Got back into my Deepak Chopra Audiobooks and I forgot the beauty of his wisdom. As I did my first hike for 2011 coming out of Chicago winter hibernation, I noticed during the portions of my hike that were on stone path, I was with some runners, the majority of which seem to have facial grimace. I do remember the feeling while running my marathons, I had to put myself into the "zone" to fight the urge to quit and turn in my electronic chip for a ride back to the finish line. So I tried to support these guys as I passed by but not much eye contact either. I mentioned my hike experience with Cristina and she said maybe they were just trying to push themselves for the health aspects of getting out. Then that got me thinking.....we probably train ourselves routinely with calling out the Hans Selye "stress response" but aside from getting our heart rate to tick at a lower rate than a non-exercising person, does a low heart rate and bp give us peace? I run into this in the office with big, muscular 20-30 year olds that come in for physicals and say "I'm healthy doc, I get enough exercise every day with the work I do", then I look at their blood pressure and find, pre-stroke levels. It's true they could lift more than I for 8 hours at a time but thats not the exercise that results in long living. Then there is the athlete type that comes in and although playing league basket ball or pushing weights and body building, cholesterol is high and liver a little fatty from alcohol use. I remember seeing a group of college guys hanging around the power rack at the gym taking turns in round robin full squats (not recommended for people who like to avoid cortisone shots in the knees) and one of the guys had a bite plate/mouth guard he was gnashing his teeth on when his turn to push the weight.
I only bring up the scenarios of anger associated exercise bursts to call for regular practice of calm and peace as well. I always go back to my first experience of relaxation and yoga with a patient of mine in his 40's with hypertension. I was giving him 2 daily medicines and leaving it at that as long as he was ok with taking the pills. One year he came in and stated he was going to try a new yoga place for exercise. (Back in the mid 90's, not too many yoga studios to choose from) I was skeptical but when I saw him the next season, his blood pressure was lower. Ok, I weaned him off the pills and the next time I saw him, he actually gained weight, not to the point of obese but little handles here and there, and his BP was still low!!! So to summarize, I controlled his BP with 2 different blood pressure pills, he started yoga, got pressure controlled and got heavier with continued control all with yoga and nothing more. No supplements, no surgical procedure, no job change....lin fact he was still running his business 40-50 hours a week. I started watching this "yoga cult" and their ideas of moving meditation and cultivating the "relaxation response".
Western medicine always pushes aerobic activity, cardio, exercise to bring the heart rate to 80% of your age maximum; all in efforts to postpone the onset of diseases of stress. (heart attack, stroke, diabesity) Its all scientific, proven with randomized control trials and pushed as an adjunct to eating healthy and controlling symptoms with prescription meds. But then cultivating the relaxation response, sitting in stillness and quiet, mindful living and spending time in nature; I feel is just as powerful, more rewarding and cost saving. For cultural reasons, the practice of spiritual grounding is looked at like the profession of psychiatry, its there and works but not embraced like the others profesions in healthcare. I thought is was just the baby boomer generation that thought of psychiatric illness as "nuts", but when a young guy came in for a school bus driver physical, the entire office sensed the very "bipolar-like" personality and demeanor so I told him respectfully that I cant approve his department of transportation card until fully evaluated by his primary care doctor for some underlying psychological tendancies I see coming out in the interview. The 30 year old said "so you think I'm crazy?" and started going into uncontrolled manic bursts (reinforcing my diagnosis of bipolar disorder).
I think most people are missing the boat with very beneficial techniques that work to allow the body to think better, heal faster and perform at maximum even without expensive gyms, equipment, or foods. I wouldnt substitute yoga and meditation for the whole exercise healthy living kick, but I would inter-twine the practice of cultivating Herb Bensons "Relaxation Response" amongst all the grunting, grimacing, panting, shouting, power movements everyone seems to try and turn a new leaf with.
