YogaIowa: Yoga for Success

FALL 2015 06 working and living in wholeheartedness 09 a re you fired up or burned out?

11 y oga for success 19 stress less with healing touch

YOGA FOR

Combine body, mind, and soul to awaken your spirit!

Esoteric YOGA® is practiced in a group setting in order to facilitate a state of resonance with unlimited universal potentials. This enhanced technique goes above and beyond what you’ll find at your gym by creating an awareness of the subtle energies around us and using them to illuminate a path of spiritual enlightenment.

Join Ofelia Mohr for a Spiritual Adventure!

• FALL 2015

Harmony Hall, Unity Church, 414 31st Street, Des Moines, IA FREE Presentation and Demonstration: Friday, October 23 at 6 p.m.

Weekly Classes begin Tuesday, October 27 at 7 p.m.

Includes: One-on-one guidance and weekly handouts

Email: ofelia@omnutrition.com | www.omnutrition.com Photograph Courtesy of www.kerriphotography.com

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E DITOR ’S LET TER

ixty-five percent of workers cite work as a significant source of stress, according to the American Psychological Association, with one-third of workers chronically stressed (APA 2013) and another 1-3% reportedly being extremely stressed.

These numbers can easily discourage us. If you are an employer, have you considered how prolonged exposure to stress is affecting employees and their productivity? And the bigger question is, how is your organization fostering a culture of well-being (vs. wellness) where employees feel more innovated and passionate to unleash their authentic selves? Regardless of company size or the nature of the business, I highly encourage (no surprise, here) sponsoring mind-body practices, such as yoga, mindfulness, meditation, and nutrition classes on There has to be a site, or compensating or reason so many Iowa incentivizing employees companies offer yoga to take these types of classes on their own. to employees. It can’t You would be just be for the excuse to surprised how twisting wear stretchy pants. your body and sitting quiet for an hour is beneficial for success and reaching goals in anything whether it be in business, sports, or studies. It turns out there are some major benefits that this latest issue of YogaIowa explores. There has to be a reason so many Iowa companies like Meredith Corporation, ACT, Des Moines University, Principal Financial Group, and August Home Publishing offer yoga to employees. It can’t just be for the excuse to wear stretchy pants.

For our cover story, meet five impassioned Iowa professionals who lead superhuman lives while advancing their careers and caring for family and relationships through their practice of yoga and mediation.

Inside, we also bring together Iowa experts who specialize in stress-reducing modalities such as acupuncture, structural integration, and myofascial release therapy (MRT). You’ll also find a listing of other modalities for your consideration.

Floatation therapy, anyone?

For employees from entry-level to management, we recommend a number of books in the On Our Bookshelf column to help you maximize your potential for success with less stress.

As we’re one month away from Thanksgiving, many of us may be starting to plan our holiday celebrations with friends and family. This season offers us the opportunity to connect, reconnect, and unplug from our usual routines and enter into a space of heightened gratitude.

I am reminded of the power of Iowa’s yoga community as this issue marks YogaIowa’s second anniversary. I’m thinking about the nest I’ve built and all of the beautiful people that make up the web of Iowa’s yoga community. We can hardly believe it’s already been two years since YogaIowa unveiled its first issue at the Iowa City Yoga Festival in October 2013. We extend our gratitude and thanks to all who have supported YogaIowa. We couldn’t have done it without you!

We want to hear from you. Send us your comments or feedback to editors@yoga-iowa.com. We’d love to hear from you.

With gratitude,

On our Cover

Adam Hammes, a Des Moines sustainability consultant, author and speaker on the steps the Iowa State Capital.

Read his story on page 15. Photograph by Kerri Hays.

Leaving chronic headaches and the corporate world behind, Lisa Acheson, RYT 500, has yoga to thank for her new life of ease. Lisa is a Level 3 Certified Adamantine® Yoga teacher, sharing this practice at the Santosha Yoga studio in Urbandale. Visit lisaachesonyoga.com.

You’re invited to experience Poses & Prose with Robin Bourjaily, E-RYT 200, MA/W. Robin manifests her dreams on the mat and on the page at Radiant Om Yoga (radiantomyoga.com), her studio in Windsor Heights. Read her nonfiction at overneathitall. com and find her novel, Throwing Like a Girl, on Smashwords: smashwords.com/books/ view/516628.

A professional photographer and yogini for over 10 years, Lori Jayne Carlson has a passion for telling stories that help create better lives for people who are underrepresented and/or misunderstood in society. Find her work online at lorijaynephotography.com and on her blog: peaceloveaction.tumblr.com Sheree Clark, EdM, AADP, CHHC, is a holistic health and nutrition expert with a private practice she calls Fork in the Road (fork-road.com). A charismatic author, presenter, motivator, raw vegan chef, and television personality, Sheree inspires and helps people to get the most out of life by improving their health.

Dr. Richard L. Deming is medical director of Mercy Cancer Center in Des Moines and founder of Above + Beyond Cancer (aboveandbeyondcancer. org). Dr. Deming is known for the compassionate care he provides patients and their families. His greatest ambition is to inspire individuals to pursue lives of purpose, passion, and compassion.

Emily Eppens is currently a senior at Iowa State University with a major in journalism and a minor in religious studies, and will graduate in May 2016.

This summer, she worked as a news reporter intern at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, and currently freelances for various publications.

An educator for more than two decades, Jules Green, MA, MMIC, ACC, is a certified meditation teacher specializing in mindfulness and mantrabased practices and the study of consciousness. She’s also a certified holistic life coach specializing in life fulfillment, life purpose, and relationships, and a certified Reiki practitioner.

Kerri Hays of Kerri Photography is a dog-lovin’ Beaverdale resident and yogi who specializes in family portraits and wedding photography. Her work highlights genuine emotion, candid laughter, and love shared among her clients. Visit kerriphotography.com to learn more.

Jim Karpen, professor emeritus at Maharishi University, has a PhD in literature and writing, and has practiced Transcendental Meditation for over forty years. He writes about Transcendental Meditation and other health topics, as well as about technology. He’s currently a staff writer for iPhone Life magazine.

YogaIowa’s Managing Editor Tracey L. Kelley, RYT 500, teaches at her boutique yoga studio in South Des Moines and specializes in working with beginning students.

Tracey is also the founder of re: communications, a firm focused on improving communication through mindful listening. Learn more at recommunicationsmedia.com.

Olivia Kvitne is program director for Yoga for First Responders through the Give Back Yoga Foundation (givebackyoga.org/yffr). She’s written for YogaIowa since its inaugural issue. Olivia is the yoga instructor for the Des Moines Police Academy, the Des Moines Veterans Association, and the Carlisle Fire Department.

Kevin Pokorny is the owner of Pokorny Consulting (pokornyconsulting.com). He offers advisory consulting to individuals and organizations to make conscious decisions, and empowers them to become more purposeful leaders through mindful practices. Kevin has extensive experience offering workplace training to managers and leaders.

Kirstin Pope of Dubuque first fell in love with photography while working in her father’s darkroom.Today, Kirstin’s photography (rippleinfinity. com) is an artistic blend of color and visual texture that captures the essence of the moment; communicating stories of authenticity, love, and energy. She nurtures her mind-body-spirit through yoga, whole food, nature, and meditation.

Connie Reynolds, owner of The Yoga College in Sioux City (theyogacollege.com), has taught yoga for eighteen years. She holds 200-hour certifications from the High Tech Yoga Center and the Temple of Kriya Yoga, and 500-hour certification through Rama Joyti Vernon. She leads workshops for colleges, corporations, addiction centers, and hospitals.

Iowa native Dan Sterenchuk is the director of program development for The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (cmbm. org). Dan also co-created the College of Mind-Body Medicine at Saybrook University as the former associate dean.

He’s pursuing his co-active coaching certification through The Coaches Training Institute. Learn more at sterenchuk.com.

Patrick Sterenchuk is a spiritual teacher, intuitive, healer, meditation teacher, mentor/coach, and certified Laughter Yoga teacher, as trained by Dr. Madan Kataria, the creator of Laughter Yoga. For more than ten years, Patrick has shared Laughter Yoga with thousands of people from all walks of life. Visit patricksterenchuk.com to connect.

Zaplin Vermie, BA, E-RYT 200/ RYT 500, has been intimately engaged with the healing arts since childhood. Between continued studies of Eastern/ Western wellbeing techniques, he teaches daily yoga and meditation classes in Iowa City. Zaplin also offers regular workshops, retreats, and private consultation. Find him online at blissfulwillowyogacenter.com or Facebook.com/ ZaplinVermieYoga

• FALL 2015

At Work with Yoga

3

YogaIowa’s Newest Field Editor in the Quad Cities Meet Emilene Leone, RYT 200, and certified Adamantine® Yoga instructor. She’s a graduate of Augustana College with a degree in business administration. Emilene is married and is the mother of three boys. Her favorite hobbies are swing dancing and listening to Prince music. Contact her at emileneleone@me.com with story ideas and events in Davenport, Bettendorf, Moline, and Rock Island.

QUAD CITIES Emilene Leone

PRAC TI CE

6 Meditation Superpowers for Mindful Leaders

BY JULES GREEN

emileneleone@me.com

CEDAR RAPIDS Kim Reed

DES MOINES Linsey Birusingh

dancingbudda@gmail.com thehumblehedonist@gmail.com

Meditation and mindfulness have become the new “it” topic in corporate wellness programs aimed to combat increasingly stressful work environments. And it’s a good thing.

One-third of Americans reported constant or frequent work stress in an April 2015 study by the Statistic Brain Research Institute at the American Institute of Stress, New York. The top two stressors? Job pressure and money-related issues. This costs employers a whopping $300 billion annually in stressrelated health care and missed work, plus lowered productivity, diminished employee loyalty, and lack of innovation.

DUBUQUE Sheila O’Laughlin

SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA Brandi Kastler

SIOUX CITY Trishia Gill

sheilaolaughlin@mchsi.com

kastlers@windstream.net

trishia@evolvesiouxcity.com

If you have a story idea, project, or an event that you think would be of interest to Iowa’s yoga-infused community, feel free to contact our Field Editors in a city near you who will forward your ideas to the editors.

YOGAIOWA IS DISTRIBUTED QUARTERLY THROUGHOUT IOWA. FALL 2015 VOLUME 3, NUMBER 4

P UB LISH E R/E D I TOR Angela Banowetz Ossian M ANAGIN G E D I TOR Tracey L. Kelley ADV ERTISI NG AC C OUNT E X EC UT I V E Ron Klipfel ART DIR ECT I ON Cooper Smith & Co. COPY EDI TOR

FIELD EDITORS: Central Iowa: Linsey Birusingh thehumblehedonist@gmail.com South Central Iowa: Brandi Kastler kastlermonte@centurylink.net Cedar Rapids: Kim Reed dancingbuddah@gmail.com Dubuque: Sheila O’Laughlin sheilaolaughlin@mchsi.com

ADV ISORY B OA RD

Quad Cities: Emilene Leone emileneleone@me.com

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yoga-iowa.com • FALL 2015

Send comments, story ideas, calendar submissions, press releases & public announcements: editors@yoga-iowa.com • 515.979.5585

Becky Langdon

Sheree Clark, holistic health and nutritional coach Diane Glass, facilitator, Tending Your Inner Garden Dennis Kelly, founder of Yoga in the Park and Meditation Around Town, Des Moines Ann M. York, PT, PhD, E-RYT 200, RYT 500, Associate Professor, Des Moines University

FACEBOOK.COM/YOGAIOWA

Western Iowa: Trishia Gill trishia@evolvesiouxcity.com

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YogaIowa is available free of charge at Iowa yoga studios and more than 400 locations throughout central Iowa. To order an annual subscription delivered to your door, please send $15 to Subscription-YogaIowa, 522 NE Georgetown Blvd., Ankeny, IA 50021. For changes of address and other inquiries, contact us in writing at the address above, or subscriptions@yoga-iowa.com. To request delivery to your business, contact editors@yoga-iowa.com.

YogaIowa is published four times annually by: YogaIowa, LLC, 522 NE Georgetown Blvd., Ankeny, IA 50021 Copyright 2015 Yoga Iowa LLC. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission by the publisher. All rights reserved. YogaIowa assumes no liability for damage or loss. Locally owned, locally minded.

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Thankfully for the work force, the nationwide meditation trend at companies such as Google, Intel, Facebook, and Twitter, among others, is more than just a passing fad. Mindful leaders will find that helping employees tap into the following meditation superpowers ultimately improves the bottom line.

The Power of Clarity, Vision, and Focused Attention

Meditation and mindfulness techniques increase brain function in the pre-frontal cortex, supporting creativity, complex problem-solving, planning, and decision-making. Workers can think clearly, avoid mistakes, and see the big picture without sacrificing attention to detail.

The Power of Motivation and Learning These techniques also benefit the basal ganglia, responsible for “procedural learning.” This aids in forming good habits and affects motivation.

The Power of Compassion and Likeability Supporting the basal ganglia also improves a person’s ability to be compassionate and think beyond oneself. In a consumer market driven by online reviews and social media, increasing employees’ abilities to be authentic and genuine will elicit loyalty and respect.

The Power of Calm The physical and psychological effects of work-related stress experienced by roughly three-fourths of the working population diminish brain power and weaken the immune system. Meditation combats this by supporting the physical body, including the brain and especially its emotional center known as the amygdala, which assigns meaning to experiences.

Instead of the chronic “fight-or-flight” response, meditators experience a healthier “rest-and-digest” reaction. At work, this promotes clearer communication, better decision making, more collaborative efforts, and happier employees.

The Power of Discernment Regular meditation practice improves a person’s ability to detect subtleties, even a psychic ability. This breadth of awareness allows workers to consider the future effect of present actions, avoiding costly and unintended outcomes.

The Power of Work-Life Balance Navigating the divide between work and family responsibilities is a significant challenge. Meditators consistently report feeling greater control of their lives. They are more efficient and inspired to try new things. Meanwhile the deep rest meditation provides keeps them feeling refreshed as they transition from work to home.

LIFE+HEALT H

Yoga and Meditation Prepare Students for

BY JIM KARPEN

t’s a lovely fall morning at the K-12 school on the campus of Maharishi University of Management (MUM) in Fairfield, and Michelle Svenson’s kindergarten students can be seen quietly walking the hall in a line. These students are meditating. They’re practicing a special form of the Transcendental Meditation technique that’s taught to children ages four through ten.

On the same day, the twenty-five students in Steve Nolle’s master’s in computer science course at MUM end their afternoon class at 3:00 p.m. with twenty minutes of Transcendental Meditation.

From kindergarten students to potential PhD candidates, meditation and yoga asanas are part of their daily routine.

Richard Beall, director of the K-12 Maharishi School, says meditation and yoga offer a singular advantage. “It’s something they can take with them and utilize for the rest of their lives.”

He says the practice of Transcendental Meditation helps the students in three ways. It gives them deep rest that dissolves stress, it optimizes brain function, and it helps them discover and cultivate an inner sense of themselves.

While meditation in school has been a staple on campus at MUM since the 1970s, it’s starting to catch on nationwide. Research continues to show the benefits. Since the establishment of the David Lynch Foundation in 2005, many more schools have introduced a Quiet Time program, which entails giving the students two fifteen-minute periods of quiet each day during school hours.

The students can choose their form of quiet, with most of them practicing Transcendental Meditation.

Over 300,000 at-risk students have been instructed in Transcendental Meditation in schools throughout the U.S. and Latin America, and peer-reviewed studies in various schools have found a ten-percent improvement in test scores, an eighty-six-percent reduction in suspensions over a two-year period, a forty-percent reduction in psychological distress (including stress, anxiety and depression), and a sixty-five-percent decrease in violent conflict over a two-year period.

Other measureable benefits include: • • • •

Increased creativity Reduced teacher burnout Greater happiness, focus, and self-confidence A reduction in symptoms of learning disorders, such as ADHD.

The most recent study found greater resilience in the Quiet Time students compared to a control group.

Mindfulness programs are also now increasingly utilized in schools. An organization called Mindful Schools offers online training courses that teach adults how to use mindfulness with students. According to its website, more than 300,000 youth participate in the program. The Hawn Foundation has also created a program called MindUP that teaches students selfregulation and mindful awareness.

While there has been occasional resistance among parents, introducing students to yoga, meditation, and contemplative programs during formative years is clearly on the rise, providing a foundation of awareness for better work/life balance.

learn more

Middle-school and high-school students at the K-12 Maharishi School in Fairfield practice a set of simple yoga asanas as a group in unison before their group meditation period at the beginning and end of the school day.

• FALL 2015

Photo courtesy Lucinda Hall

Quiet Time Program davidlynchfoundation.org/schools Mindful Schools mindfulschools.org MindUP thehawnfoundation.org/mindup/

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Working and Living in

BY DAN STERENCHUK

or many years, I was a workaholic. Spending eighty or more hours per week at work, I was frequently sick and felt exhausted and despondent.

Discovering the benefits of self-care led me to integrate and imbue my personal and professional journey with wholeheartedness.

I’m a consultant, transformative-business and personal-development coach, and the director of program development at The Center for Mind-Body Medicine based in Washington, DC. I’m currently based in Colorado, but connect with a team of colleagues in DC, New York, Virginia, Israel, Gaza, and Haiti. Traveling frequently and working remotely, I rely on the following essential core principles for wholehearted self-care.

Direct Communication and Embracing Conflict

Breathing (Pranayama)

Music and Singing

It’s important throughout the day to take a few minutes to breathe deeply in through the nose and out through the mouth while allowing the abdomen to be soft and relaxed. This simple and effective practice I learned from James S. Gordon, MD, helps your body to relax while you let go of distracting thoughts and allows you to focus your awareness on the present moment. Deep breathing is also a great way to start meetings.

Listen to music and sing, as these meditative activities can help direct your focus to the present moment and encourage you to tap into your deepest emotions and inner wisdom.

Movement Move your body! Movement is crucial to wellness and self-care. Most of us spend significant time in front of the computer and being sedentary. Stretching and standing during meetings or walking around during phone calls keeps your body in motion. Dancing can help to change your mood. Practicing yoga regularly keeps your body in balance. Strength training and proper diet help you stay strong and healthy.

Authenticity and Vulnerability Co-create space within your personal and professional relationships for profound connection, authenticity, and vulnerability. This allows you and others to express a full range of emotions, including joy, sadness, anger, doubt, and gratitude. Authenticity and vulnerability enhance camaraderie and creativity.

Check in regularly with colleagues regarding their non-work lives, including their families, in order to cultivate deeper relationships.

• FALL 2015

The Center for Mind-Body Medicine creates communities of hope and healing using evidence-based strategies for relieving stress, transforming trauma, and promoting lifelong health. Learn more about programs and workshops at CMBM.org.

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If you have an issue with a colleague, address it with him or her directly and promptly without gossiping to others. This is a powerful way to respect your integrity.

Do not avoid conflict: it’s a magical opportunity for profound connection. Honor your agreements! Don’t be afraid to say no, and say yes only to commitments that align with your values and life purpose.

Nature, Travel, and Imagery Being in nature is a powerful way to renew and replenish yourself. Travel is an insightful way to reset and cultivate curiosity and wonder. When you return to the office, use this imagery and visualization to visit places where you felt the greatest peace, groundedness, and connection.

Practice compassion on your self-care journey.

Life is full of mysteries, surprises, challenges, and achievements. Self-care is about practice, not perfection. Be willing to explore new ways to care for yourself. Each moment allow yourself to practice living a wholehearted life with a beginner’s mind and an open heart.

PRAC TI CE

The Pearls of Practice

BY ROBIN BOURJAILY

She wrote a novel. He opened a bed and breakfast. They went on the adventure of a lifetime. He fed the homeless. She walked a marathon. They built a house. People achieve their dreams through grit and determination, through hard work and careful planning, through investing in what they really want, and sometimes, with a little extra luck.

People who embrace mind-body practices have additional tools— purna, sankalpa, and tapas among them. Through meditative practices we are most likely to cultivate the energy we need to realize our deeply held longings.

Rather than express what one should or should not do, a sankalpa connects your impetus to act according to the very core of your energetic being.

A dream articulated is a sankalpa.

Sankalpa, from san meaning highest truth and kalpa meaning vow, is Sanskrit for intention, like a New Year’s resolution. Rather than express what one should or should not do, a sankalpa connects your impetus to act according to the very core of your energetic being. A sankalpa can manifest as a statement about the true nature of the best internal self (e.g., “I am a writer, I am an artist, I serve the needs of other human beings”), or it can recognize the steps needed to reach a specific goal.

With this vision fully in mind, your mind-body practice offers the next tool necessary for realizing the vision: tapas. From the Sanskrit tap, meaning to heat, tapas—one of niyamas or observances—is about sticking to the practice to turn up the heat. You might only be able to commit forty-five minutes a week to pursuing your goals, but holding sacred to that forty-five minutes on your calendar is better than wondering how it can be done. If it’s important, you’ll find the time.

None of this is magic. Your best life can evolve simply by making a commitment to regular practice. Step on the mat, sit in meditation, and dedicate yourself to growing quiet and listening. Once you have an inkling of your deep-rooted dreams, fan the spark and keep your appointments with yourself to manifest your heartfelt desires.

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A consistent personal energy-based practice—such as meditation, yoga, Nia, or T’ai Chi—eases tensions from the body and frees the mind. Given the opportunity to quiet the chatter of to-do lists and obligations, worksite quarrels and family negotiations, the practitioner need not be physically advanced in practice to realize great benefits. Among them is the quality of purna, literally “fullness,” the Sanskrit word for the feeling that you are simultaneously complete, just as you are, and able to exponentially expand. From the seat of this contentment, it’s possible to grow quiet and listen intently. Listening allows you to hear the deepest, most authentic voice within, the one that’s inspired by your unique energy, the one that encourages you to visualize and articulate your dream.

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Enlightened Management ENLIGHTENED LEADERS PAVE THE WAY FOR ORGANIZATIONAL SUCCESS BY ENCOURAGING EMPLOYEES TO DO THE INNER WORK REQUIRED TO PRODUCE THE BEST OUTER WORK. BY KEVIN POKORNY After having a near-death experience at age fifty-eight, Mark T. Bertolini, CEO of Aetna, transformed Aetna’s culture. Because of his belief in the healing power of yoga and meditation, the company now offers free yoga, meditation classes, and other wellness initiatives.

More than twenty-five percent of the company’s 50,000 employees have taken a meditation class. The company tracked results of employees’ participation. What did the results show?

• A significant reduction in perceived stress and sleep difficulties.

• Reduced health care costs.

• Sustained productivity gains.

Executives at Google pondered, “What if people can use contemplative practices to help them succeed in life and at work?”

So in 2007, they launched a company-wide program for engineers that featured a mindfulness-based emotional intelligence curriculum called “Search Inside Yourself.” Led by Chade-Meng Tan, a Google engineer, employees achieved many aspects of personal growth:

• • • • • •

The ability to listen more attentively.

Better control of tempers.

The choice for more quality time for themselves and families.

Noticeable improved credibility with customers.

Greater poise during product demonstrations.

Enhanced creativity.

But here’s the most important point: Google’s top leadership allowed its engineers to use twenty-percent of their time for working on projects outside their core jobs. “Search Inside Yourself” was developed within this twenty percent initiative. Without the commitment from leadership to allow employees to designate workplace productivity in this way, the curriculum may have not been developed.

Luke Kissam, CEO of Albemarle, a multi-billion-dollar chemical company, sought a coach to help him deal with the sense that his life was increasingly overwhelming. He began building breaks into his days and being fully focused and present during time with his family. One morning a week is designated for reflection and longer term thinking. He also writes handwritten notes of appreciation to people within and outside the company. Kissam is recognized for “rethinking of the organization’s practices around meetings, email, flexible working arrangements, conflict resolution, and recognition that focused on energy renewal, value, focus, and purpose.” This approach had quite an impact:

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• FALL 2015

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employees were more focused.

• People are trusted more to do their jobs effectively.

• Managers show more appreciation for employees’ efforts, and

• Profitability increased as a result.

If organizations are serious about incorporating mindfulness practices into the work environment, leaders must believe in mindfulness, practice it authentically, and commit time and resources to it. An organization’s mission isn’t solely about making money. It’s about creating and maintaining a company culture that enables people to be successful in their work and deepening the value of their lives.

LIFE + HEALT H

Are you

or BURNED out?

BY SHEREE CLARK

YOUR ENTHUSIASM HAS EVAPORATED. YOUR PASSION IS PFFFFFT! HOW CAN YOU RECONNECT WITH YOUR CAREER AND YOURSELF? h, burnout. Nature’s way of telling you, “something’s gotta give.”

In medicine, effective treatment of an ailment must be preceded by an accurate diagnosis. Not all burnout is the same, any more than all headaches or backaches are. The source of the trouble holds the key to its remedy, and it’s important to know what’s causing your disorder.

Burnout can stem from one of three general areas, or a combination of the three in varying degrees. The mind, body, and spirit all need to be in balance for peak performance. While balance means different things to each of us at various times, the fact is that balance is fluid: it isn’t something that’s achieved once and kept.

MIND.

Every day we’re expected to perform: generate ideas, solve problems, communicate in a multitude of media. Add to that the array of day-to-day demands we face and it’s a wonder we’re able to get anything done. Burnout in the mind area generally comes from “too much.” Some examples include: • Working too many hours • Self-imposed, unrealistic pressures • Too many projects and details to • Too much “free time,” resulting in keep track of

You may find it helpful to document your feelings and patterns of behavior. Keeping a journal for a month will give you good insight into what may be precipitating your bad days. Try to journal when you first wake up in the morning.

Writing in the morning when your thoughts are not jaded by the day’s events will yield the most insights. Jot down what you ate the evening before and what time you went to bed. How do you feel in general and specifically about the day ahead?

What are you worried about? Looking forward to?

Rate your energy level and your enthusiasm level on a scale from 1-10.

Don’t look at your entries until the entire month has elapsed, then read your journal with an eye toward finding the root of the problem or, at the very least, clues to when it seems worst.

boredom

• Competing priorities

BODY.

As we age, more effort is required to keep our bodies in balance. People in their twenties, for example, have an uncanny ability to “work hard and play hard” with no visible ill effects, while a middle-aged person with a hangover may suffer for two days. Enthusiasm for life is harder to muster up when you don’t feel well, and feeling well means having a healthy body. Burnout that comes from a disconnection with the body typically stems from: • Poor diet • A chronic infection or • Use/abuse of alcohol and drugs, undiagnosed illness including caffeine • Being in an unhealthy environment, • Lack of sleep, lack of sufficient movement such as a “sick building”

SPIRIT.

Not necessarily related to religion or dogma, the spirit area deals with feelings, gut instinct, and intuition. The spirit balance is threatened by: • An atmosphere where integrity is • An environment that is not supportive not valued • People who do not hold the same values • A lack of appreciation • Excessive competition To help yourself figure out the root of your burnout, take the time to make some honest observations. Try to identify the source of your distress by asking yourself some frank questions, such as: • How long have I felt this discomfort?

• Is there a pattern to how I feel Did something seem to trigger it?

• When do I feel poorly? Only at work?

(i.e, is it worse after I eat)?

Or on Monday mornings?

• FALL 2015

All the time?

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PRAC TI CE

yoga at work

BY CONNIE REYNOLDS Imagine you’re at work, facing a project deadline, an important meeting, or an extensive presentation. You feel jittery, moody, dispirited, foggy, fed up, or maybe even bored. You’re always thinking.

The opposite of always thinking is not thinking. You only need a few minutes of not thinking to renew yourself.

Movement can change your energy and help you succeed.

Never expect anything from your practice. Wanting creates tension. Simply move in these easy ways before proceeding with the task at hand.

Moody, irritable, or fed up?

Use progressive relaxation balanced with steady creativity. Tense and then completely relax the following one at a time: face, shoulders, arms, hands, buttocks, and legs. Close your eyes and hold awareness on the third eye in the middle of your forehead for 3-5 minutes. Breathe. Now your creative juices will flow. Using paper and pen, write down your complaints on one side and solutions on the other. Write fast with no judgment.

Feeling defeated?

The world can wait for you. Seek quiet. Close your eyes and close out the world. Inhale and let your belly relax and expand. Find your power there. Exhale and pull your belly in gently but firmly to relax your mind. Repeat the sequence 10 times. Remember who you really are.

Sluggish or tired?

Increase the blood flow to your brain. Circle your shoulders forward then back for a minute or two.

Then, with your arms open at shoulder level, exhale and squeeze your arms in, bending at the elbows with your fists into your chest. Inhale, opening your arms out from your chest. Do this 10 times. Next, while in Mountain Pose, arms at your sides, turn your palms out, inhale, and bring your arms above your head. Then, turn your palms down, exhale, lower your arms to your sides. Repeat five times. Now move into Kapalabhati Pranayama, or Skull Shining Breath: inhale, then thrust your belly in with short burst of outward breath. Passively inhale, then exhale sharply again. Do this for 10-20 rounds. Open your eyes wide and remember your intentions.

Jittery or nervous?

• FALL 2015

Breathe slowly, with no friction within the nostrils.

With each exhale, release the creases from your forehead and soften your eyes, face, and jaw. Forward bends help you focus inward, so stand behind your chair, bend from your hips, and place your forearms on back of chair, then lower your forehead on your arms. Each time you exhale, let your forehead sink more into your arms and release tension from your spine. If necessary, try this technique with your arms on a wall, head to arms. Re-establish your intentions for the day.

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COVER S TOR Y

Yoga for

EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES EMBRACE A CULTURE OF WELLNESS THROUGH MINDFULNESS, YOGA, MEDITATION, AND FOCUSED NUTRITION. RESEARCH CONTINUES TO SUPPORT TANGIBLE BENEFITS, SOME OF WHICH INCLUDE INCREASED EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, REDUCED HEALTH CARE COSTS, IMPROVED CLARITY, AND THE ABILITY TO MAKE MORE PROGRESSIVE CHOICES AT WORK AND AT HOME. IOWA PROFESSIONALS REPRESENTING A VARIETY OF INDUSTRIES SHARE THEIR INSIGHT AS TO WHY THESE HEALTHFUL PRACTICES HELP THEM ASCEND IN THEIR CAREERS AND SUSTAIN A BETTER WORK-LIFE BALANCE. BY TRACEY L. KELLEY

Photo by Kerri Hayes

PHOTOS BY KERRI HAYS AND LORI JAYNE CARLSON

Andrew D. Nish, M.D.

INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGIST AND MEDICAL DIRECTOR OF THE JOHN STODDARD CANCER CENTER AT IOWA RADIOLOGY AND UNITYPOINT, DES MOINES Yoga instilled in me a sense of calm and patience, and taught me to practice this in the midst of urgency—and sometimes chaos—associated with my medical practice. It’s given me the ability to manage stressful situations in a much calmer, more calculated, and thoughtful way.

Yoga made me a more patient, humble person and allowed me to appreciate that just practicing every day without preconceived goals is okay. As my yoga instructor James Miller says, “Your practice is not good or bad, it just is.” This philosophy is completely counterintuitive to how I have lived my entire life. My life has always been about competing, with others and with myself. How can just practicing without goals of perfection be satisfying?

Yoga taught me that just being and practicing is okay, and this philosophy was transformative.

At the Stoddard Cancer Center, we have realized the benefits of yoga and meditation and incorporate these practices into the treatment paradigm of our patients to help them manage the stress and pain associated with cancer treatment. In my opinion, this may transform how we think of cancer care, not just drugs, radiation, and procedures, but also care of the soul and spirit.

I cannot speak of the practice of yoga without also speaking of the importance of a wellnourished body. You cannot hope to maximize the benefits of yoga and meditation without optimal nutrition. Optimal nutrition does not come from a factory, box, or package. It comes from the ground in the form of fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, and fresh pasture-raised meats and eggs. Without good nutrition, complete wellness is unobtainable.

• FALL 2015

NO LONGER CONSIDERED FRINGE PRACTICES, MORE

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COVER STOR Y

Francis Thicke CO-OWNER, RADIANCE DAIRY, FAIRFIELD

I learned meditation in college over forty years ago. I noticed immediate benefits of clearing and sharpening my mind for learning as a student. Since then, I served for a time in the federal government, and my most recent occupation has been that of a full-time farmer for the past twenty-three years.

• FALL 2015

Another benefit I have noticed over the years is that turning my mind inward during meditation seems to have contributed to development of my intuition. As an organic farmer who tries to organize my farm in harmonization with nature’s ecological processes, day-to-day farming decisions involve as much art as science. Intuitive insights into how nature organizes and coordinates her functions help me be more creative, innovative, and successful in the management of my farm.

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Photo by Lori Jayne Carlson

The benefits of mediation have been multifold for me. After a long day of work, I find that meditation recharges me, both physically and mentally. Meditation also seems to have contributed to the good health I have enjoyed over the years.

COVER S TOR Y

Kara M. Sinnard MEMBER ATTORNEY, WHITFIELD & EDDY, PLC, DES MOINES

The practice of law is very much a backward- and forward-looking career.

My day is filled with assisting clients with situations that have already happened or planning to avoid the worst possible future outcomes.

Yoga assisted me in learning to adjust my emotional reactions to otherwise seemingly impossible situations. By moving and breathing through discomfort in a yoga posture, you learn patience and perseverance to continue, while being content with where you are in the present. Difficult yoga poses help me to be focused and grounded in the present, to be prepared for what will come next, and to keep the uncertainty of the future from being a personal burden. By having less of an emotion attachment to stressors, it’s easier to be content with what I have and where I am in my career.

Less stress at the office means I carry less stress home, and being more efficient at work translates to more time spent with my family. Being healthy is an important part of my household, so I am often with my husband and son on walks, kayaking, SUPing, or trying some other activity, like rock climbing. Also, my son is now practicing yoga with me on a regular basis, so it’s something we can do together.

Yoga helps me stay calm, be fully engaged in my career, and allows for personal happiness. One thing is certain: each work day and each yoga practice will be different.

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zero residue zero worries

• FALL 2015

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I became a registered yoga teacher so I could share the physical experience in a particular asana, and the benefits yoga has given me beyond the physical asana.

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COVE R STOR Y

Joseph Sulentic LECTURER, THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, IOWA CITY

My wife introduced me to yoga about twenty years ago. I have been involved with the martial arts, the main focus being Tae Kwon Do, since I was fourteen and never really understood stretching until my yoga practice began. Hot yoga also helped me with motor racing because I could always maintain my composure in the car during the long races. It was often 100 degrees or higher in the car, and you’re wearing a three-layer fireproof suit, full-face helmet, and long underwear! Ninety-minute hot yoga classes enable calm in the midst of an elevated body temperature.

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• FALL 2015

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Let us guide you on your Fitness Journey!

Visit our website for a Complimentary Class Pass for a Yoga, Strength, HIIT, or Pilates Mat class.

I believe yoga is an effective way to improve concentration and, through conscious awareness of the breath, a means to reduce stress.

Yoga boosts the immune system by keeping our bodies in alignment.

Why would we not want to engage in a natural practice that improves our mental and physical health? Yoga is also “me” time that improves not only my life, but the lives of my family and those around me, because it results in a better version of me.

Photo by Lori Jayne Carlson

4715 Grand Ave ~ Des Moines

In my entrepreneurship classes at The University of Iowa, I instill the notion to my students that entrepreneurs need every advantage they can get. Successful entrepreneurs use intuition to give them a feeling for what their customers might like or what direction the market is heading. At the conclusion of a yoga class, lying in Savasana (Corpse Pose) opens you to the energy flows of the universe and by consequence, improves your intuition.

COVE R STOR Y

SHAKTI YOGA SHOP PRESENTS W ORLD RENOWNED TEACHER AND AUTHOR

Adam Hammes SPEAKER, AUTHOR, AND CONSULTANT, ECOFLUENCE, DES MOINES Meditation and yoga keep me focused, less reactive, and connected to my emotional body. Those things feed my creativity, effectiveness with people, efficiency with time, and happiness. I started practicing over fifteen years ago, so it’s difficult to describe the profound impact it had on my life and success. It’s easier to share a story of when I stopped practicing.

JANUARY 29-31, 2016

In 2010, I was working on a non-profit I founded. On the cushion and mat, I set an intention to become a corporate sustainability professional—a positive force for change in industry. I was soon hired at Kum & Go as their first manager of sustainability, realizing a big life goal.

I got busy learning how to adapt to corporate America. I gave less attention to the practices that brought me success. I missed yoga and meditations, a feeling that reinforced my belief that “I didn’t have time.” I became more reactive, distracted, and inefficient with my time. I pulled back from community activities. I focused on “work.”

My community finally encouraged me to practice more.

As a result, I started seeing the patterns of thoughts and feelings running my life. In 2014, I gave my two weeks.

Immediately, I launched two new projects: the Iowa Sustainable Business Forum and A Garden for Every School.

I started a consulting business, wrote a best-selling book, and began speaking at conferences.

Now I try to practice daily, and things have never been better—for my career, my relationships, and my life.

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• FALL 2015

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L I FE + H EALT H

Taught by Libby Trausch, DPT, a DMU physical therapist trained in Medical Therapeutic Yoga

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Employee Wellness to Wellbeing ON-SITE YOGA PROGRAMS HELP KEEP EMPLOYEES HAPPY AND FOCUSED. BY EMILY EPPENS Some Iowa employers recognize their employees lead busy lives. They understand that in the midst of a busy work week, their employees need a little time to reconnect with themselves, so they’ve created easy access to wellness.

PhYsioYoga 102 For those with some yoga experience Tuesdays, 4:30-5:15 pm November 3-December 15 $50 for 6 weeks (no class Nov 24)

Meredith Corporation Tim O’Neil, the wellness manager at

Meredith Corporation in Des Moines, says its wellness program started in 2006 and offers about 200 free fitness classes for employees and their partners.

PhYsioYoga 101 and 102 will also be offered in January Register at www.dmu.edu/clinic/physical-therapy

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The yoga classes Meredith offers include power yoga, deep relaxation, and mindfulness. Classes are given in 20-minute sessions on Mondays through Fridays over the lunch hour, 2:30 pm, 4:30 pm, and 5:30 pm. Classes range anywhere between 3 to 20 people. “The classes have been very well received,” O’Neil says. The company also offers a 100-dollar reimbursement should an employee decide to take yoga classes elsewhere.

“We know our employees are a valuable resource and understand that when you have access to what is healthy and good for you, these things help you work your best,” O’Neil says. “We want employees to live happy and healthier lives now up through retirement.” O’Neil says the classes not only give the employees a nice break from the work day, but also allow them to connect with other employees.

ACT The staff at ACT in Iowa City is making sure a health routine is easily

accessible to their employees. The wellness program at ACT started in February 2012, and it’s only been a couple months since their new wellness center building opened its doors. As a company with around 1,000 employees, ACT wants them working and feeling their best.

In the past, the ACT yoga program was organized by employees who were certified yoga teachers and also with student instructors from the University of Iowa. Currently, the company embraces a more “freestyle” approach to yoga, meaning employees are welcome to practice in the way they please. Class is held for 30 minutes in the 8,000-square-foot facility over the lunch period at no charge to employees. A generic form of yoga is practiced and accompanied by a few minutes of self-meditation. Fitness-On-Demand, a virtual approach to group fitness, is used for classes. Some employees also bring their own yoga DVDs and form their own personal yoga groups.

“Employees shouldn’t have to leave their health goals when they come to work,” says Sandy Stewart, the ACT wellness manager. “Anything we can do to get people to be active at work is beneficial. You go back to work refreshed and stay in your health routine at work.” ACT hopes to eventually have a yoga instructor for its program.

More Organizations Taking Lead

• FALL 2015

Many companies establish comprehensive wellness programs because they reduce healthcare costs, which is often the largest growing expense after payroll. Other companies tout whole employee wellness as a reflection of company culture.

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A number of other organizations in Iowa set aside space and resources to provide employees with yoga and meditation. Des Moines University, Principal Financial Group, Mercy Medical Center, August Home Publishing, Drake University, The University of Iowa, and DuPont Pioneer are just a few major companies that recognize the benefits of on-site wellness.

T RANS FORM AT IVE T RAVEL

Life Begins

me s I Brought Hoons Three Greatest y,GiI ft reflect on particular life less .

After each amazing journe

us. It’s only by working #1: None of us is as good as all of h anything of value. plis together with others that we accom re. Courage is not the #2: Courage is grace under pressu we use our fear to help us absence of fear. Courage is how n. generate creativity and compassio wth. It’s the difficult things #3: Adversity leads to personal gro selves. ut our in life that teach us the most abo

oment Most MemorabmolemeM nts, I’ll always remember a

Photos courtesy of Dr. Richard L. Deming

limbing a mountain is a metaphor that many cancer survivors use to describe their cancer journey. Most survivors come through it with a new perspective on life. They learn a lot about themselves, gain confidence, and experience a deep sense of gratitude for having been given a second chance. In the process, they also acquire courage and a desire to live life fully with passion and purpose.

As an oncologist, I’ve learned so much about life by witnessing the transformation that occurs when individuals and families face a diagnosis. Cancer becomes a mountain to climb, but it also becomes a teacher and a catalyst to changing one’s life.

Because of this transformation, I was inspired to launch Above + Beyond Cancer, a public charity with a mission to elevate the lives of those touched by cancer to create a healthier world. Since 2011, Above + Beyond Cancer has taken cancer survivors, caregivers, and advocates on life-changing adventures around the globe.

Our first mind-body-spirit journey was to the mountains of Nepal. We’ve also scaled more than 19,000 feet of Mount Kilimanjaro, explored Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas, and our most recent adventure in September 2015 was a mission trip to Tibet. Most of the cancer survivors on these quests were not mountain climbers. Most of them had never been athletes and had never pursued such a difficult physical challenge. They were not on the journey because they had always wanted to climb a mountain. They joined the trek because of the courage and confidence gained on their cancer journey and a deep desire to reach above and beyond what they had ever imagined possible.

On the mountain, labels fall away quickly. The world is not a dichotomy of survivors and caregivers. We all share the same path. Adventurers range in age from twenty to over seventy, and are survivors of many types of cancer. They come from diverse backgrounds, such as a Catholic priest, nurse, grade-school teacher, chef, guidance counselor, attorney, army officer, and college professor.

To date, each group consists of fifteen to twenty intrepid survivors, and there are numerous stories of faith, perseverance, joy, and determination. Ruth, sixty-four, hiking with a full backpack and a single hiking pole. Justin, twenty-eight, serenading us with his guitar all the way up the mountain. Mike, forty-four, making his journey of survival while recalling the loss of his mother to cancer. Father Frank, seventy-two, offering communion from a makeshift altar decorated with Buddhist symbols. Cindi, fifty-five, climbing out of her comfort zone and beyond her fear of heights into a sacred space.

We always return to Iowa with enhanced self-knowledge and a greater appreciation for life. The journeys have enriched our lives with a deeper sense of confidence and compassion. Now, more than ever, we choose to live our lives fully engaged and passionately committed.

No matter how many days we have left on earth, we do have today. It’s only by reaching for something that’s above and beyond what you think is possible that you have any idea what you can accomplish.

Above + Beyond Cancer is a non-profit organization that provides cancer survivors with adventures that challenge them physically while broadening their understanding of global cultures and fostering their personal growth. Read their inspirational stories at aboveandbeyondcancer.org.

have a yogic trip to share?

E-MAIL US AT EDITORS@YOGA-IOWA.COM

• FALL 2015

BY DR. RICHARD L. DEMING

Out of many incredible summited Imja Tse in the day from our first trip, before we erican Cancer Society Himalayas. Our group held an Am We had carried a camp.

Relay for Life ceremony at base flags with us from Iowa. yer thousand brightly colored pra ry of someone who had Each flag was decorated in memo honor of someone still lost his or her life to cancer or in utiful cloudless morning, undergoing treatment. On a bea as they soared above the we let the flags burst into the sky inding us of our common mountains and the campsite, rem bond and our higher purpose.

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COM MU N I TY + FAM ILY

GET TO KNOW PATRICK STERENCHUK

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Balanced personal training

Listen to your boundaries Personal Development

Self-directed life coaching

Discover your barriers to holistic wellness

Progressive Personal Development Kevin Peterson BS. LMT. CPT

515.829.9477

1239 73rd St. Suite J Windsor Heights IA 50324 petersonholisticservices.com

Where do you teach? I am not tied to any one studio, but Body & Soul Wellness Center and Spa in Dubuque is the one I would call home.

Favorite yoga pose: Laughter Yoga can be, and often is, a very energetic, aerobic workout, and it’s very important to give ourselves permission to be actively, consciously still and invite ease. This is why I love Savasana (Corpse pose). I see it as the necessary yin to the yang of the laughter exercises. Also, I count hugs as yoga poses!

Something you splurge on: Theater, movies, and music. I do love Lily’s chocolate bars. They’re stevia sweetened, but you wouldn’t know it.

They’re wonderful!

What makes your style of teaching unique? As a student, I was

You have some interesting tips to help people focus on being happy and reducing stress. What are they? · Be easy with yourself, and be easy with others. · Celebrate the joys and triumphs of others with great fervor. Really make their happiness your happiness. · Use conscious breathing exercises. · Meditate. In whatever way works for you, meditate daily. · Dance, sing, play every day! · Cultivate awe and wonder. Let the world be brand new and magical. · Set your dreams/Set your day. Go to bed counting your blessings, and get up counting your blessings. · Laugh more. Find a Laughter Yoga class (or call me!). Watch funny videos.

Whatever works for you. Laugh more every day.

What inspires and motivates you? I’m inspired by the people I meet every single day. More specifically, I’m motivated by the joy I experience in my work, witnessing the brilliance and self-healing of the ones I serve.

• FALL 2015

How has the yoga philosophy resonated with you? Yoga reminds us that we are already whole, and every experience of healing, wisdom, joy, enlightenment, and so on is simply the remembering of this truth.

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Upcoming highlights: In the next two years, I’ll release a couple of books, as well as launch a tour and documentary film.

One thing most people don’t know about you: While teaching in Japan, I watched one of my colleagues bend a spoon, just like Yuri Geller used to do. Cooler? With a little prompting from him, I did it, too.

Photo by Kirstin Pope

the irreverent class clown, the good boy, the smart kid, and the kid who questioned everything. This is probably a good way to describe the kind of atmosphere I like to create for my classes and workshops. We can have a deeply profound experience while relaxing and having fun. That’s the kind of class I like to take and the kind I like to facilitate.

LIFE + HEALT H

with healing touch

ow you experience stress is based primarily on your perspective of the stressor. Positive stress, often referred to as eustress, encourages motivation and helps you handle major changes or challenges, such as a embarking on a new business venture, getting married, or successfully lifting into King Scorpion pose for the first time after hundreds of falls. Often a short-term sensation, eustress prompts optimal performance.

Distress is a reaction to negative stressors that drain your energy, mental capacity, and ability to cope. You’re in a heightened state of “fight or flight.”

If you experience chronic long-term distress, it settles into your body—and stays there.

The resulting symptoms may include muscle and joint tension, brain fog, anxiety, irritability, disease, and immunity issues. Many yoga instructors remind students that “issues are in the tissues,” and your mind and spirit remain trapped until you have physical release. Yoga and meditation provide a foundation for stress relief, but bodywork moves deeper to reveal your best self. There are numerous modalities that may help.

Zachary Hoover is co-owner of The Family Tree Yoga and Massage in Des Moines. He specializes in myofascial release therapy (MRT), a hands-on technique without oils or creams that involves gentle sustained pressure into the myofascial connective tissue restrictions to eliminate pain and restore motion. Myo means muscle, and fascia means connective tissue. “Everything in our body is supported by and linked to connective tissue,” Hoover says.

“So when something happens to one part of the body, the rest of the body is inherently affected.”

He says stress has an emotional, mental, and physical effect on the body. As a result, the fascia loses its pliability, becomes restricted, and creates a source of tension. MRT can help you not only relieve symptoms, but also that source.

“In this way, the therapist helps you understand how your body responds to stress and learn how to self-correct in stressful situations,” says Hoover. He’s also used MRT to help yoga practitioners undo particular body patterns and improve breath capacity.

Structural integration, or the Rolf Method, is another stress-relieving modality. Created by Dr. Ida Rolf in the 1940s, it also addresses fascial tension. Therapist Frank Epstein, owner of Rolf Method Bodywork in Des Moines, says this method “rebalances muscles and manipulates fascia. It creates a more fluid movement pattern by balancing your body in the field of gravity.” Epstein says structural integration promotes better body awareness to subtlety, “which helps to eliminate stress and also enables you to be more adaptable in your daily life, whether walking, playing a sport, or expanding your yoga practice.”

Blair Pieczynski, owner of Davenport Acupuncture, says acupuncture reduces the effect stress has on your sympathetic nervous system. “This ancient Chinese healing modality uses extremely thin needles inserted at specific points in the body located along meridians, or pathways,” she says.

“Acupuncture communicates with your central nervous system to address a wide variety of issues, including pain, hormonal or emotional imbalance, sleep problems, and anxiety.”

Pieczynski considers acupuncture to be a good companion to yoga and meditation as a way to reduce stress. “Acupuncture signals the adrenal glands to decrease the production of stress hormones,” she says. “It’s important to give the body a rest to recover from the ‘fight or flight’ response.”

Consider these other stress-reducing modalities • Aromatherapy: the use of essential oils to promote • • • • • • • • • • •

wellness Autogenics: the method of self-directed relaxation using suggestions to create feelings of heaviness and warmth in the body Bioenergy: light physical touch to re-pattern higher energy bodies and chakras Champissage: the Ayurvedic method of head and upper body massage Floatation Therapy: the practice of floating in salt water to balance the nervous system Pranayama: breath focus techniques, including alternate nostril, visualization, and reduced respirations Progressive Muscle Relaxation: sequential release of muscle tension through active and passive actions Qi-Gong: a combination of timed breathing, flowing movement, and often hands-on techniques designed to better cultivate and balance qi, or life force Reiki: a form of spiritual healing and selfimprovement Sound Therapy: the use of sound to realign natural body rhythms.

Thai Massage: a mat-based manipulation involving peripheral stimulation to produce internal effects along key points in the body Yoga Therapy: the application of yoga techniques and practices to help individuals manage health conditions

• FALL 2015

BY TRACEY L. KELLEY

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Yoga for men

BY ZAPLIN VERMIE

Our society relies significantly upon our hardworking minds.

To neglect the stabilizing component of your body in the process, however, can prove to be a remarkable oversight. Yoga exists as a functional technology available to everyone for increased physical and mental wellbeing. Through movement and breathwork, we increase our organisms’ eliminative, reproductive, digestive, and respiratory functionalities, greatly enhancing our cognitive capabilities of relating and communicating with our body, mind, and world. For these reasons, I’ve personally found the practice of yoga to elevate the likelihood of my comfortable enjoyment of and success in life.

Two Rivers Acupuncture & Bodyworks

Shortly after college, I agreed to work my mind alongside most Americans as a freewheeling desk jockey. Nine months later, I was in chronic physical pain and rather mentally depressed. Because it

BY ZAPLIN VERMIE became evident that I never successfully mastered the art of sitting easefully, I began exploring the effects of subtle movements with my body and breath to compensate for daily discomfort.

“I noticed a difference from the very first session” Melissa Harris, Yoga Teacher

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B

After four years of consistent practice, I was blessed to teach yoga alongside a fellow practitioner at the workplace. The temporary results of increased circulation, cellular detoxification, and mental calm were acknowledged immediately by participants. Dietary choices changed for some, especially when they intended to join class. “Increased energy levels,” “more efficient elimination,” “feeling adequately rested,” and “a balanced sense of well-being” were among the remarks of returning students. And just in time! Within two years my job became obsolete and I faced the beautiful synchronicity of my shifting trajectory. Suddenly out of one market and into another, with the help of my students I utilized the uncertainty of unemployment to successfully transition into teaching yoga full time.

B

STUDIO

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• FALL 2015

It’s because of such simple yet organic dynamism that I enthusiastically encourage everyone to practice yoga. Through a consistent and intelligent practice, you’ll nourish your strengths while equally tending your weaknesses, empowering you to find easefulness and balance anywhere, essentially drawing success to you.

YOGA

6 Modules of Growth & Development starts 11/13/15!

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Within three months of consistent yoga practice, I could maintain a comfortable circulation throughout my body all day without discomfort. Within one year, I witnessed my productivity at work quadruple. Ironically, I was then offered other duties which allowed me to log a few more footsteps around the office. As my ability to balance my energetic exertion increased, I noticed renewed endurance throughout my day and in life generally. Eventually, I scaled back my ambitious mental output and actually saved energy to nourish other areas of my life.

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Although introduced to yoga in my youth, I was initially reluctant to join my roommate for a yoga class. But afterward I felt so physically relaxed and mentally refreshed, I was inspired to understand how to evoke such equipoise. I kept pursuing my growing practice, determined that one day I would honestly leave work feeling the same, or similar, as when I arrived.

on our

MAXIMIZE YOUR POTENTIAL FOR SUCCESS WITH THESE INSIGHTFUL GUIDES.

3rd Annual | April 15 - 18, 2016 At the Hyatt Regency Downtown - Minneapolis, MN

Mindful Work: How Meditation is Changing Business from the Inside Out

by David Gelles A staff writer for the New York Times Sunday Business section and a seasoned meditator, Gelles uses this book to identify the nexus of business and mindful practices, highlighting the practical benefits.

Introducing Kia Miller 2016 Premier Presenter

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Daily Yoga Workshops with National + Local Teachers • Yoga Marketplace Opening Keynote + Festivities • Business of Yoga Intensive • Ecstatic Dance • Bodywork

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Showkeir Yoga teacher and workplace consultant Maren Showkeir incorporates concepts from the Eight Limbs of yoga for a more productive workplace. She features examples from law enforcement, banking, and more.

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Stress-Free Sustainability: Leverage Your Emotions, Avoid Burnout, and Influence Anyone by Adam Hammes Hammes outlines a framework to accomplish priority targets, aspects of advocacy, and levels of influence. A portion of book sales is donated to Net Impact and the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

Search Inside Yourself: The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (and World Peace) by Chade-Meng Tan Meng, the innovative Google engineer and personal growth guide, focuses on health, happiness, and creativity to improve livelihood and productivity in business and beyond.

When you advertise in YogaIowa, you are immersing your company, product or service into Iowa’s thriving, conscious, active community of dedicated yoga practitioners. YogaIowa readers are passionate supporters of local businesses.

Whether you are a new company, a small business, or an established business, our trained staff is ready to raise your profile to the influential YogaIowa audience, and help you optimize your advertising budget that aligns with your strategies, goals and vision.

Real Happiness at Work: Meditations for Accomplishment, Achievement, and Peace

by Sharon Salzberg In this follow-up to her best seller Real Happiness, Salzberg, co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society, establishes resources to enhance creativity, organization, and stress management.

Stress Less. Achieve More: Simple Ways to Turn Pressure into a Positive Force in Your Life by Aimee Bernstein Bernstein is a psychotherapist and leadership coach. This book is crafted to tap into positive stress, or eustress, and use that energy to calmly achieve.

for the Winter 2016 issue Space Reservations: December 4 Materials Due: December 11 Publish Date: January 20 YogaIowa is a quarterly publication. A total of 10,000 copies are distributed each issue, reaching an estimated 23,000 readers all over the state.

View the distribution list online at yoga-iowa.com.

• FALL 2015

IOWA AUTHOR!

Yoga Wisdom at Work: Finding Sanity Off the Mat and On the Job by Maren Showkeir and Jamie

To place an ad or for more information, contact Ron Klipfel at ads@yoga-iowa.com or 515-554-4686.

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Exquisite malas, made from sacred rudraksha seeds, steeped in tradition, full of contemporary beauty and bliss.

RE STAU RANT REVIEW

pleasures at the table PRAIRIE CANARY • GRINNELL

Bali Malas

www.balimalas.com

THE ROLF METHOD

BEFORE

AFTER

The Rolf Method is both technique & the art of connective tissue manipulation which realigns and rebalances the major segments of the body and releases chronic muscle tension and pain.

rebalance

Of Structural Integration

Frank Epstein BA, LMT, CNMT, NCTMB 274-3417

• FALL 2015

www.rolfmethodbodywork.com

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t feels like we just went out of town for a date,” say Neal and Barb Van Ersvelde, who sit behind me at Prairie Canary Restaurant and Bar in Grinnell. We had started talking after they inquired why I was taking notes about the food I was enjoying. Neighborly friendliness is very much the charm of Iowa, and yet we were sharing the same experience of being transported. The high ceilings, crown molding, and modern light fixtures remind me of dining in San Francisco where I grew up.

Sliding glass doors that open to a breezeway for outside seating on Main Street bring me back to the Upper East Side of New York City Prairie Canary where people laugh, dine, and sip wine at Restaurant and Bar sidewalk restaurants during the spring and 924 Main St. summer months.

Grinnell, IA 50112 In the heart of Grinnell’s cute downtown, 641-236-0205 Prairie Canary combines class and theprairiecanary.com professionalism with a serene environment.

Vegetarian yogis can easily join their meat-eating friends here, as veggie options are as plentiful and unique as the meat dishes.

A signature salad is a great way to start. The kale salad has hints of orange and ginger that keep it crisp and fresh, while the apple salad is a perfect blend of flavors and textures. The Canary salad is the restaurant staple and a customer favorite, featuring greens, sunflower seeds, and tomatoes dotted with apricot dill dressing.

My first choice among the appetizers is fried brussel sprouts with chili lime dipping sauce. The sprouts have the right amount of crunch with a perfect kick of flavor from the sauce. If you’re in the mood for soup, order the kale and spinach soup, which is rich and buttery, and a heavenly alternative to broccoli cheddar— comforting without being heavy.

Entrées range from classic vegetarian dishes, such as a grilled portabella burger and various pastas, to new and bright ideas like the vegetable and goat cheese crepe or the grilled cheese and jam. Even the portabella burger is not how you’ve seen it before, with naan bread as the bun and brie to add a burst of flavor. The sophisticated twist in the grilled cheese and jam is great if you are craving savory and sweet with the buttery goodness of artisan bread. The vegetable and goat cheese crepe is created from quinoa, and this entrée is definitely for the pesto lover.

All entrées are satisfyingly filling. I recommend planning ahead to take half your entrée home in a doggy bag, so that you’ll have room for the flourless chocolate tarte—a soft, warm, and gooey chocolate dessert with the perfectly tangy bite of raspberry glaze.

Enhance your meal with a crisp cocktail from the full bar and there you have it: a little escape to enjoy with a friend, a loved one, or just yourself for a time to reflect and delight in the little pleasures that our home state has to offer.

Photos by Olivia Kvitne

BY OLIVIA KVITNE

COM M U NIT Y +HEAD FAM ILY ER

BY LISA ACHESON

Today my main gig is teaching yoga, but I still do other work using skills from former careers. I’m grateful to feel grounded, appreciative, and balanced when it comes to each and every job I have today. I know yoga has been a big part of that. For this issue on careers and yoga, we asked our teachers across the state:

“What is (or was) your ‘other’ career in addition to yoga? And, how does yoga impact your professional life?”

KARA YAHN

BALANCE HOT YOGA CEDAR FALLS

I work as an executive assistant, which includes a lot of work from home so it balances well with my teaching. Working in sales is such a stressful environment, and yoga helped me balance my work and personal life.

This is how I came up with the name of my studio: Balance Hot Yoga. I made it an absolute must to attend three to four classes a week. Yoga helped clear my mind, distress me, and challenge me physically. It’s something that I will continue to do as long as I’m around.

JULIE FARMER HARMONY YOGA CEDAR RAPIDS

A year ago, I began working as a sales manager for a continuing care retirement community. My yoga training helps me appreciate the values and the methods this retirement community employs. It’s clearly created a mind, body, and spirit approach to the environment.

It’s a pleasure to represent this community in the sales meetings as I educate prospective residents.

Our time together is relaxed and I encourage them to listen to their internal voice of wisdom to make their choices.

COLEEN HUGHES TWISTED ROOT YOGA STUDIO DUBUQUE

I co-own Twisted Root Yoga Studio and teach yoga classes there three to four times a week. I’m also a massage therapist, giving massages at the studio on a flexible schedule.

However, I always say that my “real” job is a high-school biology teacher at Hempstead High School, where I teach at-risk students.

Because of the practice of yoga, I find that when I’m in the classroom teaching biology with students that have all sorts or issues, excuses, or reactions, I often use my yoga skills. I take a breath or three and calm myself so that nothing escalates and then ask, “What do they need?”

It helps me create better relationships with students. Because of yoga, I reflect a lot more on my teaching than before.

Please submit your questions for Ask the Teacher to editors@yogaiowa.com.

greenmamasoaps.com

• FALL 2015

embrace local / natural / vegan homemade / amazing

DESMOINESFARMERSMARKET.COM 23

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I am, too. I can’t imagine doing anything else for a living.

That’s why it bothers me when I hear people say that yoga is a bad career choice.

It hasn’t been for me.

I started teaching yoga professionally in 1997 when I was 26 years old, and I haven’t done anything else JAMES MILLER, Founder since. It hasn’t always been Adamantine® Yoga easy. It took me years to figure out a better way to build a sustainable income. But I found that the better I served my students, the better I was taken care of.

I created Adamantine® Yoga for two reasons: to empower yoga practitioners with a better way to practice, and to give yoga teachers a new business model that would allow for them to thrive.

Adamantine® Yoga gives yoga teachers a new business model that allows for them to thrive.

I’ve spent the last three years in a new community, Des Moines, Iowa, proving that my methods work. I started out with only four students and my studio was in my living room. In less than one year my business had grown to over 50 members and I opened the doors to the first ever Adamantine® Yoga studio.

I now generate well over $100K a year teaching just five hours a day. Few yoga teachers anywhere can make that claim. And even better, I can show you exactly how to duplicate my success.

My name is James Miller and I am the Founder of Adamantine® Yoga. I believe that if you’re not making a living teaching yoga it’s not yoga’s fault, it’s the way you’re teaching it.

Let me show you a better way.

• FALL 2015

For more information on how you can begin a career teaching Adamantine® Yoga please contact me at james@adamantineyoga.com

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