Yoga with Andrea Smith

Excerpt from the Winter 2004 newsletter:

YOGA and Wellness

This past August I was hired to teach a class called “Wellness” at Wells College, an all women’s liberal arts school located about 40 minutes from Ithaca. As a result, I have been asking myself and my students there, “What is wellness? What does wellness really mean? What does it take to be really healthy, in the truest sense of the word?” The dictionary defines wellness as “the quality or state of being in good health especially as an actively sought goal.” Likewise, “health” is defined as “the condition of being sound in body, mind, or spirit; especially : freedom from physical disease or pain; the general condition of the body; a flourishing condition.” (Both definitions from the Mirriam-Webster On-Line Dictionary, 2003).

“Wellness” principles at minimum typically involve observing a healthy diet, physical exercise, and a good mental and emotional attitude. Hatha yoga fits very nicely into an overall wellness program, and its methods can provide many of the tools and strategies that are part of a wellness-relevant lifestyle. Similar to the effects we see when we practice hatha yoga, when we incorporate “wellness type” activities into our daily lives, typically, we feel better. When we feel better, it is easier to sustain our motivation for incorporating these good habits into our daily routines on a consistent basis. We have more energy. We will likely sleep better. Our creativity improves. We feel more alive. For the most part, doing the things that we know will make us healthy, usually will make us healthy. However, adhering to a wellness routine or a hatha yoga practice does not always guarantee good physical health.

About 12 years ago when I completed my formal education, I was also diagnosed with a disabling condition known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. While the exact etiology and manifestation of this disease is not fully understood, the immune system breakdown and utter physical exhaustion that I experienced made it impossible for me to work in the typical job environment for which I’d been trained. Even though I had practiced yoga, meditation, and pranayama (breathing exercises) almost obsessively throughout my academic training, and although I had eaten the most strict diet of my life, and even gotten to bed at a consistently earlier hour during those years of schooling than I do now, it was not enough to ensure my physical health.

In her book Hands of Light, Barbara Ann Brennan says, “Your deepest inner longing, that which you want to do more than anything, is precisely what you have come into this life to do. Your best assurance of health is to do it now.” (Barbara Ann Brennan. Hands of Light: A Guide to Healing Through the Human Energy Field. C. 1987). Perhaps health and vitality truly are sourced from a deeper essence than the physical. Maybe we really do need to love our life and ourselves in order to be alive in the fullest sense of the word. Without our passion, our “dharma” (our spiritual work-related purpose for being here), or a larger sense of vocation, we are likely to feel empty and unfulfilled. We will look to external things, even external “healthy” practices to give us a sense of well-being. In some cases, I believe that the physical body is designed to help keep us “on track” with our deeper reasons for being here. While there are certainly other reasons why we get sick or the body breaks down, surely feeling disconnected from a true sense of purpose and passion will sap our vitality like nothing else. I still don’t know all of the reasons why I got sick. Perhaps it was my own fear, or my own knowing that I was not really heading in the right direction, that drove me during my formal training. I do know that in the process of recovering from this condition, I discovered my gift for teaching yoga. Understanding all of the reasons why I burned out are perhaps less important than recovering the self I’d somehow lost track of.

© 2003 Yoga with Andrea Smith
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	Please note: Andrea has gone to an enewsletter format. To get added to the list, please email Andrea. You may also print out past copies of the newsletter: *Summer 2004 Newsletter (PDF)** or Winter 2004 Newsletter (PDF) or Spring 2003 Newsletter (PDF).** All materials on this website fall under copyright law and may not be used by others without permission of Andrea Smith. Excerpt from the Winter 2004 newsletter: YOGA and Wellness This past August I was hired to teach a class called “Wellness” at Wells College, an all women’s liberal arts school located about 40 minutes from Ithaca. As a result, I have been asking myself and my students there, “What is wellness? What does wellness really mean? What does it take to be really healthy, in the truest sense of the word?” The dictionary defines wellness as “the quality or state of being in good health especially as an actively sought goal.” Likewise, “health” is defined as “the condition of being sound in body, mind, or spirit; especially : freedom from physical disease or pain; the general condition of the body; a flourishing condition.” (Both definitions from the Mirriam-Webster On-Line Dictionary, 2003). “Wellness” principles at minimum typically involve observing a healthy diet, physical exercise, and a good mental and emotional attitude. Hatha yoga fits very nicely into an overall wellness program, and its methods can provide many of the tools and strategies that are part of a wellness-relevant lifestyle. Similar to the effects we see when we practice hatha yoga, when we incorporate “wellness type” activities into our daily lives, typically, we feel better. When we feel better, it is easier to sustain our motivation for incorporating these good habits into our daily routines on a consistent basis. We have more energy. We will likely sleep better. Our creativity improves. We feel more alive. For the most part, doing the things that we know will make us healthy, usually will make us healthy. However, adhering to a wellness routine or a hatha yoga practice does not always guarantee good physical health. About 12 years ago when I completed my formal education, I was also diagnosed with a disabling condition known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. While the exact etiology and manifestation of this disease is not fully understood, the immune system breakdown and utter physical exhaustion that I experienced made it impossible for me to work in the typical job environment for which I’d been trained. Even though I had practiced yoga, meditation, and pranayama (breathing exercises) almost obsessively throughout my academic training, and although I had eaten the most strict diet of my life, and even gotten to bed at a consistently earlier hour during those years of schooling than I do now, it was not enough to ensure my physical health. In her book Hands of Light, Barbara Ann Brennan says, “Your deepest inner longing, that which you want to do more than anything, is precisely what you have come into this life to do. Your best assurance of health is to do it now.” (Barbara Ann Brennan. Hands of Light: A Guide to Healing Through the Human Energy Field. C. 1987). Perhaps health and vitality truly are sourced from a deeper essence than the physical. Maybe we really do need to love our life and ourselves in order to be alive in the fullest sense of the word. Without our passion, our “dharma” (our spiritual work-related purpose for being here), or a larger sense of vocation, we are likely to feel empty and unfulfilled. We will look to external things, even external “healthy” practices to give us a sense of well-being. In some cases, I believe that the physical body is designed to help keep us “on track” with our deeper reasons for being here. While there are certainly other reasons why we get sick or the body breaks down, surely feeling disconnected from a true sense of purpose and passion will sap our vitality like nothing else. I still don’t know all of the reasons why I got sick. Perhaps it was my own fear, or my own knowing that I was not really heading in the right direction, that drove me during my formal training. I do know that in the process of recovering from this condition, I discovered my gift for teaching yoga. Understanding all of the reasons why I burned out are perhaps less important than recovering the self I’d somehow lost track of. © 2003 Yoga with Andrea Smith Site designed by Yokum Designs