WHY "DOWN DOG" IS SO DARN GOOD FOR YOU!

Hey, it's Marco! Downward-facing dog is the most ubiquitous pose in yoga.
This popular yoga pose is the one we see in advertisements and movies, on yoga DVDs, and the covers of health and fitness magazines. Downward-facing dog is taught in beginner yoga classes and returned to again and again by the most advanced yoga practitioners.
Almost everyone who has tried yoga, no matter their skill level, is familiar with downward-facing dog. Even people who have never set foot on a yoga mat can visualize the pose, known in Sanskrit as adho mukha svanasana.
So why is downward-facing dog the media darling of yoga poses? What keeps people coming back to this pose? Why does downward-facing dog make us feel so good? And what the heck does this have to do with acupuncture?
Ahhhhhh...

The 300 Workout! By Men's health

Alright folks! Time to get back in shape! We'll focus more on fitness over the coming weeks! I may even have to rip off my shirt (LOL) and show you a few home exercises that are sure to get you ripped and ready for summer! Come on... If I can look as good as I do at 47, imagine how great you'll look and feel! Remember, all you have to do is put your body in motion and the emotion will follow! Life is better when you have energy! Real energy! Not external energy from magic pills (Big Pharma) and energy
drinks! (Chemicals and artificial sweeteners)

Joseph Pilates 1932

Joseph H. Pilates was born on December 9, 1883 in Mönchengladbach Germany to parents of Greek and German ancestry. His father was a prize-winning gymnast of Greek origin and his mother a naturopath of German origin. A sickly child who suffered from asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever, he dedicated his entire life to becoming physically stronger. Joe began studying body building and gymnastics and by the age of 14 was fit enough to pose for anatomical charts. He came to believe that our modern lifestyle, bad posture, and inefficient breathing were the roots of poor health, and he ultimately devised a series of exercises and training techniques and engineered all the equipment, specifications and tuning required to teach them properly.
Joe Pilates...

Some days, I have no patience

Waking up on the wrong side of the bed is annoying as hell, and not just to the waker-upper.  When you have no patience with people and you have to interact with others, the peevish, pissy, and pedantic behaviors come out in full force.

• Everyone is a lot stupider all of a sudden
• Nobody knows how to do things the right way
• Friends are too cloying, close, and getting in your business
• Friends are too distant, ignoring you when you need them
• Let's not even talk about politicians

Shouldn't come as any surprise that loss of patience can be a symptom of depression.  Like most symptoms, however, this one doesn't seem abnormal when you're suffering from it.  That guy really did complain about his cappuccino being "too light" when he obviously should have ordered a latte if he wanted a lot of steamed milk.  The woman laughing at every joke your best friend tells is obviously flirting with him and he is being a complete idiot by paying attention to her.  Obama just doesn't get it about [fill in the blank].  It's all quite reasonable as it's happening.

Patience is a virtue, and a hard-earned one at that.  On days like these, no one seems to deserve it, but look out for warning signs that it's more about you than them:

• Rolling your eyes at a remark (even if you only think about rolling them)
• Interrupting someone because you already know what they're going to say and they shouldn't waste their breath
• Yelling at another driver in traffic
• Yelling at another driver when you're the passenger
• Noticing how rude or stupid that person was and really wanting to say something

If you've done anything like that or similar three times in the past hour, consider taking some time away from people.  You're getting rubbed the wrong way and you're probably doing the same to them, and it's not fair to any of you.  Smoke a cigarette if you're still addicted, meditate, go for a walk . . . just get away, break the pattern, and don't get sucked into choking the living crap out of that bastard who so desperately needs it.

Fish Oil is not Snake Oil

Studies have not shown if fish liver oil helps with depression. Science sometimes fails to be like the thing that it studies; that is, slow-moving and focused. I have not the slightest idea if fish oil has any impact on depression (although it is probably as effective a placebo as anything else out there), but I'm pretty sure that you aren't going to get fast results out of a natural phenomenon.

Any scientific study must be funded, and most funding comes from the companies that profit from research - the ones making products that they can sell. Sunlight, plants you can pick from your own garden, and air just aren't going to be studied as serious treatments for anything since they're free and plentiful (unless a marketing person can find a way to sell us what we already have, a la pet rocks); things like fish oil and cow pies and cat hair are all common enough that it would be tough to charge a lot for treatments derived from them, also discouraging the really big research bucks. We aren't likely to see long-term studies on depression treatments that nobody can make money from.

There have been some amazing breakthroughs for treatments of all manner of diseases through new drugs. That doesn't mean that every drug is wonderful, nor does it mean that every disease's cure is in pill form. Well-trained pharmaceutical representatives earn a great living convincing doctors to prescribe their products, and no one is out there equally passionately pitching St. John's wort, taking a walk every day, fish oil, getting a puppy, copper bracelets, and believing in God (at least in doctor's offices). Plenty of alternative therapies may be effective, but the medical community isn't designed to find out.

Of course, I can't say that I would like the idea of being accosted by fish-oil salesmen.

Placebo: What Your Brain Can Do for You

The placebo effect is the measurable, observable, or felt improvement in health not attributable to treatment. This effect is believed by many people to be due to the placebo itself in some mysterious way.

So states this article on placebos and depression from the Skeptic's Dictionary, and appropriate resource. Like this UCLA article about placebo usage, it discusses how, when a patient is told they are receiving a placebo, the effectiveness often goes away. Is this because the treatment was all in their heads? Or that the depression was?

Many studies try to compensate for the "placebo effect." Others, more recently, have specifically studied this factor as a healing process. A study by Dr. Arif Khan showed, according to the New York Times, that:

It turns out that the more severely depressed people are, the less likely they are to respond to a placebo. And people with more mild depressions get better with just about all treatments, including placebos. Since most clinical trials enroll less severely depressed patients, the observed difference between the response to an antidepressant and a placebo can be misleadingly small.

Other studies, including one by Dr. Irving Kirsch, suggest that medications are nearly useless because the placebo effect is so high in depression treatment. Meanwhile, doctors wrestle with the ethics of "tricking" patients with placebos.

I think the point is not quite being realized by the scientific community. Depression is a disease that is has an effect upon the body as well, because the brain controls all things. Placebo is the brain's natural ability to repair damage to all the human systems. This process is easily interrupted by doubts and limiting beliefs. At this point in our development we have identified the process, and we recognize that it can be encouraged by presenting patients with a physical talisman, if you will, of healing; the pill. More severely depressed people need more than a sugar pill because they are so very sick their limiting beliefs extend deep into the unconscious, metastasizing like cancer. They need medications to bring them to the point where the placebo process can recover enough to even try to work.

I foresee a time when the scientific community will focus serious research on placebos, not to remove them as a variable or identify what is "in a patient's mind," but to determine how to harness our own healing ability and hone it. This research will not be conducted by drug companies, because it would not be advantageous to cure such a lucrative market for maintenance medications. It will be research into areas currently sidelined as psychology or superstition, and will tap into the true potential of the human brain.

The lucky depression patients have found other avenues to unlock these secrets, either through sugar pills or prayer or exercise or therapy, and they have been given a chance at true healing, y allowing their brains to overcome depression naturally. It's time the scientific community figures out a way to give the rest of the victims that opportunity.

Self-Care Options

This article reinforces my position on the paradox of depression: you aren't going to get better if you can't learn to do it yourself, but depression keeps you from believing that this is possible. Drugs and therapy can be important tools for recovery, but neither of them will succeed without your help, and neither of them should be considered for a lifetime. If you plan for a day when you won't need them you're much more likely to reach that day.

Either of those treatment options may give you the needed push to get to a point where you can do something for yourself, crawl just far enough out of your own personal pit that you can take at least a small amount of responsibility for your own recovery. If they can't get you to that level, and you aren't functional enough to make it there without further help, you should find that help. Never forget that the worst symptom you have is the belief that you are going to stay this way, that nothing you do can change it, that it's pointless to even try. Don't give in to that crap, because if you expect the worst you're rarely disappointed. Do you have anything to lose by trying for more? Can it really get worse than it is? Really?

Some thoughts on the five suggestions given:

• Keep Active: yep, I've mentioned how important even a little bit of exercise can be. Don't want to get out of bed? Consider having a friend drag you out if necessary.
• Eat well. A well-balanced eating strategy will help you feel better now and later. Good thought. I've had comments here from depression victims that eat like crap, and it shows in the writing that they're just making things worse. Your body needs good fuel to do a good job.
• Get adequate sleep. I would modify this to say, "Get appropriate sleep." Insomnia is a symptom of depression, but I was more prone to the fourteen-to-sixteen-hour power nap. I psychiatrist I knew said that the best way to regulate sleep is to get up at the same time, every day, without fail. Your body will take care of the rest.
• Control stress. Coping with depression is stressful enough, so try to limit other sources of stress. And depression does a marvelous job of amplifying the other stress, doesn't it?
• Stay connected. Make relationships a priority. Social ties give you a sense of purpose and meaning in life. I can't emphasize this more. You need to be around people, even if you don't feel like it, because even if you believe you're alone in a crowd it is better than being alone alone. Do it even if you don't want to.