Vitamin D for Athletes

Vitamin D - commonly known as the sunshine vitamin, is full of benefits.  It prevents cancer, helps fight infection, reduces falls in the elderly, reduces stress fractures, helps heal wounds, and even improves mood (especially for those suffering from S.A.D.).

Vitamin D generally comes from exposure to the sun if you have ample access to that. Depending on who you talk to, you may hear that it can be absorbed through sunscreen or not. I don't claim to be a vitamin D expert, so I'm just going to say I don't know. I don't wear sunscreen personally, but that's a very personal choice based on a variety of things. Anyway, vitamin D is also something that many people are deficient in - often without knowing it. The federal government changes their opinion on how much is the appropriate amount to have in your blood stream, but that number has been going up. That number is also very different if you ask doctors or nutritionists.

This is especially true for athletes. Some people don't consider yogis to be athletes - and while not all yoga is the same - a good chunk of asana based systems are quite athletic in practice. I consider myself an athlete and I try to treat myself as such nutritionally. I've heard often that anywhere from 2000 IU - 5000 IU per day is a good amount of vitamin D for athletes to consume. I take a supplement of 2000 IU Vitamin D3 each morning and it seems to be helpful. I mostly take it because I live up north where we don't see the sun all that often, but there are studies and claims of all sorts of vitamin D benefits for athletes that are worth considering.

"The right amount of vitamin D will make you faster, stronger, improve your balance and timing, etc."
Source: Vitamin D Council

Symptoms and Risks of Vitamin D Deficiency:
"Symptoms of bone pain and muscle weakness can mean you have a vitamin D deficiency. However, for many people, the symptoms are subtle. Yet even without symptoms, too little vitamin D can pose health risks. Low blood levels of the vitamin have been associated with the following:

• Increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease
• Cognitive impairment in older adults
• Severe asthma in children
• Cancer

Research suggests that vitamin D could play a role in the prevention and treatment of a number of different conditions, including type1 and type 2 diabetes, hypertension, glucose intolerance, and multiple sclerosis."
Source: Web MD

Now that the sun is starting to party with us, here in the states, full time - go get some Vitamin D the natural way. Do some yoga outside, meditate outside, take your dog or bunny on a long walk in the sun, wash your car, do some gardening - just get out there.

One Percent

The Urge to Express

I read a lot of blogs on various topics. I especially try to read as much about Anusara Yoga and what's going on with the kula as much as possible. Just yesterday I read this great post by Anusara teacher Christina Sell talking about "the urge to express".

She puts this topic into words much more eloquently than I probably would, so I suggest you read it. When she talks about communicating the intensity of her inner experience - I just nod in understanding. It's a little long if you're not all that into mostly text-based blogging, but I highly recommend it.

Here's a little excerpt from Christina's Post:

"It's kind of like having a pebble in your shoe, I think. The urge to express is a kind of discontent a lot of times, for me. It's certainly not always easy. For me it's more like an irritant, a disturbance of sorts, an inner unsettling that doesn't go away until the words get down on paper, until the speech is made, until the letter gets written, the class is taught, the asana is performed, the meal is made, or the cake is baked. I guess sure, at the non-dual level the expressive aspect is "blissful" (ananda) but for me in the relative domain, in the refracted, more contracted form called me, it's more often a feeling of frustration that exists on a scale of mild to severe."

Photo Source: http://christinasell.blogspot.com/

Celebrate Your Thighs

I've been noticing a couple little imbalances here and there in my hips and thighs so I've been practicing longer slower holds in floor work and trying to do poses I just never do (this week). The thinking here is that maybe I'm doing too much of the same thing and not enough of the other. Yeah. I'll go on and we'll assume that sentence totally makes sense.

In My Backyard

As I sit and drink my tea this morning all I can think is - I want to do some Warrior 2's! If you've ever done yoga then you know that this is not a normal thought. I can only blame my morning detox routine from earlier. I did a lot of seated poses I don't really settle into all that much these days. Long wide legged forward bends, even longer revolved head to knee poses... and some really juicy half lotus work. My inner thighs feel amazing. Weird statement again, but really. They feel awesome. My inner thighs feel like they got the stretch (and a little bit of muscle work) that they've been missing. Settling into Warrior 2 is open and free right now and I just want to celebrate it.

Big Beautiful Hair

I know that as a yogi I'm not supposed to want things... yearn for something... or be kinda envious. I know this. Regardless of this fact - I also know that I have spent the last week wishing I had Seane Corn's Hair. Her hair is awesome. If you've been around the yoga scene very long you've almost certainly heard of Seane Corn. She's a top notch vinyasa yoga teacher, and she's often known as "the one with the hair".

Seane Corn has splendid full-bodied curls. If you do a few internet searches for long curly hair - you'll find her photos everywhere. I've seen her in person, and her hair was just as amazing as it is in pictures. I've been needing a haircut because my hair is mostly one length and curls don't look great like that... not at this length. I've been cutting my own hair since I was 17, but I don't trust myself to add serious layers to my hair - which I know is what I really need to take this limp mess and make it spring back to life.

The whole thing is pretty scary. The last time I actually went to a salon and asked for layers I was in the 9th grade (like 15 years ago) and left with a terror inducing botch job on my head that took AGES to fix. Never again I said. Never again. Now I've grown up and know that I need layers if I'm going to keep growing out my hair - I just don't trust anyone to do it.

I'm not sure if there's a yoga for that.

I Would Rather...

"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a briliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time."  - Jack London

Photo Source: Lia Yaranon's Flickr Stream

A Pose is Worth 10

I'm not really into Power Yoga. I don't generally take the classes and while I sometimes teach them - I'm not sure I'm great at it. In my years of yoga practice I've tried many styles of practice. I think Power Yoga is a great way for fitness junkies to get into yoga. It's also great for the kind of newbies that are concerned yoga will be boring. In Power Yoga, you don't hold poses for a long time - it's constant movement. Sometimes that's great. That's what got me started in yoga and I use that method at least a little bit almost every day.

However, in the last 10 years or so, I've learned that one really long held pose is worth 10 fast ones. It releases energy blocks and stored emotions... gives you a chance to work on your anger, frustration, patience, etc. Long holds make you stronger and more aware. They're still worth just as many sweat points and can still get your heart rate up, kick your butt, and burn calories if that's what you're looking for.

Try introducing long holds into your home practice this week. You don't have to go all out and hold things for 5 minutes just to prove that I'm crazy. If you usually hold your poses for 1 breath, try 5 breaths. If you usually hold your poses for 5 breaths, try 10 - 15. I really like holding my poses for 10 - 20 breaths. It's not boring because I get to revel in the feeling of my muscles, bones, breath, and sweat. It's not boring (and I personally think it's more helpful) because I get to spend those 20 long slow breaths fine tuning my asana and gaining muscle memory of pose "ideals". I also ride my edge which avoids the "I'm too comfortable here to be impressed" boredom.

I don't hold all my poses for a long time. Arm balances are usually a little shorter and I do more repetitions of them. I even do power yoga type sun salutations on the weekends during my morning practice. Just artfully place a few long holds into your practice to introduce yourself to them. Don't go all out and run a marathon the first day. Just try it on for size and see if it fits.