I love Hildegard von Bingen’s music. In case you haven’t come across it before, here are a couple of youTube videos you might enjoy:

Till Next time

Connie

Your Yoga Partner

from

http://www.yogainahurry.com

One of the great yogis of our time, Shri K. Pattabhi Jois died on May 18, 2009, aged 93. To view the official announcement, go here: http://www.kpjayi.org/

I was fortunate enough to see Pattabhi Jois twice when he came to visit Australia. He was a happy and gentle person with a nice sense of humour. The first time he came, he was with his wife. By the time of his second visit, his wife had died. He was accompanied by his grandson who performed an amazing series of Ashtanga Yoga poses.

Ashtanga Yoga is a “flowing” form of yoga where you move from one pose to the next during your practice. In traditional Ashtanga Yoga there are a number of sequences and you practice the same sequence of poses till you perfect it (if you can call it that – it is always a work in progress). To my knowledge all the modern day forms of “vinyasa” or “flow” yoga have been derived from the Ashtanga style.

Traditional Ashtanga Yoga is a strong form of yoga, it is also a great detoxifier as you start to perspire profusely when practising. It takes a lot of dedication and very regular practice to make progress. You will feel the benefits of your practice very quickly. In my opinion it is not suitable for everybody in its original form,  some of the poses may need to be modified, especially if you suffer from knee or back problems.

Pattabhi Jois made a huge contribution to the yoga world – may he rest in peace.

Till next time,

Connie Your Yoga Partner

from

http://www.yogainahurry.com

Today I was on my own doing our blog talk radio show as Charly was not able to be here.  I am talking about Hildegard von Bingen, a German medieval mystic, artist, author, liguist, scientist, philosopher, abbess, physician, herbalist, poet, composer and activist. Her life and her work has always fascinated me. The gift of her visions, some of the things she wrote and some of her ground rules for a healthy way of life are certainly very similar if not identical with some of the ayurvedic and yogic ideas.

There is a lot of discussion amongst Hildegard scholars whether all the dietary recommendations, the advice on diet and living, the herbal knowledge and her medical writings were also “channelled” as a vision or whether she simply recorded what was known during that time and then added her own ideas and philosophy. Whatever the case, it makes for fascinating reading.

Hildegard (the name meaning “fighting protectress”) lived from 1098 till 17.9.1179. This time in history was marked by lots of changes, crusades, minstrels, the foundation of the first universities and lots of political upheaval. Nobility and Free people were the only ones who had the right to be educated. The rest of the population (90%) worked hard, toiling the fields to feed everybody and the remaining 10% had trades to supply the goods needed for everyday life. (more…)

Over the last couple of days I attended Kathi Janssen’s http://www.discreetlyfit.com Pelvic Floor Workshop. I walked away with a much better understanding of how the pelvic floor works, why it needs a lot of attention and most importantly what we can do in our everyday life to protect our pelvic floor. Kathi also designs an exercise programme for each attendant which we will follow for the next few months.

The pelvic floor consists of a group of muscles whose job it is to seal our pelvic outlet. In women this outlet is about 10-15cm in diameter so it is quite a large area these muscles need to cover. You can visualise these muscles as a trampoline with criss crossing muscle fibres that span from bone to bone and cover a round opening. Ideally the trampoline is firm but not tense and bounces back after pressure is put onto it.

There are a number of things that put pressure on the pelvic floor and eventually the muscles become worn out and “sag”. The trampoline loses the ability to bounce back. One of my biggest “aha” moments during the course was when I realised that one of the main culprits for weakening the pelvic floor is an increase in ”intra abdominal pressure”. 

The reason that any pressure that is created in the abdomen is so detrimemtal is the fact that it has nowhere to go. The abdominal cavity is packed with “content” and any increase in pressure will push down on the pelvic floor because this is the only area that can “give” a little.

Just to name a few examples of everyday activities that will increase intra abdominal pressure and weaken your pelvic floor:

• coughing
• sneezing
• blowing your nose
• heavy lifting – including weights at the gym
• constipation
• a variety of different exercises, including some yoga poses.  

One area that needs a lot of care are any leg lifts and subsequent lowering of the legs, especially when both legs are lifted or lowered together. I never recommend these poses anyway, because straight leg lifts and then lowering them cause a lot of strain on the lower back. Bent legs are much safer – for your back and your pelvic floor.

One beneficial pose for the pelvic floor is the bridge pose – because you make gravity your ally instead of your enemy and the blood will drain away from this area of the body.  Therefore it is also excellent for soothing haemorrhoids. Any pose where your buttocks are higher than your heart will help to ease congestion in the pelvic floor area, for example dog pose or cat pose with your forearms on the floor.

One of the greatest enemies of your pelvic floor (and your lower back for that matter) is sitting for prolonged periods of time – get up every 1/2 hour and move about. Sitting cross legged on the floor or on a Swiss Ball is much better but not always practical.

Don’t neglect your pelvic floor, it is an area of your body that needs strengthening and training. Incontinence and prolapses make life very unpleasant and negatively affect your quality of life.  A weak pelvic floor can become extremely debilitating to the point where some women don’t want to leave their house any more. The sooner you start paying attention to your pelvic floor, the better.

Till next time

Connie

Your Yoga Partner

from

http://yogainahurry.com

I came across this little movie and really enjoyed it – I hope you will too!

Till next time,

Connie

Your Yoga Partner

from

http://www.yogainahurry.com