This month ten years ago, after over a year of intense planning, development, shooting and editing, I released my first DVD RSI? Rx:Yoga! To celebrate its tenth anniversary, the DVD is on sale for $24.95, a $10 savings!

It seems incredible now that at the time I was also running a full time medical practice, teaching 4 yoga classes a week, and managing my yoga studio space. However, I had such a strong desire to offer to a broader audience, beyond just my patients and students, the profound therapy that specifically modified yoga could be for carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, thoracic outlet syndrome, and of course, spinal problems of cervical and lumbar discs as well.

So now, ten years later, older and wiser, down to a half time medical practice, 2 yoga classes a week (one for a residential drug treatment program) and my second DVD Yoga for Gardeners released 3 and a half years ago, my life is a lot more sane and I have been reflecting on all the aspects of “repetitive strain”. Besides the well known physical conditions, what about the mental, emotional or life style patterns that wear us down and impact our quality of life just as much? Negative thought patterns and “tapes” in our head, recurrent toxic relationships, chronic overwork— all can wear away at our vitality and well being, and lead to burn out or worse.

As we transition into the fall season, many of us feel it as a time of new beginnings and renewed enthusiasm for our ongoing projects. Indeed, this is the time of the Jewish High Holidays including the beginning of the New year and a time to wipe the slate clean of the negative, forgive and be forgiven, and start anew. It is the perfect time to consider all the sources of repetitive strain in our lives and endeavor to replace them with positive elements that support and nurture us in the pursuit of our goals and dreams and optimal health of body, mind and spirit.

Our Summer pruning and Yoga for Gardening workshop early his month was a great success! Of course the question came up : “What does yoga have to do with pruning, or any gardening for that matter?”

Consider that pruning involves lots of repetitive reaching, clipping, grasping, and pulling—fertile ground for carpal tunnel syndrome, forearm and rotator cuff tendonitis, and worse! To not injure ourselves, we must maintain good body mechanics and posture, keep our clippers and loppers blood-letting sharp to reduce the effort in each cut, vary our tasks and pace ourselves by taking breaks and not taking on too much in one day.

The physical postures (“asanas”) and stretches of yoga give us flexibility for easier range of motion as well as strength and awareness to maintain correct body positioning and “stabilization” while reaching, bending or lifting. As a science of mind, yoga gives us the teachings of non-harm and non-grasping/greed, which help us to avoid the pitfall of aggressive over-doing. The yoga and meditation practices of mindfulness and being in the moment greatly enhance our gardening experience by expanding awareness and heightening sensory perception of all that is going on around us, while we tend our patch of paradise.

For a live demonstration of the top 5 most important yoga-inspired gardening moves, check out this clip from ABC TV’s “The View from the Bay” show August 4.http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=view_from_the_bay/health_fitness&id=6947799

We are now in full summer swing, the harvest is ramping up, and we can step back a bit now and enjoy the fruits (and vegetables!) of our labors, catch our breath, and solidify some good self care, ergonomic and body mechanics habits. Have you tried doing some yoga or meditation outside? Sweep off your deck or patio and put down a yoga mat, blanket or folded beach towel , preferably out of direct sun unless it is early AM or evening. Before a few pre-gardening warm up cat poses or downward facing dogs, just sit or lie with your eyes closed for 5, 10, maybe 15 minutes and engage all your other senses in appreciating your garden-  the sounds of birds, acorns dropping, leaves rustling in the wind;  textures and temperatures of breezes on your skin, any smells wafting over your way. How often are we  too busy gardening, as in “working in the garden”, to take time out to do nothing but Be in it!

On Saturday August 1, 10 – noon plus, Maile Arnold, Sebastopol garden guru extraordinaire, and I will be presenting a workshop in Summer Pruning and Yoga for Gardeners. Pruning fruit trees in summer has radically different and just as important effects as dormant pruning- come learn how, when and why! Many perennials and shrubs also benefit significantly. We will weave in the philosophy and practice of Yoga for Gardeners as well- pruning can bring out the worst of overambitious attitudes and poor body mechanics, with painful and disabling results, including carpal tunnel syndrome, elbow and shoulder rotator cuff tendonitis, and serious neck pain! We will have didactic lecture, demonstration, and practice of both yoga and pruning. For information, please call Gail at 707 829-7596 or email at dubinsky@rxyoga.com– there is a discount for preregistration. And of course, the Yoga for Gardeners DVD will be available for purchase, on site as always without sales tax or shipping charges.

Then, a few days later on Tuesday August 4, I will be interviewed live in Sonoma for KGO-TV The View from the Bay Show, which airs 3 PM daily. We will be discussing Yoga for Gardeners, of course- the absolute essentials distilled into about 5 minutes! That should be our biggest audience yet to get the word out there: Garden smarter, not harder! Should be a lot of fun, so tune in between 3 and 3:30 PM. so I am told.

The light in early June has such a special quality of brightness, especially in the mornings! When I moved up to Sonoma County 19 years ago this month, one hour north from foggy San Francisco where I had lived for  years, that was one of the most striking and memorable first impressions. And those long days of sunshine, now not just more hours of grey gloom, inspired me to begin my gardening hobby in earnest, beyond my extensive collection of potted succulents which had comprised my horticultural pursuits up to then. I was still in transition in my medical work, not beginning my new practice specializing in non surgical orthopedic medicine until the next year, and it was 6 months before beginning to teach yoga classes, but I dove right in that summer of 1990 getting those succulents, and a whole lot else, into the ground, learning about organic gardening, and laying the foundation for the synthesis of all of those elements that is my professional and personal life today…

So I have been considering a lot lately the importance of conveying the principles of sustainable life style habits to maintain a truly healthy life and prevent or minimize the pain and suffering of back pain, neck pain, repetitive stress injuries, herniated discs, and more. As I tell many of my patients and yoga students, my body has for better or worse been something of a learning laboratory for these issues, and much of my advice has been roadtested on myself before dispensing to others!  For this current commentary, I want to say a few words in favor of: Ambidexterity!

Consider we have 2 sides to our musculoskeletal body, and that 100% use on one side will lead to a certain rate  of degenerative change or injury. Would approaching a 50/50 split in usage reduce that likelihood of orthopedic injury in half? Not so sure it is that linear, but it certainly would  reduce repetitive stress injuries, tendonitis, arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, sacro-iliac strain, and more. Impossible, you say? You’re “completely right handed”? I propose to you a simple exercise you can take on as a playful challenge: try using your non-dominant hand, or side, at least 25-50% of the time you do something, whether out in the garden, at the computer, or doing household chores. (Maybe an exemption for the use of knives, and very careful with razors!) Yes, it will slow you down, but it’s summertime, after all- what is the hurry? You will also be creating new neural pathways and creating more balance in your brain, another antiaging strategy. It will be very humbling, and you will feel like a total spazz, but don’t give up! To save my neck, I learned to breathe on both sides swimming laps; to soothe my elbow tendonitis, mouse with my left hand much of the time; to keep my lumbar and sacroiliac regions quiet, shovel rake sweep and mop twisting to either side. Make it a daily practice, and let me know about your experiences at dubinsky@rxyoga.com , or comment here!

Take a break from the weeding and planting to get out and see the wildflowers, do some yoga (never more important than now to remember the principles of non-violence and non-overdo!) and perhaps come hear me speak (more like stand-up gardening comedy with audience participation) on Yoga for Gardeners at 2 venues this month, both in Sonoma. May 2 at 10 AM I will be at Sonoma Mission Gardens nursery discussing how to minimize or prevent back injuries, repetitive strain injuries, and other seriously inconvenient consequences of not gardening “smart”. Yoga for Gardeners DVDs will be available for purchase. Or, 2 weeks later, May 15-16, come to the Sonoma County Medical Alliance Foundation 18th annual garden tour (www.scmaa.org), support great nonprofits, and learn from experts at workshops and demonstrations both days. I will be presenting on Saturday May 16 at about 10:15 AM
Stay tuned for more information later on the Yoga for Gardeners and Summer Pruning Workshop, which Maile Arnold and I will be holding some time in July in Sebastopol.
Happy Spring!

Namaste All!

I am about to partake in the next Yoga Adventure- A Spirit Voyage Kundalini Chant, Meditation and Yoga Retreat in Mexico, March 1-12. Should definitely be a trip to the next dimension! Soon after our return, it is off to the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show for my 3rd annual presentation on Yoga for Gardeners. This is an incredible show for anyone who has any love of gardening and plants, and unfortunately it may the last year it is put on, so come on down and check it out at the San Mateo Event Center (www.gardenshow.com)– I’ll be speaking Wednesday March 18. Hope to see you then!

Name that Pain—before moving on to “Management”

I get a lot of calls asking about if I “do pain management” in my medical practice.
Upon inquiring further, it often becomes clear that no diagnosis has really been made by a health care practitioner before recommending to someone with a chronic pain condition that they “learn to live with it” or see a doctor who practices “pain management”.

In my view, these 2 options represent opposite ends of a spectrum with a big black hole in the middle!  It is so important to make a diagnosis of what is the root cause of the pain. Is that back or neck pain caused by a herniated disc, strained ligaments, or muscle tension? Is arm and hand pain from carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, or thoracic outlet syndrome?, When a health practitioner understands the reason(s) for a particular patient’s pain and dysfunction, that knowledge informs what kind of treatments or self help would most directly benefit the problem.  Otherwise, how to choose  conventional (medications, physical therapies, injections, surgery, etc) or so called alternative (acupuncture, chiropractic, yoga, biofeedback, hypnosis, etc) therapies? Often, it is just a random, shot-in-the-dark approach, with not much chance of hitting the target. Unfortunately, there are few integrative physicians or other health care practitioners familiar with, experienced in, and understanding how to apply a wide variety of treatment options to different  clinical conditions that cause pain.

Of course, people with chronic pain do have to make changes and adaptations to their life style such as slowing down, pacing, taking rest breaks, and attitudinal adjustments.
Frequently though, “learn to live with it” is what patients are told when their practitioner cannot guide them toward more specific self help tools such as land or aquatic exercise, yoga, pilates, tai chi, etc., or doesn’t refer to other practitioners who can provide therapies that could really help.  “Pain management”  too often is thought of as chronic prescriptions for narcotic drugs and procedures with needles—epidurals, nerve blocks, etc.  These interventions can indeed be useful tools, but most appropriate after reasonable “conservative”(meaning less drastic) treatments have been offered.

I have been exploring alternative musculoskeletal therapies for over 30 years, even before I became a doctor. It never made sense to me that all that people with non surgical orthopedic injuries could do was to “learn to live with” them.  Working outside my own office with a pain specialist colleague 2 afternoons a week for 3 years gave me a deep appreciation for how his “pain management” interventions can help people. However, I felt an even deeper frustration that so many of those patients arrived at the practice without first trying much less invasive and expensive treatments that could very possibly helped them significantly—that rainbow colored “middle of the spectrum”!  Perhaps with a new health system on the horizon, things may change.

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