Living Well Magazine

Stretching & Flexibility Facts and Fiction

Myth: Stretching reduces the risk of injury
Fact: In early 2004, the US Centers for Disease Control released a report which analyzed over 350 studies arouond the globe The report’s bottom line: Stretching has not been proven to lower the risk of injury during activity and may even increase your chances of winding up on the sidelines.

Yoga - Learning to Relax

Everyone suffers from mild anxiety from time to time, but chronic anxiety takes a tremendous toll on the body, draining energy resources and keeping the body in a constant state of stress. The effects of anxiety are magnified when the body is not exercised: tension in the muscles builds, breathing remains constricted most of the time, and the mind has no rest from the whirling thoughts and feelings that feed the anxiety.

Heading South For Spring Break? Get Your Feet In Shape Before You Leave.

If you’re among the thousands of vacationers who will soon be trading snow boots for sandals and heading south for spring break, you’ll want to make sure your feet are in good shape before you step off the plane. Maintaining good foot hygiene can make your feet feel better, look better, and may prevent foot infections. According to the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) keeping feet healthy by practicing good foot hygiene is vital to long-term comfort and function of the feet.

Why would a Family Doc be researching Running Techniques in his spare time?

I have been a runner since age 13 and ran competitively at University of Virginia in the mid 80’s.  My interest in medicine was sparked after experiencing our team physician Dr. Danial Kulund of Charlottesville try some seemingly bazaar at the time and innovative approaches to running injuries. 

He was the first to have people run in the pool and built orthotics in his toaster oven. It seemed like there must be better ways to treat these maladies and Dr. Kulund blazed his own path.  Oft injured Mary Decker Slaney was one of the first of Dr. Kulund’s patients to have running rebirth by his methods.

Uncover the Extraordinary with Meditation!

Imagine gazing into your flat screen television.  The late night infomercial stops your thumb from dancing like a jackhammer on the remote control.  The slick announcer, with his white teeth and radiant tan, pitches bigger than-life promises!  He rattles off a string of irresistible hooks:

“Do you want to optimize your BRAIN FUNCTION, have better ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE, deep SLEEP, lowered BLOOD PRESSURE, less ANXIETY, reduced STRESS, better HEALTH and reverse THE AGING PROCESS...?”

Young Athletes Overuse Their Bodies and Strike Out Too Early

Healthcare, Business Leaders and Professional Athletes Join Forces to Help Young Athletes Play Safe and Stay Healthy

Today, leaders in healthcare, wellness, safety and fitness came together to launch the STOP Sports Injuries campaign. The campaign will educate athletes, parents, trainers, coaches and healthcare providers about the rapid increase in youth sports injuries, the necessary steps to help reverse the trend and the need to keep young athletes healthy.

Yoga Adds Life To Life!

          Many of us walk like stressed out zombies- tensely dragging through a life that's like an over-filled martini glass spewing its mixture of stress hormones and toxins with our every move. Tight from worries about the past and fears of the future, our muscles desperately grip our bones. Adding to the aging process, each daily obligation engraves more wrinkles across our zombie foreheads. Are we too busy to truly live? Is there a way to break the trance of distraction that dominates our consciousness and ravages our emotional and physical health? If we are willing to change our zombie walk and bend our bodies a little, the answer is YES!

Fitness for People Who Completely Detest, Despise, Hate Exercise!

 “A Beginner’s Guide to Creating the Fitness Habit” 

Loathe it or hate it, in some form or another, exercise is one of life’s necessary ‘evils’. It doesn’t matter where you live, how much money you have in the bank or who you know – Your body is your responsibility… and you only get one.
Some think of exercise as pure hell.  Others simply refer to it as the “E-word”.  And then there are those who have found ways to completely eliminate all thoughts of physical activity from their minds (and have less-than-stellar medical records to prove it). But on the positive side, exercise doesn’t mean you have to join a gym or spend a ton of money on high-tech moisture wicking clothing. Exercise is supposed to be fun.  It’s what our bodies are meant to do.  Hard to believe, huh?

Clearing Up the Misconceptions About Kundalini Yoga

I am writing this article to hopefully clear up the misconceptions about Kundalini Yoga. As one of the few Kundalini yoga instructors in the area, I am often approached by persons with a certain amount of caution, hesitation, and questioning. “What is this style of yoga you teach?” and “I’ve heard that people can lose their minds practicing your style of yoga” and even “Are you the sex yoga instructor?”  Other yoga instructors will say, “You better be careful. Are you sure that Kundalini yoga is safe?” And then there are others who have never heard of Kundalini Yoga —yet another reason for writing this article.
The following is what I have learned to be true about Kundalini Yoga: it is known as the Yoga of Awareness, it is very safe, it is incredibly healing, and it is not sex yoga, though it does make you feel really good!

Avoiding injury from sustained aerobic training

There are  several approaches to reducing impact injuries common to sustained aerobic training.  This entry will focus on a strategem used by trainers in a variety of settings.  Virtually every training situation, from rehab to sports training, can benefit from interval training.  Generally defined, an interval is a short period of time during which exercise intensity is increased.  To a jogger, an interval is a short sprint mixed in before returning to normal pace.  A walker on a treadmill might increase speed or elevation for a few seconds, then return to their sustained speed.  Any temporary increase in intensity constitutes an interval.  There are many uses and benefits to this approach, but the first task is to clarify the term intensity.