Exercise

Despite my best efforts, there are some days where the only exercise I get is from walking my dog.  I’ve mentioned this to people (I’m looking at you, doctors!) who give me a look that clearly says “I’m trying not to roll my eyes right now” while telling me that I should really do more regular “real” exercise.  So let me explain: my dog walks aren’t leisurely strolls where we stop to sniff the sunflowers—my puppy pal and I set a brisk pace and incorporate all kinds of cross-training into the routine to make it a little more exciting and a lot more beneficial for our bods.

In our modern world, chronic and deadly diseases are a major problem that modern medicine is struggling to fix. In 2016, an estimated 595,690 died from cancer alone. While genetics do a play a role, we are not powerless to lower our risk of this deadly disease in all of its forms.

As a woman who used to go to the yoga studio as many as five times per day to either teach or take a class, having my first child really threw me. My body was so fit and my mind so calm that I went into withdrawal for my alone time on the mat. For years I tried to figure out ways to still make it to the studio, to teach and not neglect my growing child. I even got certified in Itsy Bitsy Yoga, so I could bring my baby to yoga with me. I was a yoga-addict.

In today’s modern world, stress is part of our daily lives. We are constantly moving from one task to the next. By the end of the day, our bodies and our minds are exhausted. That kind of stress is causing people to get sick more often and it’s lowering their life expectancy as well. It’s incredibly important that we meet stress head on and not ignore it.

I’ve always loved that patch of stillness that succeeds the holidays: No work, no school, no parties to prepare for or gifts to buy. The sun doesn’t rise until 7:20 and it sets again just after 5, abandoning well over half of the day’s 24 hours to darkness. For me, this means I can embrace my tendencies toward hibernation without feeling antisocial. The first quiet days of January feel like a reprieve from the tumult of the previous year.

You may not think about it often, but your brain’s health is just as important as the health of every other part of your body. Just like your muscles, heart, and other organs, you need to exercise and nourish your brain. Doing so will keep you sharp and focused, and lower your risk of diseases like dementia or Alzheimer’s.

Long grueling hours behind a desk, the year-end looming, not to mention the daily professional and social demands that land on our shoulders…it is sometimes very hard to sneak in that much needed group yoga practice you so need and desire, but what if you could bring a little bit of wellness into your office or conference room?

There’s so much about yoga that we don’t know or can’t comprehend—and by we, I mean all of us—from the practiced yogis and yoginis to those who don’t know the "y" of yoga. As we have oft reiterated, yoga is not just exercise.

One of my favorite exercise routines is doing Surya Namaskars (sun salutations). Each Surya Namaskar makes you stretch and use muscles you didn’t even know you possessed and more than that—it regulates your body processes at an elemental level, unlike any other exercise. I began with barely managing to do 12 a day but now do 32 in one go. And I plan to increase it as I go along. So here go my reasons for doing the Surya Namaskar, and why you should get on the sun salutation bandwagon too.

Join Basmati.com every week for a Q&A session with one of Basmati’s practitioners, Melissa Hill (FDN-P)! We know that there is a lot of confusing information out there, which can make applying health advice overwhelming.  Sometimes, it’s best to ask a practitioner directly, so each week we’ll cover a common health question!