courtney tramel moksha

ALZHEIMER’S HOW MEDITATION WILL

HELP WITH THE LONG GOODBYE

the power ofMEDITATION

i n t e r v i e w s e r i e sHEIDI KRISTOFFER

10 POSES YOURbody & soul will love

Erin, from Naturallyella.com, has finally found the tastiest grilled cheese ever, the Pistachio-Parsley grilled Talleggio Cheese sandwhich.text Erin Alderson photography Erin Alderson

Heidi Kristoffer is a yoga teacher in New York City. Her yoga is about laughter while challenging yourself. She was a blog where she posts vegan recipes.text Jane McCoy photography Jim Arnold

Join the movement with everyone else to take the challenge. Engage communities throughout the world to raise awareness and donations.text Jenny Memmot photography Canden Schow

National Parks are the jewels of the United States. Getting outdoors will rejuvenate your spirit and enlighten your soul.text Marsha Newns photography Nicklaus Pipit

2 MOKSHAMAGAZINE.COM

table of contentsFeatures12 The Long Goodbye

06The Perfect Grilled Cheese

10interview: Heidi Kristoffer

08Off the Mat Into the World

18Rejuvenating National Parks

The story of how Alzheimer’s has stolen Sarah Mar-tin’s mom and how meditation has helped cope with the loss and heal her soul.text Jerald Winakur photography Tiff Sherwood

11In celebration of the all great work the Alzheimer’s Association has done. Moksha featured one of their stories for our feature. For more information on Alzheimer’s please visit www.alz.org.

MOKSHAMAGAZINE.COM 5

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14 Reflection of PeaceThe guided meditation practice yoga nidra can help you come back to center in 10 easy stepsBY KATERINE GRIFFIN

36 Flowing PracticesA daily practices of Sun Salu-tations connects you with the world and lets peace and well-ness radiate from withinBY KYLEE COPELAND

36 Flowing PracticesA daily practices of Sun Salu-tations connects you with the world and lets peace and well-ness radiate from withinBY KYLEE COPELAND

54 A Beautiful MindWant to find inner calm? Choose the right mediation technique for you. BY ADRIENNE SCHOW

58 Calm Your SensesPeace is yours when you draw the senses inward.BY BONNIE HUTCHINGS

65 Calm Your SensesPeace is yours when you draw the senses inward.BY BONNIE HUTCHINGS

62 Rethink YourselfLink poses to positive thoughts, and see real changes in your life.BY SHIVA REA

67 Rethink YourselfLink poses to positive thoughts, and see real changes in your life.BY SHIVA REA

46 Catch the WaveLet your body and mind flow like water, always seeking the path of ease. BY KAREN MINSHALL

42 Moon ShineGet your glow on with a gentle lunar flow.BY ERIN SIEBENHAAR

42 Moon ShineGet your glow on with a gentle lunar flow.BY ERIN SIEBENHAAR

50 Grounding GroovesSound and motion come togeth-er to help you move toward your center. BY ERIN SIEBENHAAR

34 Grounding GroovesSound and motion come togeth-er to help you move toward your center. BY ERIN SIEBENHAAR

18 Full BloomTake root in Lotus Pose to settel your nerves, quiet your mind, and let your energy blossom.BY NORA ISAACS

27 Nerve CenterConnect to the earth stay groundedBY ELISE LORIMER

31 Steady as She GoesStrength and stability can be yours, even when stress rocks your world.BY COURTNEY SCHOW

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In Every Issue08 Founder’s Notes

10 Editor’s Letter12 Contributors14 Our Picks

table of contents

On The CoverEstiam inctaspe cupisciet eum repudam ni-hitiore optur, voluptate eatem nesequi ipsam dolo digenim nos dMinihit quid magnimpos

3455

11

18

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THE PERFECT Through years of tasting grilled cheese sandwiches Erin, from Natrallyella.com, has finally found the tastiest grilled cheese ever, the Pistachio-Parsley grilled Talleggio Cheese sandwhich. text ERIN ALDERSON photography ERIN ALDERSON


PISTACHIO-PARSLEY PESTO AND GRILLED TALEGGIO CHEESE SANDWICH

MAPLE-CINNAMON QUINOA GRANOLA

IngredientsPesto:2 tablespoons shelled, roasted pistachios1 clove garlic1½ cups packed parsley2 tablespoons lemon juice2 tablespoons olive oil¼ teaspoon salt

½ small red onion, thinly sliced3-4 ounces taleggio cheese, sliced4 slices whole wheat or multigrain breadOlive oil for brushing

Instructions1 In a food processor, pulse pistachios until resembling course meal

2 Add garlic and parsley, run processor until minced

3 Drizzle lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. Run food processor until

pesto comes together, adding more olive/lemon juice as needed.

4 Preheat grill pan or regular pan over medium-low heat.

5 Brush sides of bread with olive oil. Place on piece of bread, olive

oil side down, in the grill pan and smear on 1 tablespoon of pesto.

6 Layer with sliced red onions and cheese.

Ingredients¾ cups quinoa (red, black, yellow, or a mix)½ chopped pecans½ cup sunflower or pumpkin seeds2 teaspoons cinnamon¼ teaspoon sea salt¼ cup maple syrup2 tablespoons walnut or coconut oil

Instructions1 Preheat oven to 250˚. Rinse quinoa and spread out in a thin layer

on a baking tray covered with parchment paper. Bake until liquid

has evaporated, 15-20 minutes

2 Raise oven temperature to 350˚.Combine quinoa with pecans,

seeds, cinnamon, salt, maple syrup, and oil. Stir until

3 Spread in a thin layer on a tray.Bake for 20 minutes, stirring one

to two times. Remove from oven and let cool until clumped. Store

in an airtight container.

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BRIEKnown as a smooth or flowing melting cheese, brie adds smoothness and

richness to any dish it is melted into.

Nothing is better than a good grilled cheese. Not all cheeses melt into yummy goodness.

Let us help you pick the best one for your meal.

CHEDDARKnown as a smooth or flowing melting cheese, brie adds smoothness and


GRUYÉREKnown as a smooth or flowing melting cheese, brie adds smoothness and


FONTINAKnown as a smooth or flowing melting cheese, brie adds smoothness and


OFF THE MATINTO THE WORLD

The challenge engaged communities throughout the world. The 113 men and women that participated raised $524,000in donations for the CCF and generated awareness.

text IAN WHITE photography RYAN SMITH

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IN ADDITION TO the tremendous financial

resources that were cultivated through

last year’s Seva Challenge and Bare Wit-

ness Humanitarian Tour, the Seva experi-

ence inspired participants to take action

in their own communities. One group

fundraising effort and three individual

projects were put into place. In addition,

many participants and their families

chose to sponsor children in Cambodia,

furthering the mission and work of the

Cambodian Children’s Fund. Empowered

by the impact of this transformational

journey, the team left a lasting legacy in

Cambodia – life changing for most.

THE TRAILBLAZERSAbby Weis, Adi Carter, Andrea Curry,

Angela Herlofsky, Angelika Holtzbrinck,

Annalise Oberts, Blair Vaughn, Bobbie

Sterbins, Brittany Policastro, Jennifer

Wagner, Jennifer Steinwurtzel, Jude Mon-

teserrato, Karen Johnston, Laurel Hicks,

Lea-Rae Belcourt, Linda Kraulis, Lisa

Palumbo, Nancy Spooner, Shiya Mangel,

Suzanne Cary.

OUR PARTNERThe Seva Challenge 2008 benefited just

one organization, The Cambodian Chil-

dren’s Fund (CCF). CCF provides educa-

tion, shelter, food and services to over

450 children who live and work in the

Steung Meanchey garbage dump. These

children are horribly abused and exploit-

ed, often dying of disease, malnutrition

and t verei hintrente audam de ego cris

eo, consum potatum inte co viriocus ad

fur hilininte, quam ne vide commolturnic

reviliu conentilla L. Arius con ignonihicit

res opulicia vilibus pro vis. Do,

Lerfec itabus fintem te tam pora,

pultiamdii si perum virio prareor ublicie

ntientemque it, pora ium milic forum o

et aucteatin vis apeconveris videlles es

es pernina turenihilis actus per hicibun

tretife ntemqua L. Vivatuam miurs consu

maximus, simove, sili percerum pra

vivesen dienat inatora a etilicibunum sum

poribulis senam moves im telint. Toriam

egit, maximacchi, morterebus alibute

rvidi, te, ficis; ince cressim corudes ce-

pondi entensi mactoriam es publii peris,

que oporum nostuid ac vivast prarterit.

mactoriam es publii peris, que oporum

nostuid ac vivast prarterit.

BARE WITNESS TOURThe Seva Challenge 2008 was an incredi-

ble success! It was a life-changing jour ney

for all who participated and truly left a

legacy of support for Scott Neeson and the

Cambodian Children’s Fund. The twenty

participants heard stories

From survivors of the Khmer Rouge

Genocide, went on educational trips to

the Killinalso encompassed hands-on

work at the CCF vocational center, bperi-

busdae. Am enditio. Itate non nat ad que

nus intest aci dolut mil inullab illecte,

asit ut eiumquae sequiatur aliquis dolum

volupta sperum quasperrum eosanim

renis volendissum hicab is voluptat offic-

tur, etAgnatincto odit aute nonsequis is

moloreped molupti atusaperunt autempo

restore et vollace rionsecae labore nonse-

quatur sequidendae. Tior re, odicitatus.

The Cambodian Children’s FundV. CCF

provides education, shelter, food and

services to over 450 children who live and

work in the Steung Meanchey garbage

dump. These children are horribly abused

and exploited, often dying of disease,

malnutrition and

t verei hintrente audam de ego cris eo,

consum potatum inte co viriocus ad fur

hilininte, quam ne vide commolturnic

reviliu conentilla L. Arius con ignonihicit

res opulicia vilibus pro vis. Do,

TESTIMONIALS“We worked and visited places that really

awakened my eyes, my spirit and my soul.

Every moment was price less. The smiles

and generosity from the CCF children will

forever remain in my heart.” Blair Vaughn,

Denver, CO

Off The Mat Into The World was able to raise $524,000 furthering the work of the Cambodian Children’s Fund.The team left a lasting legacy in Cambodia life changing for most, if not for all.


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INTERVIEW SERIES:HEIDI KRISTOFFER

Heidi Kristoffer is a yoga teacher in New York. Her yoga is about laughter while challenging yourself. She runs a blog where she posts recipes and her reflections on yoga.

text HANS WAITE photography JESSIE ADAMS


HOW DID YOU GET INTO YOGA?I moved to the far west side in NYC, and googled

gyms in my new neighborhood. A yoga studio

came up in my google search, and with much

grumbling, I decided since everyone said it would

be so good for me, I would try it out. I feel head

over heels in love with my first class, and have

practiced yoga every day since.

YOU ARE NOT ONLY A YOGI, YOU ARE ALSO A VEGAN. HOW DID YOU BECOME A VEGAN? I was born allergic to seafood,

shellfish, and dairy. When I

moved to NYC I was trying to

save money, so I decided not

to buy any red meat. After not

eating it for six months or so, I

went home and ate some. The

result was pain in my stom-

ach; I was curled up in the fetal

position of my childhood bed for

hours. It seemed to me that my body

was trying to tell me something, and so I

stopped eating it. Gradually, my

body stopped wanting chicken or any other

kind of animal, so I stopped eating them.

WHEN DO YOU PRACTICE YOGA?Oh, wow! Every day is so different! Every moment

is a new one. I like to wake up early, take a few

deep breaths and stretch out in bed. Then, I eat

some breakfast (maybe tofu salad on a whole wheat

pita or oatmeal or a pea-protein filled smoothie.)

After breakfast, I will drink some Yogi Tea, digest,

and do my best to respond to emails. Then, when

I am all digested, I will do my yoga practice. I like

to light some Nag Champa incense, roll out my mat

and move around for at least 75 minutes, and then

meditate for at least 15 minutes if I can. After all

of that, I usually clean up and head over to Strala

to lead a class. After hanging out with everyone at

Strala for a while.

YOGA COMES IN VARIOUS TYPES. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TYPE OF YOGA?I like to move around and connect my movements

with my breath. I like anything that doesn’t make

me feel stuck and allows me to move with ease is

great in my book.

YOU OFTEN TALK ABOUT YOUR INJURIES. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW YOGA HELPED YOU HEAL?When I was 18, I was in a serious car accident

that let to what I was told would be “permanent

damage” to my neck and cervical spine. My doctors

at the time told me that I would never regain full

mobility in the movement of the neck. I had her-

niated discs in different parts of the spine as well as

two broken vertebrae in my lumbar spine. Because

of these injuries, when I approach the physical

postures of yoga, it has always been extremely

important to me to, seeing as the alternative was

surgery, which was not something I was interested

in. Recently, I went in to get a check-up MRI on

my cervical spine. When I went to go see my doctor

for the results, he informed me with incredulity

that the herniation in my neck was gone! I had

successfully re-lengthened my cervical spine

through all of the yoga.

WHICH POSES ARE YOUR FAVORITE AND WHY DOYOU LIKE THEM?

I love being upside down! In handstand and

forearm stand mostly, but I’ll hang out in

supported headstand for lots and lots of

breaths – anything to flip perspective

without compressing my neck.

Plus, all of the blood rushes to

your head, and it makes you

happy!

WHAT IS YOUR DAY AT STRALA AND WHAT ARE THE PRACTICES YOU HAVE

LEARNED THERE?I am the General Manager as well as

part of the creative team at Stra-

la Yoga in NYC. I am there pretty

much every day, which is awesome,

because I love, love being there! I

lead a bunch of classes and I take a

bunch of classes. At Strala, we all

move and breathe with ease. It is

amazing to see how strong and

capable everyone there is, and to

be surrounded by such posi-

tivity.

IS THERE A STEREOTYPE OF YOGA THAT YOU FIND TO BE IN-ACCURATE? WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH YOGA LIKE?Yoga has changed my

life, in every possible

way, for the better. If

there are stereotypes

about yoga, I don’t

pay attention to them.

I focus on the positive

in everything.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSEINTERESTED IN YOGA AND ANY FIT-NESS?Do it!

Move,

breathe,

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THE LONG

GOODBYE

As a physcian,I have spent

the past thirty years battling

against the decline of my

Alzheimer’s patients. Now the

disease is stealing my

own mother.text JERALD WINAKUR

photography TIFF SHERWOOD

THE LONG

GOODBYE

F ebruary 24,

2006, is my

parents’s six-

tieth wedding

anniversary.

My family plans

a brunch for

them in their

home. We are keenly aware that this may

be the last anniversary my parents will

celebrate together. It won’t be an elabo-

rate party, just a bitter-sweet one. Seven

years earlier, my father was diagnosed

with Alzheimer’s disease, and he has gone

steadily downhill. At 87 years old, he is

now a prisoner of his mind. His agitation

and paranoia arise from distorted memo-

ries, nightmares he can no longer sepa-

rate from reality. A few days before the

brunch, my mother calls me in a panic.

My dad is bellicose and paranoid, accus-

ing. Summoning Yiddish profanities he

has not uttered in 75 years, he curses at

Yolanda, the caregiver who holds every-

thing together in my parents’ household.

He will not be bathed or shaved. He will

not eat, refuses his medications.

He is raving.February 24, 2006, is my

parents’s sixtieth wedding anniversary.

My family plans a brunch for them in their

home. We are keenly aware that this may

be the last anniversary my parents will

celebrate together. It won’t be an elabo-

rate party, just a bitter-sweet one. Seven

years earlier, my father was diagnosed

with Alzheimer’s disease, and he has gone

steadily downhill. At 87 years old, he is

now a prisoner of his mind. His agitation

and paranoia arise from distorted memo-

ries, nightmares he can no longer sepa-

rate from reality. A few days before the

brunch, my mother calls me in a panic.

My dad is bellicose and paranoid, accus-

ing. Summoning Yiddish profanities he

has not uttered in 75 years, he curses at

Yolanda, the caregiver who holds every-

thing together in my parents’ household.

He will not be bathed or shaved. He will

not eat, refuses his medications.“You go

to hell! You’re in with them!”

There is no walking away now. He is an

abandoned child. He searches for his

boyhood home on Boarman Avenue, in

Baltimore, or perhaps our first family

home there, on Forest Park Avenue. He

hears voices but can’t decode what is be-

ing said, and his mind assumes the worst:

My mother is insulting him, planning to

run off; his sons are belittling him, his

mother scolding him, his older brothers

and sisters teasing him. He is lost, with

no father of his own to turn to. I see that

he has wet himself; a dark ring marks his

place on the couch.

As a geriatric physician in San Anto-

nio for the past thirty years, I have been

through this before. I have been cursed,

spit on, bitten, and punched by demented

old folks over the decades. A poor woman

threw a shoe at me when I stepped inside

her hospital room. The day before,she

thought she thought I was the devil.

As a doctor, I know what to do; as a

son, I am uncertain. So I assume my doc-

tor role, retreating into the armor of my

starched white coat. I walk to the kitchen

and check his daily pill slots to make sure

he’s been getting his regular medications.

Sometimes my mother, unable to see due

to macular degeneration, inadvertently

leaves pills in the plastic containers I fill

every couple weeks. seems in order.

The pills are often as much a part of the

problem as the cure. My father takes eight

medications a day; my mother, who is 82,

fourteen. They are both on vitamins and

minerals, blood pressure medications,

diuretics, and cholesterol-lowering drugs.

My father also takes two pills for his heart.

My mother takes drugs for her diabetes, a

thyroid disorder, osteoporosis.

Big PharmaI spend my doctoring days prescribing

medications for my patients, reshuffling

the ones they’re on--a tiny dose change

here, a retiming of administration there.

By now I have written or refilled hundreds

of thousands of prescriptions, but my

constant goal is to cut back on medica-

tions, stop them altogether if I can: Less

is usually more. Every geriatrician knows

this. Looking through my father’s pills,

I recall a patient of mine, Lilly, a wom-

an who first came to see me carrying a

brown paper shopping bag crammed with

pill bottles--at least forty different drugs

prescribed by a dozen physicians.

“This one’s for the high blood,” she had

said, “and this one’s for the sweet blood,

and this one’s for the low blood. These

three are for my bad knees, and this one’s

‘cause I’m sad a lot, and this one’s ‘cause

I don’t sleep too good, and this one’s

‘cause I’m tired all the time. I can hard-

ly keep’em straight, but I got a biglist at

home tacked to the wall, over the phone

in my kitchen. Last month the company

cut off the service when I couldn’t pay the

bill. All these medicines and still I feel so

bad. That’s why I come to you now. That

and all these other troubles.” She had

handed me a list of symptoms.

I spent two hours with Lilly, hearing

one story after another: bad marriages,

kids in jail, ER visits, surgeries, strange

diagnoses mostly self-made. I knew what

was happening to Lilly, what happens to

many people like her in a medical prob-

lem. The physician begins to drown in

a sea of conflicting information, feels

powerless to alter the circumstances of

this person’s life. A wave of helplessness

washes over doctor and patient both, and

he reaches for his prescription pad. “Here,

try this,” he says. “I think it will help.”

Then he steps into the hall, picks up the

next chart, and moves on, the drug he

has prescribed helps but doubtful it will.

I could not change the circumstances

of Lilly’s life, couldn’t make up for her

poverty or lack of education or the poor

choices she had made. But she improved

significantly when, after some lab work

and many more hours of listening, I was

eventually able to whittle her medication

list down to three.


Meditation has been the foundation I have been searching for. It has helped me cope along with providing the patienceI have needed with the slow deterioration of my mother.

8SIGNS OF

ALZHEIMER’S

1

5

2

6

3

7

4

8

memory changes that disrupt daily life

challenges planning and solving problems

changes in mood or personality

difficulty finishing familiar tasks

trouble understanding visual & spatial relationships

new problems with words in speaking & writing

misplacing things & losing ability to retrace

decreased and poor judgement


If you are a success-seeker, you really DO

need to know more about stress and how

it impacts your brain. Does stress kill brain

cells? The scientific evidence is yes!

Although many high-power business peo-

ple and success-seekers say they LIKE the

sensation of high-stress thinking, it is actu-

ally both non-productive and unfocused.

What Does Stress Do in The Brain?

You can read elsewhere in this site about

brain waves and what they are. So let’s will

focus on exactly what occurs in your brain

when you are stressed. Stress is a mental

and physiological state that occurs when

you interpret something as a threat to your

well being. This can be something as real

as jumping out of the way of a speeding

bus — or as non-obvious as worrying about

getting to the post office before it closes.

When you interpret something as a “threat,”

your brain creates a cascade of biochemi-

cals designed to prepare you to either fight

or run from the threat. Your hands and

armpits start to sweat, you tend to hold

your breath, your digestive system shuts

down, your heart pounds, and your large

muscles contract.

Fast multi-tasking, for example, has been

tied to high stress. Studies have shown that

although people “think” they are getting

more done while multi-tasking, the quan-

tity and quality of their output is actually

reduced.

MEDICINE FOR THE EDERLYPrescribing for the elderly is complex.

They don’t metabolize drugs at the same

rate as younger, healthier patients. The

main workhorses of drug excretion-the

liver and kidneys-decline in function

with age, as do all our organ systems.

The elderly, like my parents. are often

on multiple drugs (including over-the-

counter preparations the doctor might

not even know about), and the incidenc-

es of unforeseen interactions begin to

mount. We know so little about these.

Indeed, the pharmaceutical companies

are infamous in geriatric circles for not

including our elderly patients in drug

trials.

These days, between the Food and Drug

Administration and Big Pharma, I hang

suspended in a netherworld of prescrib-

ing angst. The FDA has pulled more than

twenty drugs off the market in the past

two decades, drugs they first assured

me were safe to use but then ended up

hurting livers or kidneys or hearts. I have

always tried to protect my patients, wait

if I possibly can for aftermarket stud-

ies to bring more data to light. It is one

thing, I tell my patients, to judge a drug’s

benefits and risks after it has been given

to a few thousand patients in clinical

trials; it’s quite another after it has been

prescribed to hundreds of thousands.

In the parlance of the technology and

pharmaceutical industries, doctors like

me who are cautious, who do immedi-

ately jump on the company bandwagon

every time it trumpets its “latest and

greatest” product, are known as “slow

adopters.” Now these industries have

figured out a way to circumvent my

judgment should I fail to join the chorus

of cheerleaders for their newest break-

through. On the television, in magazines,

they promise an end to arthritis pain, a

good night’s sleep, a cure for inconti-

nence, a firm erection, My phone rings off

the hook. Patients who worry that I may

have blocked their path to the Fountain of

Youth when I decline their drug requests.

THE MIRACLE OF MEDITATIONPrescribing for the elderly is complicated.

They don’t metabolize drugs at the same

rate as younger, healthier patients. The

main workhorses of drug excretion--the

liver and kidneys--decline in function

with age, as do all our organ systems.

The elderly, like my parents. are often

on multiple drugs (including over-the-

counter preparations the doctor might

not even know about), and the inci-

dences of unforeseen interactions begin

to mount. We know so little about these

interactions. Indeed, the pharmaceutical

companies are infamous in geriatric cir-

cles for not including our elderly patients

in drug trials first assured me were safe to

use but then ended up damaging livers or

kidneys or hearts. I have always tried to

protect my patiore data to light. It is one

thing, I tell my patients, to judge a drug’s

benefits and risks after it has been given

to a few thousand patients in clinical.

I settle on the bottle of risperidone.

Although I am reluctant to use this drug-

-any drug in treating my father, I know

that he has taken it before with success.

It has worked. It has settled him down,

albeit with an added degree of cognitive

impairment. My hope is that by con-

tinuing to use this drug judiciously, I

can maintain the status quo and keep my

father at home for a bit longer, delay the

decision to relegate him to a long-term

facility where I know he will only deteri-

orate faster.

I bring my father a bisected tablet and a

cool glass of his nutritional drink.

“Here, Dad, take this. I think it will make

you feel better.”

His eyes, still wild, stare at me. “What’s

this for?”

“Dad, you’ve got shpilkes,” I say. I use

this Yiddish word, retrieved somehow

from my own memory, because my father

has lately been interspersing his speech

with snippets of this language, his moth-

er tongue--the mamaloshen--the first

words he ever heard and therefore the

last ones to abandon him.

He smiles. “Az ich habe shpilkes,” he

says. And he swallows the pill. “For the

shpilkes,” my mother and Yolanda tell

him when it is time for the next dose. Be-

fore long he is back to his usual demented

but pleasant self. This time I have made

the right decision.

Three days later, on my parents’ anniver-

sary, those of us who love them assemble

in their home, My wife brings a dozen

yellow roses and arranges the table. My

brother stops at the grocery store for

a side of sliced smoked salmon, some

IS STRESS KILLING YOUR BRAIN?text DHARMA SINGH KHALSA, M.D.


National Parks are the crown jewels of the United Stated. Getting out doors and experiencing what mother natures has to provide will do

wonders for your soul. Here are our top 4 most rejuvenating places on the American

continent. text Marsha Newns

The Most

RejuvenatingNational Parks

National Parks are the crown jewels of the United Stated. Getting out doors and experiencing what mother natures has to provide will do

wonders for your soul. Here are our top 4 most rejuvenating places on the American

continent. text Marsha Newns


Though Native Americans live in the park area today, archaeological study shows they arrived in the area as far back as 3,000 years ago. Modern day Native groups such as the Yurok, Tolowa, Karok, Chilula, and Wiyot all have historical ties to the region. An 1852 census deter-mined that the Yurok were the most numerous, with 55 villages and an estimated population of 2,500. They used the abundant redwood, which with its linear grain was easily split into planks, as a building material for boats, houses, and small villages.[9] For buildings, the planks would

be erected side by side in a narrow trench, with the upper portions bound with leather strapping and held by notches cut into the supporting roof beams. Redwood boards were used to form a shallow sloping roof.Previous to Jedediah Smith in 1828, no other explorer of European descent is known to have thoroughly investigated the inland region away from the immediate coast. The discovery of gold along the Trinity River in 1850 led to a minor secondary gold rush in California. This brought miners into the area and many stayed on at

the coast after failing to strike it rich. This quickly led to conflicts wherein native peoples were placed under great strain, if not forcibly removed or massacred. By 1895, only one third of the Yurok in one group of villages remained; by 1919, virtually all members of the Chilula tribe had either died or been assimilat-ed into other tribes. The miners logged redwoods for building; when this minor gold rush ended, some of them turned again to logging, cutting down the giant redwood trees. Initially, over 2,000,000 acres (8,100 km2) of the California and

Redwood National Forest

Drive your car through a redwood tree or over a fallen redwood log. The Shrine Drive Thru Tree has been attracting visitors for years. Located in Myers Flat, four miles south of the Humboldt Redwoods State Park Visitor Center, it’s an easy stop right on the Av-enue of the Giants. There is a minimal fee to drive through the tree.

13708 Ave of the GiantsMyers Flat, CA 95554707-943-1975

Shrine Drive Thru Trees


Havasu Falls is a waterfall in the Grand Canyon located 1½ miles

from Supai, Arizona, USA. It is arguably the most famous and most

visited of all the falls and consists of one main chute that drops over

a 120-foot (37 m) vertical cliff into a large pool. Due to the high mineral

content of the water, the falls are ever-changing and sometimes break

into two separate chutes of water.The falls are known for their natural

pools, created by mineralization, although most of these pools were damaged or destroyed in the early 1990s by large floods that washed

through the area. A small man-made dam was constructed to help restore

the pools and to preserve what is left. There are many picnic tables on the opposite side of the creek, and it is very easy to cross over by

following the edges of the pools. It is possible to swim behind the

falls and enter a small rock shelter behind it. Havasupai is a dialect of

the Upland Yuman language spoken by fewer than 450 people on the

Havasupai Indian Reservation at the

bottom of the Grand Canyon. It is the only Native American language

in the United States of America spoken by 100% of its indigenous

population. As of 2005, Havasupai remained the first language of

residents of Supai Village, the tribal government seat. Colorado River

in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is contained within and

managed by Grand Canyon National Park, the Hualapai Tribal Nation,

and the Havasupai Tribe. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of preservation of the Grand Canyon area, and visited it

on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery. It is considered one of the Seven Natural Wonders

of the World. For thousands of years, the area has been continuously

inhabited by Native Americans who built settlements within the canyon

and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Can-

yon (“Ongtupqa” in Hopi language) a holy site and made pilgrimages to it.[8] The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon

Ridge upon ridge of forest straddles the border between North Carolina and Tennessee in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. World re-nowned for its diversity of plant and animal life, the beauty of its ancient mountains, and the quality of its remnants of Southern Appalachian mountain culture, this is America’s most visited national park. The Great Smoky Mountains are among the oldest mountains in the world, formed perhaps 200-300 million

years ago. They are unique in their

northeast to southwest ori-entation, which allowed species

to migrate along their slopes during

climatic changes such as

Havasupai Falls

Great Smoky Mtns


Kenai Fjords National Park sits at the edge of the North Pacific Ocean, where storm patterns develop and feed a land of ice. The Harding Icefield crowns the park and is the source of at least 38 glaciers that flow over the land, sculpting as they go. These gigantic rivers of ice have shaped the terrain and are now receding to reveal their work.

As ice melts, rock is uncovered and the

process of suc-cession begins to take place. Scientists in the

park investigate such diverse topics

as newly colonized nunataks, black bear genetics, and the reproductive success of shorebirds. At the edge of the Kenai Peninsula lies a land where the ice age lingers. Nearly 40 glaciers flow from the Harding Icefield, Kenai Fjords’ crowning feature. Wildlife thrives in icy waters and lush forests around this vast expanse of ice. Native Alutiiq relied on these resources to nurture a life entwined with the sea. Today, shrinking glaciers bear witness to the effects of our changing climate. River otters defecate in certain spots to mark their territory. Researchers in Kenai Fjords National Park have discovered that these “latrine sites”

Kenai Fjords National Park


Ridge upon ridge of forest straddles the border between North Carolina

and Tennessee in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. World re-

nowned for its diversity of plant and animal life, the beauty of its ancient

mountains, and the quality of its remnants of Southern Appalachian mountain culture, this is America’s

most visited national park. Great Smoky Mountains National Park

preserves a rich cultural tapestry of Southern Appalachian history. The mountains have had a long human

history spanning thousands of years-from the prehistoric Paleo In-dians to early European settlement in the 1800s to loggers and Civilian

Conservation Corps enrollees in the 20th century. The park strives to protect the historic structures,

landscapes, and artifacts that tell the varied stories of people who

once called these mountains home. Biological diversity is the hallmark

of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which encompasses over

800 square miles in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. No other

area of equal size in a temperate climate can match the park’s amaz-ing diversity of plants, animals, and

invertebrates. Over 17,000 species have been documented in the park:

Scientists believe an additional 30,000-80,000 species may live here.

It’s wonderland. Old Faithful and the majority of the world’s geysers are preserved here. They are the main reason the park was established in 1872 as America’s first national park—an idea that spread world-wide. A mountain wildland, home to grizzly bears, wolves, and herds of bison and elk, the park is the core of one of the last, nearly intact, natural ecosystems in the Earth’s temperate zone. The human history of the Yellowstone region goes back more than 11,000 years. From then until to the very recent past, many groups of Native Americans used the park as their homes, hunting

grounds, and transportation routes. These traditional uses of Yellow-stone lands continued until a little over 200 years ago when the first people of European descent found their way into the park. In 1872 a country that had not yet seen its first centennial, established Yellowstone as the first national park in the world. A new concept was born and with it a new way for people to preserve and protect the best of what they had for the benefit and enjoyment of future generations. Please visit the links below to learn more about history and culture in Yellowstone National Park. With half

of the earth’s geothermal features, Yellowstone holds the planet’s most diverse and intact collection of geysers, hot springs, mudpots, and fumaroles. Its more than 300 geysers make up two thirds of all those found on earth. Combine this with more than 10,000 thermal features comprised of brilliantly colored hot springs, bubbling mudpots, and steaming fumaroles, and you have a place like no other. Geyserland, fairyland, wonderland--through the years, all have been used to describe the natural wonder and magic of this unique park that contains more geothermal features than any other

Great Rocky Mountains

Yellowstone National Park

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the few places remaining in the eastern United States where

black bears can live in wild, natural surroundings. For many, this famous Smokies’ resident is a symbol of wil-

derness. All black bears in the park are black in color, but in other parts of the

country they may be brown or cinna-mon. They may be six feet in length and

up to three feet high at the shoulder. During the summer months, a typical male bear weighs approximately 250

pounds while females are generally

Be Bear Aware

YOGA IN THE U.S.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF YOGA

YOGA PRACTITIONERS DEMOGRAPHICS

PRACTITIONERS THAT LIVE ON THE WEST COAST 20%PRACTITIONERS THAT LIVE IN THE NORTHWEST COAST 30%PRACTITIONERS THAT LIVE IN THE MIDWEST 30%OTHER PARTS 20%

AGEBETWEEN THE AGES OF 18-34 BETWEEN THE AGES OF 35-54 OVER 55

40.6%41%18.4%

GENDERFEMALES MALES

72.2%27.8%AMERICAN’S WHO ARE INTERESTED

AMERICANS WHO PRACTICE PRACTICERS WORLD WIDE

18.3 M21 M300 M

POPULATION

BETTERZZZZZZ’S

MOODIMPROVES

BLOOD PRESSURE

DECREASES

WELL-BEINGINCREASES

RESPIRATORYEFFICENCY INCREASES

MEMORYIMPROVES

STRENGHTINCREASES

LEARNINGIMPROVES

POSTUREIMPROVES

PAIN DECREASES

DEPTHPERCEPTION

IMPROVES

ATTENTIONIMPROVES

4 YOGA POSES TO INCREASE METABOLISM

Most Westernized yoga classes focus on learning physical poses, which are called asanas. They also usually include some form of breathing technique and possibly a meditation technique as well. Some yoga classes are designed purely for relaxation. But there are styles of yoga that teach you how to move your body in new ways. Choosing one of these styles offers the greatest health benefits by enabling you to develop your flexibility, strength, and balance.

Indicators of a slow metabolism include a poor digestive system and a lethargic liver. When these two organs are not functioning properly, the whole body suffers, including your metabolism. Because both organs are located in the abdomen, yoga exercises focusing on your core are a great solution.

BOW POSE BRIDGE POSE LUNGE POSE HEAD POSE

21 MILLIONAMERICANS CURRENTLY PRACTICING YOGA

Yoga came to the attention of an educated western public in the mid 19th century along with other topics of Hindu philosophy. The first Hindu

teacher to actively advocate and disseminate aspects of yoga to a western audience was Swami Vivekananda, who toured Europe and the United States in the 1890s. The reception which received is inconceivable without the active interest of, and others who found Vedanta in agreement with their own ideas and a cherished source of religious-philosophical inspiration.


courtney tramel moksha

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