Student Interview With Esty Kurti

What brought you to the Bindu?
At 5’8” and 175 lbs, I am a BIG girl. I was never athletic and my talents were concentrated on sitting down and doing art projects. While I was growing up and while raising kids, I tried to lose weight and in the process got into walking and  jogging. Soon my knees started to hurt and I had constant back problems. Fast forward to 1993. I moved to NC and met Lucy Ravich who was an avid Yogi. We became friends and finally in 2002 she convinced me to take my first Yoga class with Kelley. At the time, my schedule allowed me to practice only once a week on Sundays and so for years it was Yoga once a week for me with different local teachers. It was Lucy again who said that it was time to go to the next level and that I should try the Bindu and Kelley’s class.

What keeps you coming?
I love Yoga and the benefits I get from practicing. Since I joined the Bindu, I feel that I am being challenged every class and that I am getting stronger by the week. My body is moving in ways that I did not know it could. I feel that I walk straighter and I am thinking about the Yoga principles such as; keep the side body long, pull your shoulders back, soften the upper palate. I also find that the classes are fun, because you never know what Kelley will ask us to do next, and although the basic principals are the same, we practice them in so many different ways.

What do you get out of your practice?
In addition to feeling really good physically (how many 60+ year olds can do all the things we do in class?), I use the breath work to calm down and even go to sleep. I can center and calm my thoughts in stressful situations. I can focus better.

What challenging pose are you growing to love?
Balancing poses are very challenging to me. I am starting to love them now that I understand the principal of pulling everything into the center and firing up my legs. I hope to be able to do Eagle with the same ease that I do a Downward Facing Dog.

Commitment – Why changing habits can be hard.

By: Marty Kestin, Ensoma Bodyworks

In my last blog, I talked about Grief and Chronic Pain and the four emotions one needs to go through in order to be happy and well -adjusted with a chronic illness or a life changing injury.

One of those energies is “bargaining.” It’s the one I see most with clients who continually struggle to change their habits in order to undo the bodily damage their current habits have created.

Some of us have committed to changing for the better but continually do something  counterproductive to the change we want. One reason why we fail is an underlying energetic block, deficiency or imbalance in the chakra system.  Yes me, Mr. Muscle and Dr. Trigger point sees the body as more than just soft tissue.

Anodea Judith, in her workbook “Eastern Body Western Mind,” beautifully lays out the Chakra system. She presents each chakra’s purpose, symptoms of deficiency, excess and blockages and offers healing exercises to bring balance to the entire chakra system. She clearly compares psychological problems with the correlating chakra issue.

I have used this book in my own life with success and I recommend Anodea’s teachings for clients who are having trouble with commitment. Those that do the chakra healing work slowly become more resilient in their commitments.

Anodea uses the example of a woman who desperately wants to lose weight but always fails in her commitments of new eating and exercising habits. Why? Unknowingly there is an unconscious emotion and specific chakra deficiency that sabotages her.

I think this explains why people “bargain” with lifestyle and habit changes.  Rationalizing why fast food is easier than prepping breakfast and not having enough time to get on the yoga mat 4 times a week may just be a chakra issue.

If you’re having trouble making some positive changes in your life, check out Anodea’s  website, explore the chakra system, buy a product and do some chakra work.  Self – defeating talk, negative patterns, lack of motivation and other roadblocks to success will begin to transform into positive self – talk with motivated, positive and constructive behavior.

Marty has been integrating chakra work into his bodywork practice successfully for the past 2 years.
mkestin@ensomabodyworks.com • 704.335.8115 • www.EnsomaBodyWorks.com

Acupuncture and Fertility

By: Abe Rummage, AcuCare Clinic, www.AcuCareClinic.com

I was at an acupuncture seminar recently and one of the attendees from the audience asked the acupuncture physician during one of his demonstrations: “I’ve always heard that acupuncture can be quite helpful with infertility and difficulty conceiving. Is this really true?” In typical old-style Chinese teaching fashion he replied, rather emphatically “Look how many people we got in China! What do you think?!”

If you are having difficulty conceiving, or know someone who is then read on. Acupuncture is a truly phenomenal medicine and for centuries has helped women have a healthy conception, pregnancy and delivery.

So then how does putting tiny needles in my skin help me conceive?
There are many reasons why a woman may be having difficulty getting pregnant. In general, however, in Chinese Medicine conception, pregnancy and delivery require and ample amount of energy (or Qi) and Blood and that they be in harmonious circulation for everything to work smoothly. Acupuncture, and sometimes, herbal supplement, can help ensure all these components are present and interacting as they should be.

Your body is a garden, metaphorically speaking.
Ancient Chinese acupuncturists often referred to a woman’s womb as a garden. “When planting a seed in your garden you first prepare the soil. You make sure there is plenty of rich soil to work with, you add fertilizer and water, you remove all weeds and rocks, you protect the area and churn the soil to make it soft and ready to receive roots. Then, when a seed is planted a strong and healthy plant will take root and grow. Preparing for a baby is just the same.” How elegant! I couldn’t have said it better myself. Acupuncture and herbs are the tools for preparing the internal environment to support a new life.

Whether you are having trouble conceiving, know someone who is or would just like to find out more about how acupuncture can help you find optimum health for pregnancy come by the Bindu any Thursday from 1:00 – 5:30 or give us a call at AcuCare Clinic 704-483-5441.

Abe Rummage, AcuCare Clinic, 704-483-5441, www.AcuCareClinic.com

Student Interview with Stephanie Bloom

Interview with Stephanie Bloom

What brought you to the Bindu?
My Aunt Eileen.

What keeps you coming?
Definitely the kula!  I love the folks attending class, the teachers, and all the ladies working behind the front desk.  The Bindu’s kula is my second family.  The yoga is amazing, but I find myself thinking about all the wonderful people first and the yoga second.  I’ve made so many good friends whom I know will be in my life for a long time.  At every class I’m greeted so warmly by the teacher and I usually end up making a new friend.  This community of people is special.

What do you get out of your practice?
I always feel refreshed and energized after every yoga class. The asanas not only stretch out any tightness in my body, but also clear my mind of all the craziness of the day.  While inside walls of the Bindu, all my worries and stresses seem to melt away.

Tell us about a challenging pose that you are growing to love:
Okay, I had to look up the name of this pose.  Its Utthita Hasta Padanguthasana – translation – standing on one leg, extending the other in front, and holding the toes of the extended leg.  My hamstrings need this pose.  The other pose I’m working to love is Pincha Mayurasana – the trunk and legs are lifted off the floor and the body is balanced on the forearms and palms.  This pose makes me laugh when I learned about it because it resembles that of a peacock starting to dance. Dancing has always been fun and easy to me, but this pose is definitely a challenge. I really want to dance like a peacock!

What does Open to Grace mean to you?
For me it means opening my mind, body and soul to myself and others.  Accepting myself first and secondly accepting others.  Forgiving myself and of course working to forgive others.  Practicing yoga at the Bindu is so much more than a physical practice for me.  I’m learning to view life differently.  I’m learning patience and gratitude.  These things can be quite difficult to embrace, so working out life’s daily struggles through physical practice, meditation, and chanting creates a happier me, wife, mother, sister, and friend.  I need this in my life!

Thank you to all you Bindu yogis!

Acupuncture is Therapy

By: Abe Rummage L.Ac • 704-483-5441 •  www.AcuCareClinic.com

One of the difficult things I encounter as an acupuncturist is only getting one chance to “cure” my patients. No matter how much I tell them that acupuncture requires a course of treatment to realize its full benefits, people will come to me with the idea that they’re going to get one treatment and see if acupuncture works. Often times they’ll come out of the treatment room feeling much better but when they leave they’ll say “Yeah, it’s probably 50% better but I can still feel it. Oh well, I guess it just doesn’t work for me.”

Acupuncture is therapy, not a pill
Do you go to the gym, get in a good hard work out and then step on the scale and think “I haven’t lost any weight, this must not be working.” Do you get in your car, set out for grandma’s house, drive a few miles and ask “Why aren’t we there yet?” Of course not! Acupuncture should be seen the same way. Acupuncture treatments build over time to strengthen the body, remove blockages and balance energy.

Well then, how much therapy do I need?
How long have you had the problem? As a general rule, the longer you’ve suffered with a condition the longer it can take to correct it. This doesn’t mean that you won’t begin to feel relief after the first treatment or two, you probably will, but older problems can take longer to completely resolve.

What if I have a ruptured disk, a torn ligament or degenerative arthritis? Acupuncture can’t “heal” that can it?
Technically, no. No matter what treatment you use, traditional or alternative, your body is the one that does all the healing. All any form of medicine can do is simply help the body do what it already does naturally. Acupuncture can, however, reduce inflammation, swelling and pain as well as encourage the proper blood and energy flow to an area so that healing can happen as efficiently and completely as possible in the shortest amount of time. And that brings us back to our original idea: Acupuncture is therapy. Healing takes time but with a good course of acupuncture incredible things happen very quickly.

Would you like to know more about what you’ve read here?  Please call, check out our web site or come visit us at the Bindu for Community Acupuncture on Thursday afternoons.

Abe Rummage L.Ac • 704-483-5441 •  www.AcuCareClinic.com

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