Maxim's Summer Reading List: Yoga For A Healthy Menstrual Cycle

I'm convinced that our bodies crave movement. Albert Einstein once said:

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving."

Whether it's sky-diving, pottery throwing, or turning a page, our bodies and our minds are always craving movement and change. For women, who are more naturally inclined to experience physiological changes with their menstrual cycles, it's impossible to avoid the struggle to maintain balance or the quest for healing each month when your period is making you snippy and at times inconsolable.

If you've somehow avoided taking the sweaty, yet graceful leap onto the Yoga bandwagon or you're like me and have attended hundreds of yoga classes yet have the memory of a goldfish, here's a foundational fact: The word "Yoga" comes from the gorgeously poetic and ancient language Sanskrit, and it means "union." Sanskrit is a holy language from 400 BC. The practice of yoga was developed as an extension of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs in maintaining balance in every area of life.

YOGA = UNION

Linda Sparrowe and Patricia Walden's book Yoga for a Healthy M enstrual Cycle is a unique and concise manual you can use for implementing healthy movement into a time of a woman's life where it seems counter-intuitive to stretch and welcome movement and change into her life. This is my attempt at welcoming movement into my life....

Don't judge... I'm working on it :)

Back to the book... Walden has numerous recommendations for yoga sequences that are tailored to help all kinds of menstrual issues or just to keep your body feeling happy and healthy. If you want a sampling of the book, for a generally healthy menstruation cycle, Walden suggests:

1. Reclining Bound Angle Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana)
2. Child's Pose (Adho Mukha Virasana)
3. Head-on-Knee Pose (Janu Sirsana)
4. Three-Limb Intense Stretch (Triang Mukhaikapada Paschimottanasana)
5. Seated Forward Bend (Paschimottanasana)
6. Wide-Angle Seated Pose I (Upavistha Konasana I)
7. Wide-Angle Seated Pose With a Twist (Parsva Upavistha Konasana)
8. Wide-Angle Seated Pose II (Upvistha Konasana II)
9. Inverted Staff Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)
10. Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)
11. Corpse Pose (Savasana)

Now, I couldn't flex and photograph all of these poses, so you can ::click here:: for a cool website with illustrations of yoga poses.

There is also an interesting debate about using yoga to maintain menstrual health that I'd like to bring to your attention. This:

(Photo Compliments of Fitsugar.com)

is the peacock pose, and it's considered an inverted pose because you are challenging the typical flow and orientation of your body. In Ayurvedic medicine (an ancient holistic medical practice from India) it's said that inverting the body and altering blood flow shouldn't be done when a woman is experiencing menstruation, but there are many people who believe otherwise. ::Click Here:: to read further about inversions.

Overall, Sparrowe and Walden's book is a quick read and a great book to have on standby for reference. Much enjoyed!

Mucous Membranes

So I've been working at Maxim for what is it... two months now. I think I could let you in on a little secret about me... I'm a bit of a nerd. If nerdiness could be quantified on a spectrum of mass, almost like the one shown below:


I think I would measure out as a beluga whale on the nerdiness scale.

Jerry Seinfeld is of course the equilibrium, because I doubt he plays World of Warcraft or live action role plays in his spare time, yet he definitely has the I-lock-myself-in-my-room-sometimes-to-read-Phillip-Pullman and the I-evaded-a-swirly-in-high-school-after-quoting-Camu vibe about him. I respect the guy, really.

I've never held a Magic card for more than 2 minutes, but my best friend was voted teacher's pet in the 12th grade superlatives and I am on a first name basis with a goodly number of librarians.

Point is: I took a clinical herbalism class and started caring about obscure things like home remedies for inflammation and chakras, but hey! Everybody's got to have their kicks in life right?

And another nerdy interest of mine is healing and understanding body systems.

So today, I present you with MUCOUS MEMBRANES! This post will be the first of two or three posts to introduce you to the functions and execution of mucous membranes in our bodies.

For those of you who think I'm talking about boogers, you're on the right track, but think deeper, think source and origins... Think:

Mouth

Along the lining of the mouth (under your tongue, the back of your throat, behind your lower lip) there exists a constantly moist layer of mucous membranes. The interaction between the foreign particles and the membranes in your mouth will enable the activity of certain enzymes. For example, if you're munching on a pretzel, some carbohydrate and salt molecules will travel through the membranes in your mouth and signal the enzyme amylase to be released and begin the breakdown of carbohydrates into usable sugar particles that will eventually be converted to energy.

Nose

As you can see in this elegant photograph, your nose has hundreds of little hairs that capture bacteria and wayward particles that come into your nose. Your nose has a mucous membrane lining that will frequently release mucous to encase all of the foreign particles and make sure they don't pass through your mouth or your air track to your lungs.

Eyelids

Depicted above is a nice lady-eye that you may think is an expression of sadness, but this eye is actually utilizing an inherent defense system that cleanses the mucous membranes along your eyelids and releases stored toxins that would otherwise infiltrate the body and be processed by the immune system.

Windpipe + Lungs

Oxygen is one of the most necessary fuels for all of our metabolic systems. The way that it gets into our bloodstream is of course through our lungs, but I bet you didn't know that there was a mucous membrane working along the lining of your lungs to separate out the molecules that don't belong. The mucous that develops in your lungs during a cold is a result of your body's defense systems going a bit haywire and making sure that nothing harmful will get through into your blood system.

Stomach + Intestines

There is a mucous membrane lining in the stomach and intestines lined with cilia that will move nutrients and facilitate digestive processes.

The Ureters + Urethra + Urinary bladder

The uses of mucous membranes in this series of organs is complex and dynamic. See Mucous Membranes: Part II, for an explanation of mucous membrane function in the reproductive system.

What Do Mucous Membranes Do Exactly?

According to Wisegeek.com, "The moisture found in a mucous membrane acts to protect the body by creating a barrier and preventing the inside of the body from drying out. Mucus also traps pathogens, dirt, and particulate matter so that they can be sequestered and eliminated by the body. The nose is particularly famous for this, using mucus as a barrier between many harmful substances and the respiratory tract. Some sections of mucous membrane also have small hairs known as cilia which act as traps, and can move to push things across the surface of the membrane." When I consulted answers.com, they also had a concise explanation about the uses of mucous along the sensitive membranes in our bodies: "The nature of the cells forming a particular mucous membrane (or mucosa) reflects the specialized function at that site. All these functions are related in some way to interaction between the internal and external environments of the body: nutrition, gas exchange, excretion, or the intrusions and extrusions required for reproduction."

If you think about it, mucous membranes are really where all the magic happens. If your body doesn't roll out layers of protective mucous to protect your body or regulate what comes in from the outside world, we would be susceptible to any and all kinds of ailments and maladies. Our mucous membranes are semipermeable (think of them as filters) for a reason.



Sources Used

"What is a mucous membrane?" Wise Geek
"Internal Genital Organs" The Merck Manuals Online Medical Library
"Glossary" Diagnose Me

The Final Days of Roadtripping

It is with a heavy heart that we have to leave our new friends and connections in California and the topsy-turvy hills of San Francisco, but with enthusiasm that we remember home and the loving streets of NYC that smell of daisies and happy things . In the great words of Cher Horrowitz from Clueless, "As if!" California was great. New York is great. Both places suffer from a chronic illness called traffic.

In his book entitled The Dharma Bums, Jack Kerouac says, "Comparisons are odious," so I will stop myself there. But here is a recap of the things we've done since I last posted:
We found our way to San Francisco and saw...None other than her royal highness, the Golden Gate Bridge. I would just like to note that I wasn't the only silly tourist holding my camera outside of the passenger side window to take pictures.
We also visited with one of our favorite California Worker owned Coops on Folsom Street in San Francisco called Rainbow Grocery who carries our product line.I also made a few frequent visits to the infamous Haight street, as in the district of Haight-Ashbury which served as the Hippie Mecca in the 1960's. Of course there was all kind of graffiti, but this is what caught my eye.A large strip of farms on the way back from Aptos to Napa.


A final farewell feast in Sonoma's Buena Vista Carneros Winery.

It is my hope that the time we spent in California talking with ladies about their feminine hygiene products has left a memorable mark (excuse the pun). Spending time around people who were curious about every product that they were bringing into their homes or close to their bodies ("my temple!" one woman exclaimed to me at a demonstration) was rejuvenating and challenging. I appreciated the questions and the long discussions.

Until the next time we make a trip there, I'll be doing what the Mamas and Papas were most famous for: California Dreamin'