Wanderlust Highlights: Pranayama with Rod Stryker

Rod Stryker explaining the Pranayama breathing practice at Wanderlust California.
Photo © Matthew Wakem

Inhale. Exhale. We breathe 24 hours a day, and we rarely think much about it. But at Rod Stryker’s Pranayama class at Wanderlust California last weekend, students learned that there’s so much more to breathing than oxygen intake. In fact, your breathing pattern—rapid, uneven, audible, silent, shallow, deep, or all of the above—can tell you a lot about your physical and emotional well-being.

During the 1 hour and 30 minute class, Stryker gave festivalgoers a crash course pranavayus—the 10 expressions of prana in the body, or in simpler terms, the fundamental energizing force inside of us. Stryker focused on 5 vayus in particular, each of which has a physical and related emotional function:

 Apana, located between the pubis and the pelvic floor, has the physical function of elimination and the emotional function of letting go (i.e. forgiveness).

Samana, located between the pubic bone and solar plexus, has the physical function of assimilation—converting substance into energy, and the emotional function of being able to derive wisdom from experience.

Pran, located between the solar plexus and the collar bone, governs vital physical functions like inhalation and heart rate as well as their more emotional counterparts—regeneration and revitalization (i.e. when you lack energy and motivation, your pran vayu is likely compromised).

Udana, located between the collar bones and the throat, rules the physical function of exhalation and the emotional function of psychological growth (i.e. your willingness to expand).

Diyana, which isn’t located in any one particular place, governs circulation and, on an emotional level, your ability to move freely from one vayu to another, which also signifies your ability to move freely through various areas of your life.

Rod Stryker teaching students about the vayus.
Photo © Matthew Wakem

After explaining the vayus, Stryker asked students put them into action by mindfully and evenly breathing through each, starting from the pelvic floor (apana). The lesson? Breathing through the vayus isn’t as simple as it seems. Most people, myself included, encountered some blocks, realized that they were unconsciously skipping a vayu or two, or had difficulty breathing into certain vayus no matter how hard they tried. Perhaps the most interesting part of all was that the vayus that people had trouble with were typically a reflection of their current emotional state. Apparently, I have some work to do.

Students take time to breathe through their vayus.
Photo © Matthew Wakem

For more information on Rod Stryker and his workshops, visit www.parayoga.com or buy his new book, The Four Desires: Creating a Life of Purpose, Happiness, Prosperity, and Freedom.

For a taste of the Wanderlust festival experience, go to Wanderlust at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, from September 10 to 11. 

How to Avoid Yoga Injuries

Yoga injuries are pretty common, even among seasoned practitioners. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, there were more than 5,500 yoga-related injuries treated in doctors' offices, clinics, and emergency rooms in 2007 (the most recent stat I could find).

I remember when I first started practicing yoga, my lower back would ache and I often felt soreness in my knees and wrists. Even now the pain still occurs when I rush through my poses or push myself a little too hard. This idea was the inspiration behind my first video blog, which focuses on how to properly execute three common yoga poses with the help of my beloved yoga instructor Ashley West Roberts.

While I realize there are many yoga resources out there showing highly trained (and super toned) experts demonstrating perfectly aligned poses, I'm pretty sure I don't look like that during a yoga class. Some days, I'm lazy, and I speed through my chatarungas. Other days, I space out and forget to use my leg strength during a Downward-Facing Dog putting unnecessary strain on my wrists. Ultimately, I wanted to show a real person (curves and all) demonstrating poses, and perhaps needing a bit of adjustment along the way. 

Ashley has helped me be kinder to my body by being more mindful on the mat. Hopefully, by heeding her advice in this video, she can help you do the same. 

Event Roundup: Summer 2011 Yoga & Music Festivals

Seane Corne leads a yoga class at Wanderlust California.
(Photo © Matthew Wakem)

Celebrate summer with music, yoga, healthy food, and lots of likeminded people at any of these wellness-focused festivals.

Harmony Festival 

June 10-12, 2011

The 33rd annual Harmony Festival will take place at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, California. Musicians like The Flaming Lips, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes, Natacha Atlas, and more take over five stages for the three-day event. Other highlights include: a Harmony Eco Village featuring inspirational lectures and workshops, a Well Being Pavilion featuring yoga classes and other holistic healing products and services, and a Crafters Village & Global Bazaar featuring hundreds of vendors showcasing unique, hand-crafted merchandise. Tickets are available at Whole Foods Market and the festival website.

Hanuman Festival  

June 16-19, 2011

Set at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Boulder, Colorado, the Hanuman Festival allows attendees to enjoy mind-blowing music along with workshops by world-class yoga instructors in a sun-drenched outdoor environment. Teachers like Seane Corne, Darren Main, Kathryn Budig, and Amy Ippoliti lead the charge on the mat, while Donna De Lory, Suzanne Sterling, Desert Dwellers, and more fill the air with inspirational sounds. Tickets are available through the festival website. 

Wanderlust Festival Vermont

June 23-26, 2011

Pack your yoga gear and your dancing shoes for four days of yoga, music, and nature at the Wanderlust Yoga + Music Festival at Stratton Mountain Ski Resort, Bondville, Vermont. Join renowned yoga teachers like Rodney Yee, Colleen Saidman, Bryan Kest, Elena Brower, and Dana Flynn in dynamic yoga sessions by day, then dance to the positive vibes of Michael Franti & Spearhead, Andrew Bird, Krishna Das, and more at night. Plus highlighted speaker Deepak Chopra talks about mind-body health as part of the event’s Speakeasy Series of inspirational lectures. Tickets are available through the festival website. 

Wanderlust Festival California 

July 28-31, 2011

Get ready to stretch, dance, and om at the third annual Wanderlust Yoga + Music Festival at Squaw Valley USA, North Lake Tahoe, California. Flow with yoga masters like John Friend, Seane Corne, and Shiva Rea by day, while musical guests such as Girl Talk, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Jai Uttal and The Wailers provide a live soundtrack at night. In addition to the natural beauty of Squaw Valley, festival highlights include local and organic food, wellness-focused lectures and workshops, a heated swimming pool at High Camp (elevation: 8,200 feet), and a Mass Midnight Twister event on Saturday at the Yoga Tree Tent. Tickets are available through the festival website. (See a photo slideshow from Wanderlust California 2010 here.)

Do you know about a wellness-focused summer festival that’s not on this list? Use the email icon below to tell us all about it. 

Can Meditation Boost Immune Cell Function?

Meditation is linked to higher telomerase activity.
(Photo © Matthew Wakem)

According to a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Davis, it can certainly help.

The study, called The Shamatha Project, is the first to link the positive psychological effects of meditation to higher telomerase activity. Telomerase is an enzyme that can rebuild and lengthen telomeres—sequences of DNA at the end of chromosomes that are important for the genetic stability of our cells. Telomeres get shorter every time a cell divides, and when they become too short, the cell eventually dies. (Other scientific research has shown that shortened telomeres can indicate a higher risk for certain types of cancer as well as decreased survival in patients with coronary heart disease and infectious disease.)

The good news? Participants of The Shamatha Project who completed three-month intensive meditation training exhibited increased telomerase activity in their white blood cells, about one-third higher compared to those in a control group who did not meditate. Researchers also observed various positive psychological effects in the meditators, such as perceived control over one’s life and surroundings; being able to observe one’s experience in a nonreactive manner; viewing one’s life as meaningful, worthwhile, and aligned with long-term goals and values; and decreased negative emotions like neuroticism. Using statistical modeling techniques, researchers concluded that high telomerase activity was in fact due to these aforementioned effects.

“The take-home message from this work is not that meditation directly increases telomerase activity and therefore a person’s health and longevity,” said Clifford Saron, associate research scientist at the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain. “Rather, meditation may improve a person’s psychological well-being and in turn these changes are related to telomerase activity in immune cells, which has the potential to promote longevity in those cells.”

So take some time to meditate. Your cells will thank you for it.

Eat Well, Feel Better

Join a CSA and feel good about your food.
(Photo © istockphoto/jasmina007)

Ever since Matthew and I joined Eatwell Farm CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), every other Wednesday is like Christmas. It’s the day we pick up our CSA box down the street, flip through recipe books, and plan meals for the next two weeks.

It feels good to know exactly where our food is coming from. We know where the farm is (Dixon, California), who runs it (Nigel and Lorraine), and who’s in charge of planting and harvesting the crops (Jose and his crew). There is also the satisfaction of knowing we’re part of a community that is helping to provide a local organic family farm with a dependable revenue stream to protect them from being beat out by some large-scale, less environmentally friendly agriculture giant. Plus, on top of all that goodness, the food looks and tastes better! I especially love that when I pull carrots out of the box, they still have the green leaves on top and some soil on the roots. I’m pretty sure it’s the closest I’m going to get to picking it myself.

The funny thing is, Matthew and I used to be packaged food junkies. Crispy mandarin chicken from Trader Joe’s and Amy’s burritos were permanent fixtures in our freezer. These days the contents of our kitchen reflect the season. Today’s box, for example, had lemons, oranges, tangerines, parsley, spinach, chard, cauliflower, green garlic, leeks, apples, carrots, and red cabbage. Sure, it takes a little more thought to figure out how to prepare and eat all the fruit and veggies, but that’s the fun part. Have you had spicy, crispy, carrot fries recently? YUM!

Find out more about CSAs at Local Harvest. And if you don’t live within Eatwell Farm’s delivery zone, use the Local Harvest map to find a CSA near you.

Vegan Vacation in Mendocino

The vegetable and herb garden at Stanford Inn By the Sea.
(Photo © Maria Wakem)

Have you ever come home from a vacation feeling like you need to go on one? Too much food, too much wine, not enough sleep. It makes returning to reality—especially work—really hard to do. I swore off vacations like that after one left me bloated and eight pounds heavier a few years ago. So now I’m always on the lookout for getaways that will leave me feeling good. And I just found one.

My husband Matthew and I recently had the pleasure of being guinea pigs for Stanford Inn By the Sea’s  Vegan Getaway. During our two-night stay, we had a nutrition class with Sid Garza Hillman, helped plant fennel in the resort’s vegetable and herb garden, learned to cook our own gourmet vegan meal, and sat outside admiring the scenic Mendocino views.

To be clear, the getaway was less about becoming a vegan, and more about eating wholesome, locally sourced, organic food. There were no lectures about animal rights and no pamphlets to make you feel guilty about eating that steak the other night. Ultimately, it was about learning why you should care about the health effects of the food you're putting into your body and why you should care where your food comes from.

If you're searching for something different to do one weekend, save your "Where do you get your protein?" questions for Sid, and give it a shot.