Yoga: An alternative

I have many topics to write about this year and as I said in January I'm going to make my best effort this year to write more frequently. Today I'd like to start with my own health and some of the research I've looked into regarding alternative healing methods towards things such as anxiety, depression and diabetes.

I've had anxiety for quite some time and I have recently been diagnosed with diabetes over the holidays. The pill I'm on , Metformin, is one that is commonly used to treat the disease. I have type 2 diabetes which means that my body over time has gotten used to high sugar levels and is not responding to the insulin that my body makes and therefore does not recognize that my body is even making it. This is caused by my eating habits, lack of exercise and basically stress and sitting at my job all day long. My job is something that I will touch on in later posts as working in a call center sitting all day has many disadvantages health wise and as I've touched on before, sitting is a silent killer and is now considered as bad as smoking/second hand smoke.

This medication though that I'm taking, let's talk about this for a moment. 1. My question is do I really need it and though some can argue that yes you do to control it and get better, I'd like to argue that I do not. In fact why should I be taking something that makes me feel ten times worse!? I get incredibly ill on just one pill a day, they prescribed four per day. By ill I mean not simply a little bit of nausea, I mean full out cramps and being glued to home in the washroom to put it politely and this has been ongoing for weeks not simply a few days. The doctors say, “oh well it'll settle down, it's just a little bit of tummy trouble and it'll go away.”, “ give your body time to get used to it and adjust.”. Some might even say that you need to get worse to feel better , which to me should only apply to waiting out a cold or flu and is the norm. However with a disease like this, I argue these points. I argue that because it is semi self inflicted, in fact I never would have gotten it had I not stopped being active and had I continued to eat better, then why should I not make my best effort to reverse the effects by doing the opposite of what caused it. If lack of proper diet and exercise was the cause then more of a proper diet and activity would be the cure no?

I'd like to take a moment for you to listen to this video at the Isha Foundation for the topic of Health, among the many other videos. Listen good and well because to me it makes perfect sense what this gentleman is saying. This leads me to the concept of using alternative methods for healing such as yoga to assist in curing what I have or assisting in such a way that I no longer have that stress and anxiety and can become healthier and allow my body to not require a pill to put it back in check. In the past few years I've turned to other ideas of exercise and all are well and good and have shown that through these things you can become better and lose weight combined with proper diet. I however also have asthma and sometimes keeping up with cardio items such as Zumba is a bit difficult for me right now and I need to concentrate also on my mental well being. Yoga does exactly that and this site and videos explain the benefits of yoga for mind, body and spirit. I am also going to take a moment to kindly promote my friend's website and practice SaraLouYoga . 

There has been various research also to suggest that yoga and such activities can not only reduce weight but can also control high blood pressure and your blood sugar. With things such as yoga I can also do this before bed or when I get up in the morning or both! It's relaxing and gets the body up and moving and stretched and calm. Now it's a matter of implementing this into a consistent routine and trying not to falter from it. I admit that after doing even 20 minutes of yoga on the Wii alone, I feel incredibly better. 

Some may say I should listen to my doctor and yes I should but sometimes I think that for certain items it's a push of drugs and pharmaceutical companies making money off things that really can be cured or assisted in alternative methods such as this. As that site I mentioned said, it's also what we consume, what we put into our bodies. I know it's difficult to avoid at times in this day in age but we can do better , we can control it ourselves and we need to listen to our bodies. That's part of the problem. We aren't listening and it's imperative that we do so. We are so consumed with day to day life of work and being busy and in a rush, especially here in North America, that we take no time for ourselves and to listen and slow down. We push and push until we get drastically sick and can't do anymore and then are near dead. Unfortunately too we have the issue that everything is on demand and we want and crave things to be done NOW  and handed to us and employers don't listen to that, they listen to the demand of a product or service almost 24/7. We want things at the touch of our fingertips and we don't take time out to enjoy the beauty surrounding us and to really be in the moment and live. Being successful and living is not the material. What we need to be happy, all human beings, is to live in the present and to really enjoy things that we have such as family and friends and good food, things of nature. It's important to realize that you can't take money with you and really the way we lived is important. I do not fear death, I fear the way people will remember me and how I've lived. I want it to be a good life and make this world/dimension/plane of existence, one that is a good one for those around me and for myself. 

This is it for today but I will be writing again soon as I do have other topics relating to this on how to unwind and other alternatives. I hope everyone has a positive, healthy and relaxed month thus far and to come and please make your best effort everyone to be kind to one another and yourself. Slow down and take that time out of the busyness of the world to enjoy life and the very act of living and breathing!  Take care and please don't hesitate to comment your suggestions for topics or your stories of imaginative healthy alternatives.