Plant the Seed of Knowledge

A good friend told me recently that when you share your knowledge with someone, even if they are resistant, you have planted a seed that one day, even if they don't see your perspective, they can recall that information and build upon it.

Here is my seed to you.

When someone you love is dying from a terminal illness, all of your emotions - good or bad - become excessively charged. Reactions to the diagnosis, behaviors and perspectives become exacerbated by the reality that your loved one will leave this earth soon.  While everyone – hospital staff, family members and friends - can provide their perspective with the best of intentions, it is ultimately up to the person who is dying to digest those facts to make one of the most important decisions in their life:

How do I want to leave this world?

There are three schools of thought in this matter, all of which are unpredictable, painful and not an easy decision to make.     

1. Go home, fulfill your dying wishes to the best of your ability, uncertain of your longevity, be surrounded by your loved ones and greet death as you are.
2. Fight the cancer with chemotherapy, to extend your life or try to save it, praying for a miracle that you will be cured, be surrounded by your loved ones and either survive or greet death as you are with the chemotherapy.
3. Seek out alternatives to fight cancer, try everything and anything possible, to push back the cancer or possibly obliterate it, to either survive or possibly greet death as you are with the alternative therapies.

The thing about life is that ever turn is a slippery slope.  We have free choice, for the most part, some of us more than others depending on our socio-economics, our access to information, etc. For me, I know which one I would choose but to each his/her own.  

Mom and Dad's Wedding Day

With life and death, faith often plays an intricate roll in this decision, even if it's stored deep beneath the surface of the situation. If we have a deep faith, perhaps a belief in resurrection, re-incarceration, whatever… we put our faith in the fact that death will land you into something new: back home with your creator, in some new form or as a scientific piece of energy someplace in the world. There will be this ending that will be painful for those who are left behind but there will be this glorious beginning of something new and beautiful.

The scientific facts are that my mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer, which is inoperable. They believed it started with one tumor in the descending colon, which metastasized to the liver where she has multiple growths and is now showing up as a lesion on her hip. 

My siblings and I 

In retrospect, my mom is the type of person who has done opposite of what she has told us to do.  My sister recalls the “good ole days” when my mother used to have my sister sit at the table until she finished all of her veggies, despite the fact that my mother didn’t eat very many veggies herself.  While I had a love for all my veggies, my sister crafted a way to dispose of her greens under the table to our family dog. 

I can sit here and cast blame.  Why didn’t my mother have a healthier lifestyle? Could her other medications have caused these tumors? Why didn’t my mother get a colonoscopy?  How could her doctor not detect this early on? I can cast all the blame and give a million reasons why my mother is going to die but the reality is that none of it will change that fact.

Right now, I want to dedicate my spare time to focusing on my mom, assist in the decision that was made to do the chemotherapy and show up for our relationship in these final days. For you, all I can do is share my knowledge of how to prevent this awful disease so that hopefully someone you love will bypass the ugliness of cancer. 

Basic Facts to Counter Colon Cancer:

• The most important thing to maintain the health of your colon is the diet.
• The purpose of the colon is to process the waste and hold it until we can get to the bathroom and dispose of it.
• The colon holds our waste an average of 36 hours, leaving the cells on the colon walls vulnerable to cancer by way of direct contact to the carcinogens passing through.
• Studies suggest red meat and animal fats are prime causes of the genetic mutation of cells within the colon, along with processed foods that contain numerous unnecessary byproducts. 
• Eating fresh fruits and fresh vegetables protect us against colon cancer by diluting carcinogens and creating a bulkier waste, pushing the food out of the body quickly. 
• Living an inactive lifestyle leaves you prone to colon cancer.  Exercise assists in the processing of our food and subsequent waste through the digestive track. 

Yoga and The Colon:

Revolving Crescent Lunge aka Parivrtta Anjaneyasana

While exercise and keeping your weight down in general are good preventative measures to avoid cancer, yoga provides specific benefits to the health of your organs, specifically the colon. One of the benefits of yoga as noted in Yoga Journal include how poses with twists assist in cleansing your internal organs by enhancing digestion in what B.K.S. Iyengar describes as a “squeeze and soak” action. With the compression of the organs during these twisting yoga poses, the body naturally rinses out toxic blood, allowing fresh blood with healing elements in. This subsequently has a natural cleansing affect on the colon and other organs in the region.

Colon Cancer Screening: (as noted in the American Cancer Society Colorectal Facts and Figures 2011-2013 ) 

• 96% of colorectal cancers are from “adenocarcinomas" which a great majority of these cancers arise from what is know as “polyps”. 
• Early detection of “polyps” can be made through a “Flexible Sigmoidoscop” or a “Colonscopy”, both which can detect “polyps” and in the later, allow for the removal of the growths during the screening process. 
• Everyone should start screening by their 50^th Birthday, unless you have a family history whereby you should start screenings before 50 using the “Colonscopy” method to screen. 

Be the Teacher: 

• Plant the seed of knowledge so that all may evoke that wisdom in moments of need. 
• Share a 5 minute video with your loved ones entitled "Your Colon and You". 
• Pass along these prevention facts about colon cancer. 
• And finally, never take for granted the opportunity to be present with those you love.

Life is short, so get messy!

Spring! Into a New Perspective

Spring is in the air!

Spring 2013 sunrise from Staten Island, NY

An analogy of new beginnings and rebirth, Spring is almost always associated with the world around us coming back to life. From my perspective, the beginning of Spring leaves a certain sheen on the morning sun as it comes up over the horizon. I always notice the ducks migrating back to the neighborhood, my peach tree beginning to bud, and the temperature inside 5 Boro Power Yoga starting to get significantly hotter as the outside temperature starts to increase (*wiping the sweat with my towel).

Vinnie Marino

Like any season change, it is an opportunity to change your perspective. Often we have to change our position to see the change, but with every new season, the world changes around us instantly. All you have to do is be present to it!

In my personal growth, evolving in my yoga practice includes getting other perspectives: examining other yoga styles, experiencing new teachers, and being with broader yoga communities.  What better way to do that than by attending the Yoga Journal Conference (YJC) this past weekend in New York City.

Yoga Journal began in 1975 when a group of yogi's set out to create a magazine to "unite" a growing community with "classical yoga" information coupled with "modern science".  Since 2007, the YJC hosts days long events at various venues throughout the country, where yogis come together to experience training from master teachers and be exposed to innovations in all things yoga. Interestingly enough, all of the New York YJC's have been held in Spring.

Vinnie Marino's Nivasana graphic

My first class, entitled "Wake Up and Flow" with Vinnie Marino from Yoga Works, Santa Monica, was a great way to start my day.  His comedic improvisational fillers included his experiencing "coke"with his friends the night before at dinner ("coca-cola - not the drug coke" he noted - *chuckle) and "Nivasana" (boat pose), where he drew on the education board, making light of our potential slouchiness. Vinnie is known for his "rock n' roll" flow and taught many a Hollywood star. Vinnie workshopped "Warrior", simplifying the pose by grounding the back foot down before lifting the front foot into the abdomen (and rounding the spine), then gently placing it between the hands. This allows for the integrity of the pose, keeping the energy drawn into the midline. Vinnie was charming and witty, commenting on my thick New York accent as any good Californian would, yet encouraging me to take his class when I was in Santa Monica.

Sri Dharma Mittra

My second class, Master Sadhana, with renowned founder of the Dharma Yoga Center New York, Sri Dharma Mittra, was challenging and introspective.  Much of his lecture dealt with the Yamas and the Niyamas, and how to take the practice of yoga into our daily lives. The practice itself was challenging and his style of yoga was slightly different than Power Vinyasa.  What I noticed during this practice was my desire to go back to my comfort zone and practice in a way comfortable to me, rather than trying something new. After several corrections, I eventually submitted to the 74-year old's style.  Interestingly enough, I came out of the lesson really understanding his message of openness and compassion for the everything else around us.

AcroYoga at The Marketplace

After lunch, I attended a workshop by Auracacia, where Charlynn Avery discussed using essential oils and aromatherapy in our everyday life. Aromatherapy has been something of interest to me and somehow this tutorial was just enough to get me started. Soon after the presentation, I headed over to The Marketplace where I purchased some oils and obtained recipes for applications. The Marketplace is a space within the venue where the community gathers throughout the day to experience cutting edge yoga goods and services. While experiencing all that was available, I was exposed to the acrobatic works of AcroYoga, a blend of yoga and acrobatics that focuses on the principles of trust, listening and connection. This opened me up to something new that I may try in the future.    

Tias Little demonstrates location of kidneys
and I made the cut!

My last class of the day was "Healing the Kidneys for Vitality and Longevity", with the owner of Prajna Yoga in New Mexico, Tias Little.  This class was a balance of both educational lecture and yoga poses specifically to target the health of the kidneys. The most valuable lessons learned from this lecture was how significant the health of our kidneys are in relationship to the mind/body experience.

The adrenal gland, which sits on top of our kidneys, releases hormones in response to stress i.e. our "fight" or "flight" reaction in crisis. An unhealthy adrenal gland is often associated with fatigue and overtime, the release of too much of a particular hormone can lead to illness. Through meditation and asana, we learn to regulate our response by imposing non-reaction, which long term, with help condition our kidneys/adrenal gland functionality. While the lecture allowed for an anatomical understanding of the function, positioning and connection the kidneys have in relationship to the rest of the body, knowing how these organs interact provides perspective on how each yoga pose impacts the anatomical structures. For the last half of the class, Tias focused on poses that engaged the health of the kidneys, particularly stretching the inner thighs, where the main descending artery runs from the kidneys to the feet, and the gentle compression/expansion of the lower back, which houses the organs.

Pose that engages kidney vitality:
Side Facing Wide Leg Forward Bend

As it turns out, my exposure to all of these perspectives provided tools that I can bring into my everyday life, on or off the mat. This experience was an example of how much we stand to gain if we are open to new perspectives. Just as we witness how the buds on a peach tree flourish from a little pod, to a beautiful flower, and onward to a delicious, sun rippened peach, allow for your perspective to shift in understanding how the world is evolving all around us and be open to it.

Life is short, so get messy!