This has been an amazing experience. 600 Politicians, Senators, National Institute of Health, IOM, University Professors, Doctors, Naturopaths, TCM, Homeopaths and other practitioners coming together to talk about how our Nation’s health care system can be improved.

Some highlights are:

-          Major push in US towards an Integrative Medicine model

-          Understanding that health care needs to change, is not affordable anymore.

-          All parties (business, health insurance, health professions, patients) seem to agree.

-          President Obama has promised to reform health care with a major focus on prevention

-          Dean Ornish was by far the best speaker (before he had to rush to the Capitol for a Senate hearing to testify about how health care can be improved). His points was that he and many other renowned researchers have done plenty of high quality studies on how heart disease, diabetes, cancer can be reversed up to 70% by lifestyle changes (biopsychosocial, for example plant based diet, yoga, meditation) and that it is time to put this knowledge into action.

-          Prevention on a national scale from kids to adults is necessary and will increase quality of life and health care costs.

-          Several discussions were about yoga and how yoga incorporates many of the health benefits we all seek: physical fitness and flexibility, deep breathing, body mind relaxation, mindfulness.

National Yoga Month will play a vital part in the process of transforming health care from a disease management system to a health and prevention health care model.

The Yoga Health Foundation, a nonprofit 501 c(3) organization based in Los Angeles, CA, was founded by Johannes Fisslinger with the intent of delivering yoga and other preventative health care practices to underserved communities.  To achieve this goal, Fisslinger created National Yoga Month, a national awareness campaign to inspire an informed and healthy lifestyle.  In October 2008, the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion deemed September (followed by Breast Cancer Awareness in October) to be National Yoga Awareness Month and listed it as an official health observance at www.healthfinder.gov.

National Yoga Month is a campaign to educate and inspire youth and adults to take responsibility for their health by focusing on prevention and living a healthy lifestyle. Yoga Month is the perfect opportunity to begin to create small lifestyle changes for yourself and your family.

HOW OLD SHOULD ONE BE TO START YOGA?

• You can start yoga at any age.

WHAT ARE THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF PRACTICING YOGA?

• Some of the benefits of practicing yoga are increased flexibility, stronger muscles and connective tissue, alignment of the vertebrae, toned and rejuvenated internal organs.
• In addition, the epidermal, digestive, lymphatic, cardiovascular, and pulmonary systems are purified of toxins and waste matter; the nervous and endocrine systems are balanced and toned; brain cells are nourished and stimulated.
• Results of a regular yoga practice include increased mental clarity, emotional stability, and a greater sense of overall wellbeing.
• Yoga is one of the 10 most utilized Complementary Medicine methods in US.
• Because Yoga operates on so many different levels, it can be an effective therapy for chronic diseases and conditions that do not respond well to conventional treatment methods.
• Additionally, a regular yoga practice will sharpen concentration, balance, and composure.

WHO BENEFITS FROM YOGA MONTH?

• You benefit the most. Start practicing yoga (at home or with a teacher) and feel the difference it will make in your life.
• Yoga Month educational programs were created to offer solutions to diseases such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension and other chronic illnesses that have cast a pall over the health of our youth. 
• Yoga Month proceeds fund the national awareness campaign and health education programs like mind body fitness education for children in pre-schools, kindergarten, elementary schools and after-school programs. 

The Yoga Health Foundation’s 2009 goal is simple: One Yoga Month event in every city.

Get involved. Visit www.yogamonth.org and add your event today!

Yoga has been around for 5000 years and it will be around for many more to come. Maybe there is something to learn from this. Not only can practicing yoga help us live a more balanced and healthy life but the yoga lifestyle can give many important pointers to redesign our economy and society.

Focusing on sustainable growth with sensitivity towards our environment (our close personal reality and earth itself) will be essential in the years to come.

Yoga Month wants to inspire. Yoga Month is about creating a healthy personal lifestyle and a supportive community. Just imagine what millions of yogis and yoginis can do together.

I’m YogaMan and I wish to share my S. Cali yoga practice experiences with you and hopefully help you in finding the right studio, instructor, and a link to learn about yourself through the study of yoga and self understanding.

So here we GO!

 This week was very special, I finally feel like I’m getting my soccer skills back and FINALLY shedding the “holiday 10”…aka – those 10 pounds I gained while traveling around this beautiful country and visiting loved ones during the Xmas holiday season.

On Wednesday I decided to go to the 24 Hour Fitness on 2nd Street in Santa Monica and practice yoga with Crystal C, a 20-something athletic yoga instructor who has great posture and loves to incorporate breathing exercises into the routine. 

The routine was very calm and concentrated on both breathing and the core, and although it was a bit short for my taste - After the hour-long class I left the gym feeling like I am walking on clouds and ready to take on the day

If you’re in Santa Monica and would like to visit Crystal C and take her class, well she teaches at the 24 Hour Fitness gym every Wednesday at noon…Let her know YogaMan sent you!

Thanks for reading about my experience and be sure to visit again to learn about my next yoga experience.  Also feel free to add me on twitter (YogaMonthMan) and Facebook (Yoga Month).

Namaste & CHEERS
YogaMan

Let your mind wander to the subject of yoga. What do you see? An emaciated Indian man with his feet wrapped around the back of his neck? A lithe, 20-something model with her feet wrapped around the back of her neck? A lithe, 20-something model in skin tight clothing standing on her head?

Or do you see yourself sitting in a chair, one knee crossed over the other, in a gentle twist that energizes your spine, relaxes your shoulders and deepens your breath? (Of course, if you’ve had a hip replacement you won’t see your knees crossed!) If you think that image is impossible, think again!

Yoga has joined the elder world in a big way. More and more senior centers, assisted living facilities, and even skilled nursing facilities now include yoga in their recreational choices. Yoga studios across the country now offer classes called Gentle Yoga, Yoga for Seniors or Therapeutic Yoga. Any of these might be appropriate for an elder who want to enjoy life to the fullest.

Many yoga poses can be adapted and modified to fit the needs of the elder population, and their baby-boomer children who are beginning to feel some aches and pains too! There are yoga teachers who are specially trained in the therapeutic aspects of yoga and are able to create programs especially designed with the elder yogi in mind.

These practices are gentle, move slowly, allow ample time for rest and relaxation and often include enlivening breathing techniques and calming contemplative/meditative practices. Some of the practices can be adapted to a chair or wall for support.

Yoga’s gifts and benefits are many…increased strength and flexibility, more sound sleep, better balance, increased lung capacity, greater peace of mind. All of these benefits increase our joy in living, our acceptance of life-as-it-is, and greater ability to live with purpose (whatever that may be for you). You might find yourself able to play with your grandchildren with greater gusto. Or you might provide that calm center in the midst of a family upset. Or your yoga practice might inspire you to become a mentor in the field you spent decades perfecting. Or you might teach a child who has little family support to read.

You really don’t need to be a pretzel to enjoy yoga. All you need is an open mind.