Tag Archives for Yoga

Pointspace’s January roundup | Rudeness, yoga and acupuncture for migraine

Light_tower

 

1.  Did you set yourself some resolutions this year? Apparently around the third week of January was when most people broke theirs, and it appears that’s because they ran out of willpower. Studies of past resolutions suggest that it’s much more effective to play offense and to fend off temptations before they occur, rather than try to exert willpower which is definitely not limitless.

 

2.  Like the proverbial butterfly that flaps its wings on one continent and cause a hurricane on another, small things we deem insignificant can have quite an effect on us. We all know that having one or two extra cookie with our tea is naughty but having one or two packets a day would be a health luxury few of us can afford. Or we may snap at an unfortunate person unlucky enough to be the last straw in an incredibly trying day. That was a bit rude but hopefully you did remember to apologize quite soon after the fact. 

A new study has shown that workplace rudeness can have a ripple effect. An unpleasant colleague’s behaviour can travel with you to affect your personal life too.

 

3.  A new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal showed that acupuncture is an effective treatment for migraines. 480 patients with migraine were randomly assigned to have “true” acupuncture or sham acupuncture. While both types of acupuncture seemed to have an effect on the patients, the “real” acupuncture groups reported doing slightly better. More studies will be needed to make the finding conclusive but it’s heartening to see clinical studies being trialled.

 

4.  Quite a bit of furore was caused this month when the New York Times published an article stating that yoga can damage your body. Although I believe it was a bit sensationalist it does raise awareness that not all holistic therapies and practices are equal. The most important message here is, as with ALL things, to find a properly trained and qualified professional who is skilled in their chosen field and can provide you with a safe environment. This says it all really: “In an industry where there is cursory certification and no official licensing, yoga teachers can become “qualified” with a 200-hour online course.

 

5. The brain is a delightful organ, and my brain delights in the unexpected. This Youtube clip is a wonderful example of combining two familiar things, you’ll never think of Old MacDonald’s farm in the same way.

 

Photo credit: CJ Schmit via flickr 

You might also like:


Stretching is key to yoga’s back pain relief

Stretched

 

Yoga can help improve the symptoms of chronic low back pain, but it’s unlikely to be the meditation aspect according to researchers. Publishing online in the Archives of Internal Medicine, Karen Sherman PhD and colleagues expected yoga to ease back pain more than stretching exercises so they conducted a trial study of 228 adults.

 

They found that both yoga and simple stretching exercises benefitted those with moderate chronic low back pain more than those who were given with self-care books advising on exercise and lifestyle modifications. However, there were no differences in improving function between yoga and the stretching exercises, leading the researchers to conclude that it is mainly the stretching involved and not the meditation component.

 

The study was limited in size, but the take home point is that both yoga and stretching are good, safe options for those with chronic low back pain. Dr Sherman notes that it is “important for the classes to be therapeutically oriented, geared for beginners, and taught by instructors who can modify postures for participants’ individual physical limitations”.

 

Reference:

Sherman KJ, et al “A randomized trial comparing yoga, stretching, and a self-care book for chronic low-back pain” Arch Intern Med 2011.

 

Photo credit: Nicholas via flickr

You might also like: