Yo, Yo, Yoga

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  my patients ask me my thoughts on yoga; some of them are quite inflexible or nonathletic.  Here's my opinion:  find a yoga studio or gym that has a good reputation for its teachers and take classes on a regular basis.  You might not be able to bend over and touch your knees the first class you attend, but if you stick with it, after a month you'll be surprised when you can not only touch your toes, but palm the floor.  I have a patient who was a professional athlete; he's now in his early 80s and has been doing yoga for the past 20 years.  He is strong, flexible and at 6'6", he can palm the floor and then some!

Practice What You Preach

I am a huge fan of the benefits of yoga.  It's not that I love doing yoga - it's like eating your veggies, only better.  I encourage all my patients to engage in a yoga practice, whether they are professional athletes or couch potatoes.  Yoga is all about you and your mat; no one else matters. 

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  If you are recovering from an injury, want to improve your sports performance, digestion or lower your blood pressure - here's what you do.  Schedule regular acupuncture treatments and sign yourself into a nice yoga studio.  That's what I'm doing today as part of taking care of ME, so I can better take care of YOU!