebounded from relentless wars, countless disasters (both natural and man-made), and the violence and betrayal in our own lives” (1). And one of my literary heroes, William Faulkner, echoes this sentiment as well: we’re here for a reason, we have a purpose. In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Faulkner reminds of us of our resiliency:

“I decline to accept the end of man,” he writes. “It is easy enough to say that man is immortal simply because he will endure: that when the last dingdong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening, that even then there will still be one more sound: that of his puny inexhaustible voice, still talking. I refuse to accept this. I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance” (Faulkner).

I share this optimism because at least one time each week I get to witness someone transforming a crisis into an opportunity; I get to observe struggle metamorphosis into success, fear change to hope, restlessness recover into some semblance of peace and calm. I’m lucky enough to experience these wonders because I teach trauma-sensitive yoga classes. It’s probably not even a fair statement to call myself the teacher—I’m a student sharing space, learning and evolving in the process too. We’re passengers on the same flight, sucking the same oxygen. Yoga is awesome, don’t get me wrong, but love and connection bring us back together time and time again—love and connection to the practice, to ourselves, and to the shared sense of being amongst our band of sisters and brothers. Humans need humanity.

So we start with the basic premise that if you can breathe you can do yoga. And then we just try to promote being a little kinder to ourselves than we may actually feel. The toolkit for mindful resiliency is a series of five activities that when coupled together produces a greater sense of body and breath awareness. A typical class involves breathing exercises, meditation, mindful movement, guided rest (Yoga Nidra), and gratitude. We approach these practices by supporting before acting, by promoting whole body wellness, and by fostering safety, predictability, and control.

Some will argue that yoga can cure PTSD. I’m not sure I’m qualified to make that claim. What I see and experience without question, though, is that yoga is a complementary healthcare and mental health treatment. It can help an individual sleep better, concentrate and think more clearly, manage anger and aggression more easily, and find comfort in his or her own skin. It definitely is more complicated than all of this, but at its core it really is this simple. Yoga means to yolk, to bring together; the yoga experience, especially the practice of Yoga Nidra, helps an individual reconnect with his or her body, mind and spirit. It increases the window of tolerance in the optimal arousal zone and engages the parasympathetic nervous system. These are good things. Research suggests eight weeks of daily mindfulness meditation reduces the size of the amygdala, the seat of fear and rage, startle responses, defensive behaviors, aka our fight or flight brain (Holzel et al., 2010). Mindfulness meditation has also been associated with increases in hippocampal volume. Fun fact: meditators have larger hippocampi than non-meditators (Luders et al., 2012). This all matters because the hippocampus is the seat of declarative memory and context-dependent memory; in other words, reduced hippocampal volume consistently points to Post-traumatic stress, Depression, and leads to a decreased ability to modulate emotional responses in a context-appropriate manner. There’s additional indicators in Broca’s Area, in the cerebral cortex, the research is revealing more and more. It’s a weird thing to say, but it’s an exciting time to be studying trauma.

It’s also an important time to be practicing trauma-sensitive yoga and mindful resilience for trauma recovery. There’s help out there. And yet, the most important teacher, the greatest guide, is within. This is what we practice on our mats in class. The primary functional deficit in PTSD is the ability to regulate arousal. By getting into the body, by exploring our internal states, we create for ourselves a space to—

  1. focus on breath and sensation
  2. normalize sensations and experiences
  3. encourage non-reactive awareness and acceptance
  4. facilitate consciousness rotation throughout the body (body scanning/sensing).

And in doing so, we can increase the optimal arousal zone in the window of tolerance and thus improve our ability to self-regulate.

In practicing mindful resilience, we aim to breathe easy, focus clearly, move freely, rest deeply, and to be grateful. If you need any of these things, please join us. Resiliency isn’t about not falling—it’s about getting up. It’s not about forgetting, it’s about honoring. And it’s not about burying, it’s about letting go.

Join us. Our journey together begins with our next breath.

Inhale deep.

 

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USING THE BODY TO HEAL THE BODY https://livinglumin.com/using-the-body-to-heal-the-body/ https://livinglumin.com/using-the-body-to-heal-the-body/#respond Mon, 31 Aug 2020 11:17:00 +0000 https://livinglumin.com/?p=8953 The 12th century Sufi poet Rumi writes, “The wound is the place where the light enters.” If this is true, then the world we live in today must be overflowing with light. It’s easy to look around and see lots of issues, lots of wounds: war, violence, cultural and political division, the list goes on. What I’ve come to learn, though, is that there is a way out, a way that draws on our own inner strength, even if it’s hidden or buried within us.

Yoga is not necessarily therapy, but it certainly has therapeutic value. Licensed mental health workers and clinicians already overwhelmingly recognize the merits of a yoga practice as a complementary healthcare treatment. At Lumin, we are incredibly mindful and respectful toward the phase-oriented approach to trauma and post-traumatic treatments. By bringing breath into the body, we practice the kind of self-regulation skills needed to engage in evidence-based trauma processing therapies, like CPT (Cognitive Processing Therapy), PE (Prolonged Exposure), and Equine Therapy, for example. When we can learn to stop, think, observe, and plan, we can begin to return to that home that is our truest Self, that being full of peace, of love, and of light.

The value of yoga for individuals coping with trauma are that it helps in alliance formation, stabilization, grounding, emotional regulation, arousal regulation, and identification and development of coping resources. Perhaps more tangibly, some of the more immediate benefits of a consistent yoga practice for individuals living with trauma are—

            *experiencing better sleep;

            *developing clearer concentration and focus;

            *managing fear, anger and aggression; and

            *discovering comfort in one’s own skin.

Three core principles I learned in my training with the Veterans Yoga Project that inform our approach in this class are that support precedes action, that fostering safety, predictability, and control is paramount, and that when we practice mindfulness of our lives in the present moment we can begin to find some peace, some non-judgmental awareness and acceptance in our daily lives. By doing so, we can begin to address the Venn Diagram from Hell, the post-traumatic stress, the chronic pain, the substance abuse, the depression, the anger and aggression, and the traumatic brain injuries that often arise out of our experiences with trauma.

Our mindful resilience practice will teach us to breathe, to meditate, to move, to rest, and to find gratitude. When we focus on the breath and sensation, when we embody mindfulness, authenticity, and compassionate presence, when we emphasize safety, predictability, and control, our lives can begin to move toward stability, toward strength, and toward flexibility, which can all help to put us on the path to recovery and resilience.

We begin with this practice on our mats so that we can live more fully off of them. I can’t wait to begin this journey with you.

Namaste.

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“Rising Up, Back on Your Feet”: Why Failure Isn’t Loss https://livinglumin.com/rising-up-back-on-your-feet-why-failure-isnt-loss/ https://livinglumin.com/rising-up-back-on-your-feet-why-failure-isnt-loss/#respond Mon, 24 Aug 2020 19:12:27 +0000 https://livinglumin.com/?p=8635

It’s important to consult your physician or physical therapist before beginning any new physical activity or exercises and always listen to your body and respect the warnings you hear.

Failure is the new success. Each step back, every error, all our mistakes, a pathway to enhanced performance. It’s all about how we name it, or as Pema Chödrön says, “The way we label things is the way they will appear to us.” Experts have long spoken of our need of 10,000 repetitions to achieve mastery. Instead of all the self-loathing and negativity we associate with loss, it’s time to reframe for resilience. We are the phoenix rising from the ashes, Rocky getting up off the mat. Maya Angelou writes, “You may tread me in the very dirt/But still, like dust, I’ll rise.”

Child’s Pose

The only mistakes are the ones we don’t learn from. Right now, Earth is speaking in a viral tongue. Our call is back to the ground, a bow to that which sustains and gives us life. Child’s pose can be the perfect posture to cultivate the comfort and support so many of us yearn for at this time. Physically, this pose can aid in digestion as well as lengthen the spine and back hips, while stretching shoulders, knees and ankles. As with any joint impairments, this pose could be difficult, possibly painful and could cause more harm than good. So, listen to the messages your body sends you, especially in your ankles, knees and back and be compassionate to your needs.

Starting on hands and knees, shift the hips back towards the heels, lowering the heart and head to the earth. Arms can be extended out front, but avoid any pinching or sharp pain in any of your joints. Please, be generous with props in order to support yourself in a way that allows you to experience release—into this pose to find solace, and within to find the peace that comes with introspection. Take 5-7 rounds of breath, connect to intention, and forgive yourself for being human.

And then rise.

 

Broken Toe Pose

But remember, we don’t cross thresholds all at once. Consider broken toe pose. Despite its scary name, broken toe pose can help improve mobility throughout all toes and flexibility of the plantar fascia in order to return that spring in your step. Please be warned, this pose can be intense: the goal is NOT to break your toes, so modify, move slowly, and be gentle to yourself.

Sitting up on your knees, try to get all five toes pointing forward on the mat or towards your knees. You can use your hands to manually manipulate the toes back and give them space from each other, but DO NOT force the toes into painful ranges. As tolerated, sit back towards your heels. If the intensity causes your breath to be altered, you can use bolsters and/or pillows under the hips to take off some of the weight coming down on the toes. Stay with this pose through several slow gradual breaths while maintaining a neutral spine. You may progress to holding for up to two minutes or longer, if desired.  A counter pose that gives great relief from broken toe would be to come into tabletop position (hands and knees) and slap out the tops of your feet on the mat a few times. Be sure to give your feet some tender love after going through the intensity of this pose.

Fierce/Chair Pose

For strengthening the entire lower extremity kinetic chain, fierce/chair pose can bring on power and focus. The subtle locks throughout hip and core muscles while engaging eccentric strength throughout the thighs will allow anyone to rise from their falls with a sense of confidence, integrity and stability. Seek sensation and discover the awareness of fierceness within to handle it all, to push on and never give up. Fierce pose can allow us stand confident knowing that one is able to rise up, even when the strongest forces are pulling us down.

Stand with feet hip distance apart and focus on maintaining your neutral spine. Gradually begin to lower your bottom back as if you were going to sit into a chair. Be sure to focus on keeping the upper thigh bones steady as the knees track in the same direction as the toes. As you exhale draw the core muscles in to stabilize the spine and lift the arms up overhead without losing the neutral of the spine. Lower your arms if you feel your spine come out of alignment. Hold this pose for 3-5 breaths. If you’d like to challenge yourself, lower deeper or hold for longer durations, but if you have lost your breath or your awareness, return, rest briefly, and reset.

Root down. Rise up to stand. Find your mountain. Discover your strength. Unleash your potential.

We can all be grateful for the failures in life because it is from these mistakes that we have the opportunity to rise again, to try again, to get back up on our feet, and spring forward into better versions of ourselves. As long as we learn from these failures, we can improve our confidence with each stride. Our mistakes and failures do not define us. It’s our response that counts.

Siouxland Magazine
This article was first published in Siouxland Magazine among other conversations.
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Strengthen Your Spine, Strengthen Your Vision: 4 Exercises to Live Taller https://livinglumin.com/strengthen-your-spine-strengthen-your-vision-4-exercises-to-live-taller/ https://livinglumin.com/strengthen-your-spine-strengthen-your-vision-4-exercises-to-live-taller/#respond Mon, 17 Aug 2020 10:00:06 +0000 https://livinglumin.com/?p=8926

It’s important to consult your physician or physical therapist before beginning any new physical activity or exercises and always listen to your body and respect the warnings you hear.

A healthy spine is the key to a healthy life, so if you want to live long and well, work to keep your spine long and well. One of the greatest threats to the postural and spinal health of today’s society is the forward head posture epidemic that has progressed to what is often referred to as “text neck” or “tech neck.” Posture analysis is the start to determining the stress and strain we put on our spine throughout our daily activities. As a physical therapist, one of the most common postural abnormalities I observe in individuals with complaints of neck pain and headaches is the forward head posture.

Ideally, we want our head stacked over our shoulders, with earlobes in line with lateral tip of your shoulders. However, we commonly see the head protruded far forward with rounding of the upper back and shoulders which creates alarming forces of pressure on the spine and surrounding muscles and ligaments. It’s no surprise in today’s society, as we are constantly focusing on what is ahead of us: the road, a computer, our smart phone, or tablet. In addition, we are perpetually rushing, moving, reaching, trying to get ahead, catch up, and reach deadlines while we nudge our noses forward during this race through life. This situation has progressed to us essentially walking around with abnormal posture all day long while creating overuse injury to those postural muscles that are designed to help support an upright and alert spine.

The solution to keep our vision clear: stop rushing and stay in the present moment.

I cringe at times when I see our youth hunched over their screens and displaying this exaggerated and prolonged forward head flexion while texting and scrolling, or with any use of tablets, smart phones, video games, and laptops. As the chin drops down towards the chest we can increase the force that our head is putting on our spine to as high as 50-60 pounds of pressure to the back of our upper spine (Hansraj 2014). This is like carrying my 7-year old around on the back of my neck all day long which would be detrimental. The neck is not designed to withstand that amount of force, as it is built and intended to hold up an average 10-pound head. If we continue to put this amount of strain on our vertebrae, muscles and ligaments we can end up with compression, irritation, pain and stiffness, and the problems will progress from there. If forward head posture is not addressed and treated properly it could advance to degeneration of the cervical spine, limited mobility, arthritis and chronic pain.

Y, W, L, T Exercises- “You Will Live Taller”

These exercises can be performed seated or standing but with a focus on working towards a neutral spine for optimal breath. Head should be retracted back with a subtle chin tuck while lengthening the back of the neck. Try to avoid shoulder blades scrunching up towards ears or pinching too tightly along the backside as this creates increased shearing forces along the spine.

When performing any exercises always listen to your body, move slowly, and remember to breathe. It can be common to a feel gentle pulling sensation with stretches or toning of muscles through engagement and holds. You should not feel any numbness, tingling, sharp, shooting, intense, or burning pain. If you do, back off until it goes away or consult your physical therapist.

Y- Stand with arms in a Y position, thumbs point backwards.

Inhale, gently squeeze shoulder blades together, expand and open the heart as hands reach backwards and hold (3-5 seconds).

Exhale, release and relax as arms stay held in the Y position. Repeat 5-10 times.

W- Stand with arms in a W position, palms face forward.

Inhale, gently squeeze shoulder blades together, expand and open the heart as hands reach backwards and hold (3-5 seconds).

Exhale, release and relax as arms stay held in the W position. Repeat 5-10 times.

L- Stand with arms in a L position, palms face upward.

Inhale, gently squeeze shoulder blades together, expand and open the heart as thumbs reach backwards and hold (3-5 seconds).

Exhale, release and relax as arms stay held in the L position. Repeat 5-10 times.

T- Stand with arms in a T position, palms face forward.

Inhale, gently squeeze shoulder blades together, expand and open the heart as hands reach backwards and hold (3-5 seconds).

Exhale, release and relax as arms stay held in the T position. Repeat 5-10 times.

Bonus benefits for all if you include loving thoughts to someone with each inhale as you open your heart towards yourself, a loved one, a stranger, an enemy.

Siouxland Magazine
This article was first published in Siouxland Magazine among other conversations.

Resource

Hansraj KK. Assessment of stresses in the cervical spine caused by posture and position of the head. Surg Technol Int. 2014 Nov;25:277-9. PMID: 25393825.

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LOVE, FEAR, AND THE AMERICAN TEACHER https://livinglumin.com/love-fear-and-the-american-teacher/ https://livinglumin.com/love-fear-and-the-american-teacher/#respond Mon, 10 Aug 2020 10:44:00 +0000 https://livinglumin.com/?p=8938

Love or Fear? I’m asking this a lot of myself these days.

As an educator ready to embark on this grand “Return to Learn” journey, I have a lot of questions about the ‘normal’ that I’m supposed to be returning back to. The normal that already wasn’t serving students who are the most at-risk. The normal that already looked like burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious traumatization amongst my colleagues.

So the normal that we’re aspiring to go back to never felt all that great to me. These past five months have taught me a few valuable lessons about how I see my role as a professional, but like so many, also much deeper, as a person. The crisis that this pandemic has unleashed was not created by it. When we live in a world that favors things over people, in a country that pays more for the weapons that kill than those that heal, and in communities and institutions that can’t recognize the intrinsic value in diversity, equity, and inclusion, all it takes is a force, like Covid-19, and the whole house starts to crumble.

I wish instead we could have taken these five months to learn from all that got us here. To read the signs. To see that the Earth is talking to us, that the heavens are speaking, and that this is our time—to build a new ark, a new covenant with creation.

Love or fear?
When we choose fear, we see the crisis.
When we choose love, we see the opportunity.

The miracle is living with love as the climate within all the illusions in this weather of fear. The miracle worker is the one who becomes the change.

So it’s a choice.

As an educator, I know that a storm is coming. As a yoga teacher and coach, I know that if those who are living and working and breathing and being in that storm don’t look out for #1, they will soon start stepping in a whole bunch of #2. And if that happens, we’re in some real trouble. And by we, I mean all of us. All of us who count on our teachers and schools to not only educate our children in the abc’s and 123’s of life, but also to feed them, to counsel them, to advocate for them in court, to be the place where they can go and know that they’ll be loved and supported and cared for by at least one caring adult. So if that breaks down, if those who care for kids can’t first care for themselves, the real reckoning, the real crisis will come. The brain in pain can’t learn. The brain in pain can’t teach either.


My hope is that all those who will be working and serving young people in schools will do some version of the following for themselves:

  1. Breathe.
  2. Repeat #1 as often as possible with as much mindfulness as possible.
  3. Prioritize at least 30 minutes every single day to take care of yourself. For some, this might mean going for a jog; others, doing yoga; maybe it’s knitting, perhaps it’s coaching sports. What it is isn’t as important as that you can get ‘lost’ a bit in the act of doing it. Do something that allows your body to forget that you have a mind. And if you can do it outside, with your feet on the earth, even better.
  4. Remember, there’s no such thing as bad kids. Behavior is the result of emotion. Emotion comes from experiences. So if we want to change the output, we have to provide a different input. Preference structured sensory interventions, like art or yoga, for example, to redirect energy and to meet the emotional need.
  5. Lead with love. Most behaviors, in ourselves and in those we care for and serve, comes from a desire or need to belong. Relationships based and rooted in love will take us so much further than those grounded in fear. Translation: Ditch the punitive interventions, punishments, the detentions and the suspensions. Keep kids in class. Time-ins instead of time-outs. Connect. Use PBIS and your structures of support. Be there for your brothers and sisters. Make allies.

Miracles are real. Just walk into any school in America in these next couple weeks and you’ll see a million of them in every single moment. To all my masked and shielded friends and colleagues out there who’ll be walking these hallways with me, please take care of yourselves. Look out for one another. If not us, who?

 

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Being Beauty https://livinglumin.com/being-beauty/ https://livinglumin.com/being-beauty/#respond Wed, 29 Jul 2020 10:00:28 +0000 https://livinglumin.com/?p=8888

It’s important to consult your physician or physical therapist before beginning any new physical activity or exercises and always listen to your body and respect the warnings you hear.

 

The poet, Maya Angelou, says “It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength,” and although I know this is true, if I’m being honest, it hasn’t always felt this way. It doesn’t feel this way, I guess, because it’s like the camera is always on and someone is always watching, judging…and I keep falling short. It doesn’t feel this way because I can’t ever seem to fit my body in the box my world is giving me—as a woman, a wife, a mom, and a professional. And the fact that my clothes don’t ever fit nomatter how many sizes I try on is a sign: the beauty I seek will never come from anything or anyone beyond.

 

Yoga didn’t teach me this truth, but it’s helped me experience its reality.

 

I’m not alone. Yoga is everywhere, its images and aesthetics bought and sold and commodified a million times over. Yoga’s a billion-plus dollar industry and growing, and yet in the West, way too often the ancient practice that espouses nonviolence and contentment and truth and surrender to a higher power is wrenched and molded into Instagram posts of supermodel yogis in tight-fitting expensive clothes in jaw-dropping landscapes—all pretty inaccessible and unhealthy for most practitioners. There are as many variations of a pose as there are people. No two people are the same. No two sides of the same person are even symmetrical.

Translation: There is no standard. No definition. No singular model. Just a field to practice on.

My own practice began in college when I was seeking a low-impact mode of exercise to maintain flexibility and strength. The mental focus and emotional stability that came with it, some pleasant icing on the cake.

 

But there’s a reason they call it a practice. Because, unfortunately, it doesn’t always translate, or the message doesn’t stick. That feeling that can come so naturally on my mat can be so elusive as soon as I step off it. The world sucks me back in—poor self-esteem, negative body image, not being good enough. The 12th century poet, Rumi, writes “Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.” One of my great wishes has always been to find the beauty and solace in mySELF off my mat as much as I do on it.

 

So, I’ve continued with this practice of yoga for my mind-body-spirit throughout adulthood, throughout three pregnancies as my body was stretched and tugged from carrying, birthing and breastfeeding. And although it may not have been apparent in the spit-up all over my clothes and hair, my practice on the mat is what kept me feeling beautiful.

 

But it was different after the birth of my third child, my beautiful daughter. I knew I wanted to share this practice with her to keep her strong in mind-body-spirit and to establish a practice that would help build positive self-esteem and self-worth. Maybe because she was a girl, or maybe because she was born with Down syndrome. I knew she would face physical challenges of having low tone, being at risk for obesity, having an intellectual disorder, speech impairments, different shaped ears or eyes, and increased risk for all sorts of other conditions. I feared that she would be a target for bullying, she would be misunderstood, she would be under-valued or not recognized as an equal to other children her age.

 

The stories we tell ourselves.

 

I was given the book, Yoga for the Special Child by Sonia Sumar, and my daughter Sawyer and I  began practicing together when she was 3 weeks old. Not only did I want to bond with my daughter on the mat through living in the moment with mindful movement, but I wanted to help her establish a healthy practice that would keep her strong and whole, and filled with love, beauty and positivity.

 

This spark ignited a passion within to continue to spread this light of beauty and love to all populations, to all people. Sawyer and I traveled to New York City for training in Yoga for the Special Child with Sonia Sumar. I went on to become a certified yoga teacher and I knew I wanted to work and serve special populations to illuminate the beauty inside each one of us—to show that this practice of yoga does not discriminate, or judge, but reveals the perfect, unique divine value in each one of us.

Then I reached out to an old classmate, Amy, who had a young girl with Cerebral Palsy. I asked if I could teach yoga to her daughter, Megan, who was wheelchair bound.  Megan and I began doing yoga when she was 12 years old.  I knew Megan’s needs on the mat would differ greatly from my own daughter’s. Part of making yoga accessible for different populations is to address each individual’s unique needs, desires and interests and allow for each individual to be autonomous in their own practice, making it their own.

 

Megan quickly found many benefits from her yoga practice, which is why she has been a dedicated student for over four and a half years. She commits to this practice weekly as the deep stretches through her hip and low back help manage her mobility and any musculoskeletal pain. Extending through her trunk and hips is necessary due to her prolonged time in a seated posture in her chair and we find a lot of spinal movement in all directions to help manage her scoliosis. It’s her practice.

 

 

If you have a body, if you are breathing, you can do yoga. With the proper supervised clinical and/or therapeutic supports, it’s accessible to all.

 

Brain injury. Mental illness. Chronic disease. Joint failure. Addiction. Vertigo. Trauma. As Leonard Cohen says, the cracks are “how the light gets in.” Our resilience gives us our shine.

 

We’re all fighting our own battles, seeking our own truths. Somewhere in the midst of it all, I hope we can find our chances—to practice loving, living, being our truest selves. What could be more beautiful?

Siouxland Magazine
This article was first published in Siouxland Magazine among other conversations.
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