Another day, another dog pose!

As long as you do not live totally in the body, you do not live totally in the Self.” – B.K.S. Iyengar

On these cold winter mornings, as you rise from your bed, how do you feel in your body? Most of us are pretty stiff when we first wake up, and it can be a while before we come fully present in our bodies. In this sleepy state it is easy to stub a toe, or trip over the dog as we stumble into the day. But the dog, or the cat, can be a wonderful teacher for waking up the body and becoming whole in body mind and spirit!

Watch your dog, or cat, as she awakens from sleep. You will see a full body stretch very much like the yoga pose called downward facing dog. (She does “upward facing dog” too, but that’s another pose, and another column!)

Adho Mukha Svanasana, downward facing dog pose, is a great way to start the day! Come onto your hands and knees, with the knees directly under the hips, and the hands under the shoulders. Take time to make sure that the middle of your wrists point straight ahead, and spread your fingers apart, pressing them strongly into your mat. Externally rotate your upper arms, so the “smiles” of your elbows point forward, and release your shoulder blades into your back, away from your ears. Turn your toes under, take a breath, and as you exhale, straighten your legs, reaching your sit bones up and then reach your heels down to open the back of the legs. Release the weight of your head and stay for several full breaths, or longer. To come down, fold your knees, and rest your sit bones toward your heels and your forehead on the floor or your folded arms.

 “Down dog,” as this pose is often called, stretches the whole body, opening the legs and feet, stretching the arms and hands, and lengthening the spine, the muscles of the back and the front of the torso. The neck is stretched by the weight of the head and fresh blood is brought to the head to wake you up.

If you are an experienced yoga practitioner, down dog is a wonderful starting pose for practice. Consider approaching your day like this: Coming onto hands and knees, take a full breath, and as you exhale, arch your spine into “cat.” Inhale into “cow.” Move back and forth between these poses with the rhythm of your breath, waking up your spine, and on an exhale, straighten the legs and lift into down dog. Stay in down dog for a minute or two and begin to “walk the dog” taking first one heel and then the other down to the floor. From dog, stretch one leg up behind you, keeping your pelvis balanced, and then stretch the other leg up. Return to down dog, rock forward to plank, and open your heart into upward facing dog, balancing the stretch out through the feet and forward through the crown of your head. Pull back into down dog, and then either fold down to rest in child’s pose or continue to awaken your body in preparation for the day.

Enjoy your day, as you walk along the mountain path, and as you go, observe the animals, birds, and all forms of nature to see what they have to teach you.

Namaste’.

Gratitude is actually a stress relief tool. It is one that I have decided to use for my own stress relief this year; in fact, I have made “gratitude” my word for the year.

Sometimes it seems hard to be grateful when we are having a bad day, bad week or just being tired or depressed. The idea is, to find one thing each day that we are grateful for.

You can write it down, say it aloud to yourself or possibly a “gratitude partner,” and focus on that for the day. I started a gratitude journal and I try to write down three things each morning that I am grateful for and then I add a thought or two for the day. It has seemed to make a difference for me. Winter has its gloomy grey days and the cold and dark early evenings aren’t my favorites, so it seemed like the perfect time for me to try this stress relief tip out. Some mornings it seems like a challenge for me to write down those three things that I am grateful for, but then I find just how grateful I am for many things.

Even a bill, I can write “I am grateful for the money I have to pay the bill I just received” It is amazing, but I find it much easier to pay that bill!

Gratitude: A Habit Worth Maintaining!

Have you ever noticed that some people seem to be able to maintain a relatively positive attitude regardless of what’s happening around them? Like everyone, they can appreciate the good times, but they also seem to be able to focus on the positive in the face of some pretty negative events. They see the good in difficult people, the opportunity in a challenging situation, and they appreciate what they have, even in the face of loss. A positive attitude can be cultivated, with a little practice. Although we are born with specific temperamental tendencies, the brain is a muscle, and you can strengthen your mind’s natural tendency toward optimism if you work at it. Studies show that cultivating a sense of gratitude can help you maintain a more positive mood in daily life and contribute to greater emotional well-being and bring social benefits as well.

Cultivating gratitude is one of the simpler routes to a greater sense of emotional well-being, and can be accomplished in several ways. For the next few weeks, try some of the following exercises, and you should notice a significant increase in your feelings of gratitude — you will likely find yourself noticing more positive things in your life, dwelling less on negative or stressful events and feelings of ‘lack,’ and having a greater sense of appreciation for the people and things in your life.

Make gentle reminders: When you notice yourself grumbling about a negative event or stressor in your life, try to think of four or five related things for which you are grateful. For example, when feeling stressed at work, try to think about several things that you like about your job. You can do the same with relationship stress, financial stress, or other daily hassles. The more you gently remind yourself of the positives, the more easily a shift toward gratitude can occur.

Be careful with comparisons: Many people cause themselves unnecessary stress by making comparisons. More specifically, they cause themselves stress by making the wrong comparisons. They compare themselves only to those who have more, do more, or are in some way closer to their ideals, and allow themselves to feel inferior instead of inspired. In cultivating gratitude, you have one of two options if you find yourself making such comparisons: You can either choose to compare yourself to people who have less than you (which reminds you how truly rich and lucky you are), or you can feel gratitude for having people in your life who can inspire you. Either road can lead away from stress and envy, and closer to feelings of gratitude.

Keep a gratitude journal: One of the best ways to cultivate gratitude is to keep a gratitude journal. Not only are you combining the benefits of journaling with the active adoption of a more positive mindset, you are left with a nice catalog of happy memories and a long list of things in your life for which you are grateful. (This can be wonderful to read during times when it’s more difficult to remember what these things are.)

Because habits are usually formed within two or three weeks, you will have to actively focus on maintaining gratitude less and less as you go, and the habit of a more positive (and less stress-inducing) attitude will be more automatic. And greater feelings of emotional well-being can be yours.

Good Luck with 2008 and reducing your stress.

Lake Roosevelt Community Health Centers has health center sites in the communities of Inchelium and Keller and also serves the larger Lake Roosevelt area. Many people don’t know that anyone  can get care through our clinics and programs, including medical, dental, optometry, pharmacy, lab and x-ray.  You don’t have to be low-income, or uninsured, or a tribal member. Truly, we are here for everyone. We recently changed our name to Lake Roosevelt Community Health Centers to better reflect this larger  purpose and mission.

If you are not a patient here, I encourage you to try our services. We have a strong team of committed doctors, dentists, and other health care professionals who will give you the very best care.

Part of our vision is to empower our patients and our communities to be well informed and active participants in their health care.  Starting on February 1st, on Wear Red Day, we will begin a year long initiative we call our Women’s Heart Health Project.  Heart disease is by far the number one cause of death and disability in women in America. It’s preventable and manageable, with an understanding of your risks, and active participation with your doctor in your care.

Our focus on women’s health continues with a full day devoted to breast health on March 21st when we will have a mammography coach at the Inchelium Health Center. It’s recommended for all women over 40.  So, call for an appointment.

The Tribal Community Health Programs will be hosting a Cancer Awareness event on March 21st  in conjunction with the mammography screening.

An important and unique aspect of our health center is that we provide services on a sliding fee basis. Services are discounted for families who qualify because of low income and lack of insurance. For example, a family of four with a combined income of $20,650 would pay only our nominal fee.  We welcome patients on Medicaid and Medicare and those with private insurance. Another great feature of LRCHC is that the patient’s who have insurance and pay full fees actually help pay for the care we give to those on the sliding fee and our low income native beneficiaries, and it helps keep our services available in our communities. We assist with the application process for Medicaid and encourage patients to apply for these reasons.

Come in and see us at one of our upcoming community events or drop in as a patient. And be sure to let us know how we are doing.

The North Columbia Monthly provides news, views, humor and a calendar of events for an area that stretches from Nelson in British Columbia south to Spokane in Washington State and covers all points in between. A free (and free-thinking, progressive) magazine, The Monthly is available at several hundred spots throughout the region and now is also available on-line at www.ncmonthly.com. Published once a month since 1994, The Monthly is an independent magazine that often challenges contemporary wisdom by encouraging critical thinking about issues and attitudes in the region and beyond.

Featuring our one-of-a-kind "What's Happening" department, The Monthly provides the region's only all-inclusive, free listing of community events and is the first place many people check to find out about area arts, crafts, music, fairs, services and events of all kinds. Our open listing policy for the "What's Happening" department promotes diversity, cultural interaction, and the exchange of ideas and free expression. Also featured in the magazine are people, food, health, humor, and feature articles that keep readers coming back for more each month.

We can be reached by mail at The North Columbia Monthly, PO Box 541, Colville, WA 99114; by phone or fax at 509-684-3109; by email at editor@ncmonthly.com; and on the Web at www.ncmonthly.com.

©2008. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the contents or use in whole or part without written permission from the publishers is strictly prohibited. Views and opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the publishers.

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