Can yoga stretch time?

Another busy 4 months since my last post, during which I have been conducting active research on the matter of whether getting up at dawn, give or take an hour, to practice yoga and meditation can actually add hours to the day…. I had always thought of myself as a reasonably disciplined individual with a mostly daily yoga practice, but nothing like a mandate from the Kundalini Yoga teacher training I am immersed in to really practice, one to two hours a day, no matter what else is in my schedule that morning, to make my life a whole lot different, and definitely better! The sleep schedule required some adjustment, and the decades old pattern of late night work and activity is falling by the wayside, but there are now 2 hours in the morning I was always longing for, plus a way better start to the day than fretting that I had not had enough time for a decent yoga practice…

Now I am feeling more inspired than ever to bring my yoga to my medical practice, and give yoga posture and breathing exercises taylored to the individual, to help with lumbar strains, spinal disc injuries, arthritis or whatever other orthopedic injuries are causing chronic pain and dysfunction. At the same time, I love being an orthopedic voice or reason for my patients in my private practice as a primary care or consulting doctor, still my “day job” for sure.

So after all the cold and rain, it is now full tilt gardening season, with all the risks of repetitive stress injuries, repetitive strain injuries (still no internal consensus what to call it!) orthopedic injuries, back strains, tendonitis, and general excess and overdo. Besides stretching and strengthening, don’t forget that yoga for gardeners also involves non-violence, particularly to oneself. For instance, I have finally absolutely refused from last week onward to use a certain wheelbarrow which, due to its heaviness and lack of balance, has always managed to make me sore or injure me in some way – No More! So, take a moment to figure out how you can make your gardening more easy and safe, and eliminate what just doesn’t work for you- redesign, delegate, or drop it….

We are going corporate in June, down to Stanford Research Institute for presentations on both Yoga for Gardeners and R.S.I.? Rx:Yoga! The ultimate message: Yoga is a lifestyle of sustainability – for body mind and spirit.