Serenity Now!

            Serenity, tranquility, and relaxation was the atmosphere at Healing Waters Center for Yoga on Friday morning, Nov. 15. Located in East Aurora N.Y., the center for Yoga, Health and Mindful Living sits overlooking beautiful Cazenovia Creek, welcoming hundreds of students each week.

Every Friday morning from 9:30 to 10:45, the Gentle/Restorative class is generally attended by a minimum of 15 people. Susan Garguiolo, a certified yoga instructor, leads the class with breath-focused and slow instruction. The skillful combination of Susan’s soothing voice, the striking view outside, and the spa-like music in the background quickly allows the students to enter in to a peaceful state of mind. 

            Susan uses several different stress-relieving asanas, or poses in the Gentle/Restorative class. Several times the students are instructed to move in to “Child’s Pose,” or Balasana. This particular movement stretches out the back, and helps to relieve stress and anxiety.

For many Americans, the term “yoga” is often immediately associated with the idea of exercise. Susan explained that “There are all different kinds of yoga. Here in the West, people tend to look at yoga as just exercise, but it’s more than that. Yoga is a way of life.”

            The word “yoga” has many derivations, and can take on meanings including “connection,” "contact,” "method,” “to yoke” and “to concentrate.”  In the Gentle/Restorative class, Susan focuses heavily on breathing within movements. To those who have no knowledge of yoga whatsoever, the thought of “breathing within movements” sounds very strange. However, inhaling and exhaling at the right time during movements can be very effective in relaxing both the body and the mind.

“Breathing helps to change the nervous system in a positive way. It can help those who suffer from insomnia, and it is extremely effective in lowering blood pressure. I started yoga because I was a very high-strung and anxious person…and breathing correctly through movement is so great at de-stressing the body,” Susan clarified.

Due to the fast-paced, busy and worry-ridden culture Americans are surrounded by every day, medications prescribed to help stress, anxiety and depression have been on the rise. 65 percent of North Americans take prescription anxiety medications daily, and 43 percent of North Americans take a mood-altering drug regularly. In the year 2002 alone, over 3.3 billion prescriptions were filled in America, which is 12 times the population of the United States in that year.

Brenda, an East Aurora local and yoga student, who wishes her last name to remain anonymous, was prescribed the anti-anxiety medication Zoloft for over 10 years.

“I was prescribed three different medications before Zoloft, and I just decided I would deal with the side effects because I didn’t want to try another medication. I had been on Zoloft from the time I was 20 up until the day after I turned 32. The night of my birthday was horrible because my medication was making me feel dizzy and nauseous. I decided the next day I was going off medications and trying a new approach. That was when I thought of yoga.”

Brenda now attends yoga classes once every week, and said that “all of my anxiety symptoms are gone. I feel like a completely different person.” Although Brenda practices yoga at a different center, she has attended a few classes at Healing Waters throughout the years and describes it as “welcoming and inspirational.”

Jamie Levy, a 21-year-old waitress living in East Aurora, tried the Gentle/Restorative class at Healing Waters for the first time on November 15^th. Her experience was also described as “welcoming.”

“It was amazing, and I feel so good. I’ve been dealing with a lot of back pain, and it feels better after doing just one hour of this stuff. The only thing that was hard was that I had to be to work right after the class, so it kind of ruined my concentration. Susan was great though and I can’t wait to go back.”

If it is possible to live a life with less stress and anxiety using natural methods, without the use of prescription medication, wouldn’t you want to know the secret? Yoga may very well be the answer for you. Visit a center near you to help ease the stress of everyday life, without dangerous chemicals in your body or harmful side effects.

Also, if you are skeptical of going to yoga classes due to religious convictions, many studios offer non-denominational classes in which you can feel free to practice yoga while incorporating your personal beliefs.

More information on courses available at Healing Waters as well as prices, scholarship opportunities and much more can be found on their website, www.centerathealingwaters.com. 

Have you been deceived?

"Have any of you ever tried a natural remedy that didn't work or that resulted in a bad experience? What did you try and what were your results?"

This is the question that I posted to my Facebook wall yesterday, and surprisingly I have had a lot of feedback pertaining to "deceiving" natural remedies. Like many fads and trends, facts may be skewed as to what really works for certain issues, and what doesn't. Unfortunately gathering exact results when it comes to anything medical can prove to be difficult.


A few people commented under my Facebook question, and Jennifer Johnson replied, "I was taking echinacea during ragweed season to prevent sinus infections only to find out that it is a distant cousin to ragweed and it made my allergies worse. Big fail!"


Jennifer's experience is all too common. Many of us will take advice from a friend or conduct a quick Google search, and consume a product that may not be right for us. Doing your research, especially on something that seems harmless, is always a must when you are trying out a new remedy. 

Heather Chrosniak also contributed to the conversation. "I tried coconut oil to clear my skin from breakouts, but it only made it worse." 

I can attest to the fact that women will try almost anything when they are desperately looking for results in the area of beauty and fitness. Although coconut oil has been proven to be very useful and effective in various areas, many blogs and studies lack in clarification. Yes, coconut oil can be used as a wonderful moisturizer for dry skin, but most people with sensitive skin and prolonged acne issues should NOT apply coconut oil to the face. Let's be honest, applying any kind of "oil" to the face may not be the best idea for someone who already suffers from oily skin and large pores. 

Again, in some instances coconut oil may work to reduce acne for some people - I reiterate the fact that results vary from person to person. The bottom line is, statements passed through the grapevine and some sources on the internet can be deceiving. 

Please make sure you are doing your share of research (and not just from Wikipedia) on any new remedies that you plan on trying. Nobody knows your body as well as you - use your knowledge to achieve the best results possible!

If you have found yourself running in to similar problems, please feel free to share your experiences with me so I can do my best to help you in your research endeavors! 

Side note:
If you were interested at all in the topic of coconut oil, I found a great article by Kris Gunnars. He outlines things very well and also responds to comments to help with clarification. 

http://authoritynutrition.com/top-10-evidence-based-health-benefits-of-coconut-oil/