Yoga May Aid Body Image, Cut Eating Disorders
Mind-Body Workout May Help Women Make Peace With Their Bodies
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Medical News
May 20, 2005 — Yoga may make women feel better about their bodies, steering them away from eating disorders, a new study shows.
In fact, yoga may have an edge over other forms of exercise in that regard, according to the study in the Psychology of Women Quarterly .
The reason may be yoga’s mind-body aspect, say the researchers, who included psychologist Jennifer Daubenmier, PhD, of California’s Preventive Medicine Institute.
“Through yoga, this study suggests that women may have intuitively discovered a way to buffer themselves against messages that tell them that only a thin and ‘beautiful’ body will lead to happiness and success,” says Daubenmier in a news release.
If backed by further research, yoga may help prevent and treat eating disorders, say researchers.
Yoga Study
Daubenmier worked on the project as a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley. She compared women who practiced yoga regularly with those who did other forms of exercise. Women who hadn’t done either form of exercise, for at least two years, were also included.
First, Daubenmier and colleagues studied women who were 37 years old on average. Next, they studied college-aged women.
The women completed surveys about the type of exercise they performed, how often they did it, and their feelings about their bodies. Those who practiced yoga expressed healthier attitudes toward their bodies and had less disordered eating behaviors.
Meanwhile, spending more time on aerobic forms of exercise (such as running or exercise classes) was associated with greater disordered eating attitudes, the study shows.
The researchers say body mass index didn’t explain the findings because they took that into account.
Which Came First: Yoga or Body Image?
Did yoga enhance women’s sense of their bodies, or did it attract women who already felt good about themselves? More research is needed to find out. Daubenmier’s study didn’t assign women to do any particular form of exercise.
Of course, many women who exercise aerobically don’t have eating disorders. Health experts encourage men, women, and children to exercise regularly and lead an active lifestyle for optimum health.
Yoga practitioners learn to tune in to the body as it moves through the poses. That could emphasize the body’s abilities, instead of its appearance, say the researchers.
That mindful approach is available to anyone, but yoga may help build that skill.
SOURCES: Daubenmier, J. Psychology of Women Quarterly, June 2005; vol 29: pp 207-219. News release, Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Q: Namaste Paul, You wrote an interesting article on attracting positive energy a few months back. Could you elaborate on how we might find and cultivate it? What is the mystery behind attracting positive energy?
A: Most of us who study Yoga have been taught that an abundance of Prana (vital air or vital energy) can be found at the ocean, lakes, large open fields, and in the mountains.
Although the air is different, this same energy can be found where people assemble for a positive reason. For example: when people assemble to meditate or pray.
You can feel it in your home, at a church, mosque, temple, shrine, ashram, seminar, martial arts hall, etc. This is when people bond in a mass for the common good. The energy can be used to help humanity and our little planet for the best.
You can project this energy outward by acts of kindness every moment of your life. This is not to say, you allow yourself to be abused. You can be kind to everyone who comes into your life, without becoming a “doormat.”
You have influence over a limited number of people who you see in a day. Why not make every contact a harmonious and positive experience?
Some examples would be:
In regard to your next question: What is the mystery behind attracting positive energy?
To be honest, there isn’t one, but I will give you the formula.
Firstly, you have to realize that you have infinite potential, and it comes from within. You also have unlimited potential from the outside, when you engage in prayer and meditation on a daily basis. Prayer and meditation will positively charge you, and you will contribute to the benefit of others, as a result of it.
In turn, all of this helping of others will result in you finding people around you who are more than willing to give you a helping hand.
The following ideas will cultivate positive energy around you.
The final results will be that your positive energy will attract positively charged personalities and successful people will seek you out. If this is a major change for you, it will not happen overnight.
Let me share a related Zulu saying: “Patience is an egg that hatches great birds.”
Why should you become an eternal optimist?
Every one of us has a choice. When you fall down, you must pick yourself up. You can’t blame life’s hurdles or obstacles – you have to find solutions to get over, around, under, or through them.
Focus on your past achievements and learn to be happy with yourself. Everyone has failed, at some point, but we must constructively learn from our past experience.
Your individual approach to life’s daily obstacles is the gateway to success or failure. Therefore, success is a matter of choice.
Building Positive Energy
In relation to what most of us see as possible – success is unlimited. When primal man first discovered fire, could he imagine the concept of a forge? When modern man discovered the forge, could he imagine sky scrappers?
To build positive energy for pursuit of common goals and success, you need a support group. Find and seek out like-minded people.
Vegetarian Chili
There are so many ways to make chili that you should explore your own creativity with this recipe. You can substitute anything, sometimes, I use kidney or Cannelini beans instead of Pintos.
Ingredients:
Cook pre-soaked beans in large pot on medium heat. Add Tbsp. chili powder and keep adding enough water throughout the process to avoid burning.
This will take a while because Pintos and Cannelini beans take nearly two hours to get soft.
In a separate frying pan, add virgin olive oil and cook thawed meat substitute with shallots, garlic, and red pepper until caramelized. Once this is done, add the tomato sauce and simmer on very low heat.
When the beans are tender, combine both pans and stir in your large pan or a very large bowl.
Options:
If you want to thicken this dish: Use approx 2 Tbsp. natural peanut or almond butter. Just make sure your guests don’t have an allergy to these nuts. Allergies to nuts can sometimes be fatal!
If you want this dish to be spicier, add ground cayenne to the beans when cooking or use a spicy salsa. Just one teaspoon of cayenne will make a difference, so spice to your taste carefully.
I actually make an organic cayenne repellant for squirrels and rodents. That one fact alone can attest to the strength of cayenne.
Lastly, you can use a little celery salt or garlic salt to enhance the taste.
Mangi e goda! (Eat and Enjoy)
