1. Malone Telegram, The (NY)
January 6, 2014
Section: Lifestyle
Page: 7
Osteoporosis, stress and yoga
Author: Helene Gibbens Contributing writer
Article Text:
In 2005, Sheila was diagnosed with osteoporosis.She underwenta bone mass densitometry,the test that measures
the densityof the vertebrae of the lumbar spine and ofthe femurs (the thighbones).
Bones that have become "less dense"or brittle increase your risk of fractures by 2 to 3 times above normal for each
standard deviation below the young-adultnorm.While both men and women can develop osteoporosis,the disease
affects an estimated 200 million women worldwide.Fifty percentof hip fractures in people over 55 contribute either to
death or to nursing home admissions.
Sheila’s doctor puther on Fosamaxfor the next five years, the recommended treatmentto delay further deterioration
of her bones.In 2011,she completed her Fosamaxtreatment.A new bone mass densitometryshowed thatshe had a
mild improvementin bone densityin both her spine and her thighbones.Fosamaxhad achieved its objective, yet
Sheila’s testscores indicated thatshe was nonetheless still in the range of osteopenia,the precursor to osteoporosis.
Sheila had been participating in a yoga class once a week for a few years and occasionallypracticing yoga at home.
After reading aboutyoga’s positive effects on bone density, she decided to commitherselfto practicing at home daily.
We developed a routine for her daily home practice and even a "traveling" practice that she could do while away for
the winters.
In 2012, Sheila wentfor another bone mass densitometry.The results were very positive:her lumbar spine bone
densityreading,which had been the mostaffected,was now back to normal.In other words,she no longer had
osteoporosis or osteopenia.
Daily yoga practice was the only significantchange she made after coming offFosamax.Could yoga have had that
kind of impact? The following information maybe helpful.
Dr. Loren Fishman,medical director ofManhattan Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in New York City, recently
completed a study examining how yoga can help osteoporosis.Her findings are the basis ofher book 'Yoga for
Osteoporosis.'
"During the two-year study, participants added more than ofa pointon the T scale in their DEXA bone density tests
for the spine and 4/5 of a point for the all-importanthip,with only 10 shortminutes ofyoga daily," she wrote.
According to Fishman "Older people are confronted by a dilemma:Too much impactexercise and you will help your
bones while hurting your joints.Don’t exercise and your osteoporosis will advance.It’s both ends of the bone against
the middle."She recommends yoga as a safe activity.
There are two ways in which daily yoga practice may have had that kind of impacton Sheila’s bone density:
1. We tend to think of weight-bearing activity as exercises thatinvolve lifting weights or pushing againstresistance.
Most of yoga’s poses involve leaning weightinto leg bones and arms bones and even into back bones.Leaning
weightis weight-bearing exercise.
Yoga poses or exercises also help us putmore weightonto arms and legs.We learn to use our arms and legs
instead ofour spinal muscles for every movementwe make.This helps us balance our weightbearing more evenly
throughoutour body.
2. At the heart of yoga is learning to profoundlyrelax. In order to understand how this impacts bone density,we need
to understand how stress affects our bodies.
When we experience a stressful situation ,the ancientFightor Flight Response is triggered.Our brains perceive "a
threat" and our instincts ofpreservation are alerted. Hormonal messengers tell our bodilysystems to prepare to fight
or run for our survival. Our heart rate goes up, our breathing speeds up,glucose (sugar) gets dumped into our blood
stream to give us the energy to fight or run, and our muscles go into a state of mild contraction or preparedness.
Today’s threats are rarely about our survival. They are more aboutfeeling threatened in an exchange with our spouse
or our boss,speeding down the road late for work on the lookoutfor a police car or even feeling the adrenaline flow
as we watch a thriller on TV. Your brain does notdifferentiate between these types of threats and trul y life-threatening
situations.And actually your brain does notdifferentiate between the actual stressful experience and your replaying it
in your mind,such as an argumentwith your child or your parent.How often then are you in a state of Fight or Flig ht
in a day?
In Fight or Flight, to be in a state of preparedness our muscles need calcium to remain contracted.Where do they get
calcium? Firstfrom our dietary intake,the food we eat. When we do not have enough calcium available in our
bloodstream from our diet,our muscles go to the calcium bank:our bones.So under stress ifenough dietary calcium
is not available,our muscles mayneed to leach calcium from our bones to contract.
And is it possible thatthe high incidence ofosteoporosis thatwe are seeing mayhave a correlation with our
increased muscle demands for calcium as a resultof our stressful lifestyles and our inabilityto profoundlyrelax on a
regular basis?

2. By the time we reach our mid-50s and 60s we have accumulated manyyears of stress.Unless we have learned to
put ourselves in a deep state of relaxation and have done light weight-bearing activities on a regular basis,we may
have been chronicallyleaching calcium from our bones.(It is one of the reasons thatwe feel "stiff and tight")
As Sheila’s storytells us,osteoporosis can be reversed.Yoga can help prevent osteoporosis.Yoga can be practiced
in conjunction with Fosamaxtreatmentonce you have been diagnosed with osteopenia or osteoporosis.
Essential components ofevery yoga class include deep relaxation and lightweight-bearing exercises.And the
treatmentis pleasant!You will feel the improvementwhen your muscles feel looser,lighter or softer.
If yoga does not appeal to you, look for a relaxation technique thatdoes.Watching a movie on the couch does notput
you in a deep relaxation state! Twenty minutes ofdeep relaxation every day makes a profound difference.
We are all looking forward to Sheila’s next bone mass densitometryin the fall of 2014.Thank you Sheila for a llowing
me to share your story.
--
Helene Gibbens has been helping people move better,feel better and live better in the north country for more than
10 years. She is a certified yoga teacher with more than 1,000 hours of training,a certified yoga therapistand a
member ofthe national Yoga Alliance.She is the founder of Inner Peace Yoga Center in Malone, where she teaches
with gentleness and caring.
For more information:innerpeace1959@yahoo.com or 518-637-2963.
Copyright, 2014,Johnson Newspaper Corporation
Record Number:382264