Squeezing and soaking

Each time you practice yoga, you take your joints through their full range of motion. This can help prevent degenerative arthritis of mitigate disability by "squeezing and soaking" areas of cartilage that normally aren't used. Joint cartilage is like a sponge; it receives fresh nutrients only when its fluid is squeezed out and a new supply can be soaked up. without proper sustenance, neglected areas of cartilage can eventually wear out, exposing the underlying bone like worn-out  brake pads.
        Yoga increases the ability to feel what your body is doing and where it is in space and improves balance. People with bad posture of dysfunctional movement patterns usually have proprioception, which  has been linked to knee problems and back pain. Better balance could mean fewer falls. For the elderly, this translates into more independence and delayed admission to a nursing home or never entering one at all. For the rest of us, postures like Tree Pose can make us feel less wobbly on and off the mat.
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The Retreat

Every year I take my students on a retreat. Its not big, last year and the year before we just pitched tents in the beautiful Payson Blackhawk Canyon. last year we got rained on. also this year was so busy with my Thai classes and then the trek I didn't feel like doing all the work of camping again, so we went looking for something different. We were going to Nephi one day and came across Big Mountain Campground. later I found them on line, they have 6 cabins that sleep 4 each it was perfect so I booked all the cabins for our retreat. The next weekend we went to see all they had. It was more perfect then ever the cabins are darling they have a pool, and a pavilion with a little kitchen and lots of tables. We could pull the tables out to make room for our lectures and yoga if it rained. yes this was perfect. It did rain all day the first day but it stopped before I gave the first lecture on the "Subtle Body", then we did yoga, after yoga we ate dinner, that my wonderful husband prepared for us he is the best dutch oven cook ever. After dinner I gave a lecture on "What's your Dosha" I gave a test to see what dosha they were. It was really good. later that night at the camp fire I gave a lecture on "Mantra on The Mind". We chanted alot during the day it was great.
     The next day we did yoga first thing in the morning, I did a lecture on "Being Vs. Doing" it was long but it was good. Gary fed us breakfast while we talked about "Eating Wisely" which was one of the lecture topics
last year that was really good. Mishelle concluded our lectures with "The Energy of Yin Yang" which was excelent. A great time with great students and great people.
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My Thai Room

I have been doing Thai in my yoga studio, but it is getting really old getting my Thai mat out every time. The mat is really heavy. also I heat my studio to 88 degrees for yoga, if do Thai on my yoga days I have to cool down my studio so I can do Thai then heat it up again for the evening class. I told my husband I need a Thai room, the great man that he is said OK lets do it. This week end He and I cleaned out a room that was just being used for junk and painted it. We had a few problem areas so it took us longer then we thought. But it should be done in a day or two and it will be happy Thai Room to me.
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Deepen your Focus

This is part of an article I found a long time ago. I use it as a hand out when I teach my class about meditation. yoga quiets the mind, it slows down the mental loops of frustration, regret, anger, fear, and desire that can cause stress. and since stress is the cause of many health problems--from migraines and insomnia to lupus, MS, eczema, high blood pressure, and heart attacks--if you learn to quiet your mind, you'll be sure to live a longer healthier life. I can not remember who wrote it, sorry.

         "A good deal of mystique has grown around meditation, yet it is one of the most natural of our human capacities. You've no doubt had moments in your life when you were not thinking or analyzing your experience, but simply "going with the flow." In these moments, there was no past or future, no separation between you and what was happening. That is the essence of meditation.

Contrary to a common misunderstanding, meditation is not a limiting or narrowing of our attention so much as it is a focusing on what is relevant. Our attention can be narrow, as in observing our breath, or broad, as in cooking a five-course dinner. When the mind is able to focus on what is relevant to what is happening now, we experience ourselves as being at one with what we perceive. This experience is deeply joyful, as we become freed from the illusion that we are separate from everything else in the universe. In fact, meditation isn't a withdrawal from life but a deeper, fuller presence in life."
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Using Thai Therapy on the Trek

        Our Church took our youth on a pioneer trek in Wyoming. A young girl hurt her knee while walking the 14 miles over Rocky Ridge. I worked on her for about a half hour before dinner, then I told her I wanted to see her again after we ate. After dinner was over I went looking for her and she was running around with the other girls. I was amazed and humbled all at the same time this is why I do yoga therapy. I asked her how she was feeling and she said she was really good. She was a little sore in the morning so I worked on her again before we all headed home and told her to call me the next day if she felt she needed to be worked on again. I saw her on Sunday and she was totally back to normal. I am so blessed to have found Thai Therapy, running the Sen Lines and pressing out the Marmas where all our illnesses and stresses are held is  miracle  work. 
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Finished with Thai School

     I finished my last weekend of Thai School yesterday. It was good, I was sad to see it come to an end  I learned a lot of great and valuable things, Syl (the teacher) did a great job teaching us everything she knows. I am really excited to start my new journey. On my way home I see so many people rushing here and there. I preach to my yoga students all the time to slow down, stop and smell the roses, and take a break from the hustle bustle of life. Life seems to be moving faster and faster We're continually being asked to be more productive and to do more things at once. But how has this affected our lives and our health?  think about it,  how do you deal with time. Have you ever pushed an already lit elevator button because it's not moving fast enough?  Do you hate waiting for a computer download? This frantic pace in our sped-up world contributes to our stress.  this pace is not good for us. When you find yourself stressed and hurried, ask yourself if it's really necessary to rush—or is this just a bad habit you should break? try to do less and enjoy life more. Practice slowing down by letting others go first in a bank line, or on the highway. This really will change your stressful day into a peaceful day. Use the extra time to breathe deeply and smile. You'll feel better—and so will the people around you.
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Good Experiences

     I have had some really good experiences with Thai therapy this last week. I worked on a man (about 70 years old) who has had really bad pain for a few years because of cancer treatments and different accidents. I only got to work on him for an hour, (Thai sessions are generally two hours) I could have done him more good with another hour. When I was finished he asked if I could get him out of pain, I said that I could then he said "I don't know how you did it but you put my back in, I can tell when my back is in because my arm no longer hurts". He made another appointment. I hope to be able to get this man started on the track of yoga. Yoga stretches and strengthens the body. Strong muscles do more than look good. They protect us from arthritis and back pain, I had back pain for most of my young adult life, after I found yoga my back pain went away and now I can do amazing things now like lift my grand kids. That's wants important, feeling good enough to do fun things. Strong muscles help prevent falls in elderly people. If you stick to yoga long enough You'll notice that aches and pains start to disappear. That's no coincidence. Tight hips can strain the knee joint due to improper alignment of the thigh and shinbones. Tight hamstrings can lead to a flattening of the lumbar spine, which can cause poor posture. In yoga it's what you do for yourself that matters. Yoga gives you the tools to help you change, the more you commit to practice, the more you benefit. This gets you involved in your own care, that involvement gives you the power to effect change, and seeing that you can effect change gives you hope, and hope itself can be healing.
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