December 2006 Newsletter
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H E A L T H A N D S T R E S S TT hh ee NN ee ww ss ll ee tt tt ee rr oo ff TT hh ee AA mm ee rr ii cc aa nn II nn ss tt ii tt uu tt ee oo ff SS tt rr ee ss ss December 2006 R E D U C I N G S T R E S S W I T H Y O G A , P I L A T E S & T A I C H I KEYWORDS: A s a n a , L o t u s P o s i t i o n , H a t h a , I y e n g a r , B i k r a m , A s h t a n g a ( V i n y a s a ) K u n d a l i n i , I n t e g r a l , F o r r e s t , S i v a n a n d a & A n u s a r a Y o g a S t y l e s , S u n S a l u t a t i o n s , O m , M a d o n n a , H e a r t R a t e V a r i a b i l i t y , Q i g o n g , K u n g F u Ancient scriptures and archeological findings indicate that Yoga has been practiced in various forms for over 5,000 years. It seems doubtful that it would have persisted over this lengthy period of time if it did not provide significant benefits that were not placebo effects. Although the same holds true for acupuncture, which has a similar lengthy history, these and other Eastern practices like meditation have not been widely accepted by Western medicine. One explanation may be an inability to understand how they work because of confusing concepts and terms that are difficult to fit into our framework of what causes disease or promotes health. Another is the lack of any financial incentive for physicians to implement or recommend them. Some of this resistance has started to disappear. This became evident at the "Health and Longevity" conference sponsored by the Columbia Integrative Medicine Program and Tibet House U.S. a few months ago that concluded with an overview by the Dalai Lama. It was designed to demonstrate how traditional Indo-Tibetan practices to promote healthy aging are being increasingly validated by sophisticated imaging procedures in addition to stem cell, telomerase, heart rate variability and other cutting edge research studies. As outlined in a recent Newsletter, presentations on these topics by a distinguished faculty were responded to by Indo-Tibetan medicine authorities, physicians and other practitioners who explained how they dovetailed with traditional techniques whose health enhancement and stress reduction rewards have been acknowledged for centuries. With respect to healthy aging, Benjamin Franklin noted, "All would live long, but none would be old". Living long but not growing old might sound like an oxymoron, but biological and chronological aging can be quite different depending on genetic, environmental and lifestyle influences, especially stress. As emphasized in a prior Newsletter, stress can accelerate the ALSO INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE appearance of many markers of biologic aging • E x a c t l y Wh a t I s Yo g a ? Ar e I t s Re w a r d s through varied mechanisms. Indeed, in an attempt R e l a t e d To Re l i g i o n O r F a i t h ? t o explain the rele v ance of his animal rese arch to • T h e He a l t h Be n e f i t s Of Yo g a An d Ho w Y o g a Di f f e r s F r o m P i l a t e s An d T a i Ch i humans, Hans Selye later redefine d st ress as “the rate of wear and tear on the body”, which is actually December 2006 The Newsletter of THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF STRESS Page 2 a p r e t t y a c c u r a t e d e s c r i p t i o n o f b i o l o g i c a l a g i n g . C o n v e r s e l y , d e v e l o p i n g e f f e c t i v e s t r e s s c o p i n g st r a t e g i e s c a n de l a y ce r t a i n c l i n i c a l m a n i f e s t a t i o n s o f a g i n g . T h e r e c a n be li t t l e d o u b t a b o u t t h e r e m a r k a b l e r e s u r g e n c e of pu b l i c i n t e r e s t i n t h e s t r e s s re d u c t i o n a n d o t h e r b e n e f i t s o f y o g a . A r e c e n t st u d y sp o n s o r e d b y Y o g a J o u r n a l M a g a z i n e re p o r t e d th a t A m e r i c a n s s p e n d $ 2 . 9 5 b i l l i o n / y e a r o n y o g a c l a s s e s a n d r e l a t e d p r o d u c t s . A N a t i o n a l I n s t i t u t e s of H e a l t h s u r v e y f o u n d t h a t 2 5 m i l l i o n p e o p l e s a i d t h e y i n t e n d e d t o t r y y o g a w i t h i n t h e n e x t y e a r . A c c o r d i n g t o a N o v e m b e r 1 8 N e w Yo r k T i m e s ar t i c l e , t h e n u m b e r o f A m e r i c a n s p r a c t i c i n g y o g a a n d T a i C h i a l m o s t d o u b l e d f r o m 7 . 4 m i l l i o n i n 2 0 0 0 t o 1 4 . 7 m i l l i o n i n 2 0 0 5 . " W h i l e le s s t h a n a de c a d e a g o , y o g a a n d P i l a t e s c l a s s e s ma y h a v e be e n c o n s i d e r e d a l t e r n a t i v e - l i f e s t y l e a c t i v i t i e s , t h e y h a v e s i n c e b e c o m e a s c o m m o n p l a c e a s a r u n i n t h e n e i g h b o r h o o d o r a w o r k o u t a t t h e g y m . " A f o r m e r a s s i s t a n t d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Q u e e n s w h o n o w o w n s a y o g a f a c i l i t y i n A r m o n k , N e w Y o r k e x p l a i n e d t h a t y o g a a t t r a c t e d p e o p l e w h o w a n t e d t o e x e r c i s e m o r e b u t n o t a t a g y m .