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Removing the Second Arrow How Yoga Helped Me Overcome Trauma and Housing Loss and Discover Who I Was at Last By Jennifer Stanely I fear I may give the wrong impression when I say that yoga helped me overcome homelessness and my biggest adult trauma on the show, especially if your brain is wired like mine. You might think, “Oh, she started a yoga studio that was so successful that she dug herself out of the hole.” Yeah — the reality is nothing like that. As I write these words, we have yet to make a profit, yet my life has improved beyond my wildest dreams. No, yoga did not transform my financial situation. What it gave me was something far deeper and more powerful than money: The emotional and spiritual healing space I needed to get over my past trauma, the resulting alcohol abuse, and my own toxic behaviors that led me down a path of ruin in the first place. I want to share my healing journey of the past few years to set the record straight. I also feel my story could help others because, even though I’m now more privileged than I could have ever dreamed of a few years ago when writing “Welcome Home, Poe,” I didn’t have these advantages during my healing journey. I mostly had a yoga mat and YouTube, which is why I now use these mediums to try to give back as best I can for the many blessings I have received. I hope that sharing my story will lend similar glimmers to those who read these words while in a dark place. I also want to add to the collective knowledge base. Autistic individuals are more likely to experience homelessness for many reasons, and there’s also a lot of misconceptions about how we think and feel. I’m not a scientist or researcher, but I can offer my first-person perspective, which can perhaps inform earlier interventions and support so that others don’t experience my suffering. While there are sadly no guarantees, it’s been my experience that mindful practices like yoga can help you overcome hardship. It isn’t easy. However, by engaging in this daily routine and practicing self-compassion, you can transform past, negative, ingrained reactions into thoughtful, intentional responses to life’s inevitable hardships. This is how yoga helped me overcome the trauma of my past, my housing battle, and adult trauma, and discover who I truly was at last. Just the Facts, Ma’am — a Brief History of What Happened I’ll skip the gory details. Suffice it to say I had an, um, interesting childhood (“interesting,” here, means, “traumatic, confusing, lonely, and terrifying”). I was raised in an extremely narcissigenic environment. I’m also a late-diagnosed autistic, and what I didn’t know then was how profound my social deficits were — and in my case, they truly were deficits, not mere differences, given their impact on my life trajectory. I reached adulthood not fully understanding how to be a human, let alone an adult one. My gender protected me, as early marriage spared me from having to master skills like how to balance the checkbook and ensure the bills got paid on time. Sadly, I also had no idea how to be a good partner. A series of shattered relationships, many of which mirrored the abusive, toxic patterns of my childhood, nearly ruined me. The guilt I feel for my role in these partnerships will never fade. To my exes: I am sorry. As the years passed, I developed far worse health problems than the migraines I endured since a car accident at 17. I now know that autistic people are more prone to certain chronic health disorders. Back then, all I knew was that my body was falling apart. It was interfering with my ability to work and support myself, even as I tried different jobs, went back to school, and tried to do everything, anything, to stop my decline. But every time I went to the doctor, I was shamed for “exaggerating” my symptoms. Only, I wasn’t faking or seeking attention. Visiting physician’s offices is sheer hell on my sensory issues, but I was trying to do what people tell you to do when you’re sick. Those with chronic illness know that office visits can be a lot like going to the mechanic. You gotta limp the car to the shop first, and, of course, the worst of the “funny noises” never occur while the expert is under the hood. While doctors discovered things like white matter damage, an arachnoid cyst, mitral valve issues, they insisted these findings didn’t explain my inability to function. It didn’t help that my partners dismissed my needs and fears as often as my doctors. Don’t even get me started on the American healthcare system and how it destroys finances. As a result, every bank account and every 401k from every job I had ever managed to hold onto for more than a few months was already drained when the first housing crisis hit. When it did, I was living alone for the first time in my adult life. What Tim Fletcher calls my Big T Adult Trauma appeared in the form of an unpaid sewer bill on a townhouse I had rented with an ex but lived in solo after the split. He was responsible for paying the bill but hadn’t, apparently ever, and I had forgotten it existed. He didn’t tell me he had neglected it, and of course, I wasn’t exactly a whiz at the executive function part of adulting. So it sat unpaid — until the city threatened to put a lien on my landlord’s property for the unpaid amount. As a result, I received an out-of-the-blue eviction notice months after splitting up. Long story short, I had 48 hours to come up with $3,000 to pay the city or get out. And I had no money. I had nothing left after years of navigating American healthcare. My only alternative was to hit the streets with what I had — three cats and a Jeep that didn’t even lock. My ride still lacks a driver’s side window today, courtesy of another bad ex who punched it in. He never replaced it, and I scrape by with a scrap of fiberglass to this day. Saving that temporary roof traumatized me and kicked off years of housing insecurity. Of course, a few months later, amid the pandemic, my landlord raised the rent. Being forced to move as the first vaccines hit was also life-shattering. However, my property management company assured me that my new building had remained under the same stable ownership for years, and I would be safe. Not quite. A few months later, that stable, long-term owner sold to a foreign corporation. My rent went up again, this time by $1,200 a month. It was a lot to deal with. I almost couldn’t cope with the sewer bill. I almost didn’t. I almost ended my life then. But I didn’t. Something — to this day, I don’t know from what inner or outer wellspring it came from — stopped my attempt. And I am so grateful. Because during the intervening years, despite the subsequent housing shakeups, I gained an absolutely invaluable coping skill that made subsequent catastrophes more bearable. Only in Sedona Yoga Is Born Walking away from the cliff’s edge after the sewer bill trauma didn’t solve my problem of needing more money. Although I worked, I was unable to find anything in my hometown at my price point. I also lacked the requisite funds and a trustworthy enough car to relocate. To top it off, my credit was not good. It was a trifecta of poor fortune I had no idea how to handle. However, before truly talking to my mat, I had long done yoga as a form of physical exercise. I first earned a fitness instructor’s certification at 16 and have taught various class formats for much of my adult life. I had stopped teaching as I got sicker, but I still had the knowledge base. I noticed other people seemed to attain success by instructing such classes online, and I figured I could record videos when I felt good. Also, in practical terms, I had what I needed to get started with zero capital. So, with the help of my amazing partner, Ed, we launched Only in Sedona Yoga. I have to laugh when I look back at how grandiose my delusions were. Back then, I genuinely thought I was poor because I was just lazy. Even though I had worked multiple jobs and gone back to school to try to save myself, that childhood refrain remained in my head: “If I just put my mind to it.” If I worked really hard, I would achieve overnight success, get Ed and me the financial resources we desperately needed, and launch my nonprofit, just like that. Yeah. Remember what I said about having been raised in an extremely narcissigenic environment and being autistic? Delusions? I had them. My entire adult life, no matter what I did or accomplished, inside, I always felt like a failure, a loser, a fraud, and a fake. I manifested these qualities externally as well, for which I feel incredible guilt. Deep down, I’ve always believed my hardships were my fault, and in many ways they were . I just wasn’t able to connect the dots between my outward behaviors, my seemingly constant troubles, my past, and my neurology. I’ve often described my autism as being punished my whole life for not being able to see the board — but nobody ever suggested that hey, maybe I needed glasses. As it was, I had to find my own specs. For that, I have my yoga mat to thank. While my endeavors, as of this writing, have yet to bring financial rewards, they provided something much deeper. Yoga Mats, Psychology and Autism, Oh, My As I worked to build Only in Sedona Yoga, I spent a lot of time on my mat. Hours upon hours of practice, first to get myself limber enough to perform many of the poses — my flexibility lagged over the years and I was nearly 50 when we started. However, that time was necessary. It taught me without words how yoga is much more than a physical discipline, but a mental, emotional and spiritual one. It truly does mean “union” in more ways than I can express in what is already a lengthy tale. During this time, I also got sober. I look back with shame at how much I used to drink, how badly it made me act, and how poorly it affected my psyche. Alcohol was a constant in my household, and in my adulthood, no one close to me ever suggested I had a problem with booze. On the contrary, people often plied me with drinks to “make me loosen up and have fun,” as ordinarily, I’m quiet and avoidant AF. My intimate partners often drank as much if not more than I did, making me feel like I was rocking it in comparison. Boy, was I stupid. What finally convinced me to put the bottle down was watching Doc Snipes , one of my favorite “ Doctor YouTubes ,” and learning how it affected my various neurotransmitters. I didn’t want that. Fortunately, it wasn’t physically hard for me to quit drinking or put myself on a rigid, straight-edge-style program that my inner autistic child no doubt loved. At the time, the intended purpose was to show my doctors that no, I was not faking my symptoms. My goal was to eradicate anything that could damage my health. I ate a strict, primarily plant-based diet free of the ultra-processed junk that passes for food these days. I got off ten different prescription medications, keeping only one to help with sleep. I used the time I no longer spent drinking and doom-scrolling for yoga and digging into my other new special interest: figuring out why I was so messed up. I spent hours on my mat, practicing yin and restorative poses while watching various licensed mental health professionals on YouTube. The journey began with Dr. Daniel Fox’s YouTube channel, which I highly recommend. I came across the first video quite by accident. It dealt with borderline/narcissistic relationships, and it was like viewing my past partnerships on screen. Explaining how my autistic brain works is a bit hard, but I see patterns. It takes me a loooongg time to grasp concepts at times, but once I do, I don’t just see that narrow portion of the idea I was taught. It’s like a whole new universe opens up, and I see how this new knowledge connects to everything else, giving me a much deeper understanding. It also makes me a whiz at standardized tests. I’m not quite Rainman in that I can count the toothpicks at a glance, but I could tell you exactly what pattern they fell into and recreate that design with a new box without looking back at the original. The emotions I went through watching this video were intense. It was also chocolate ice cream with pickle sauce. I could see the patterns of behavior that my parents and past partners had were toxic AF, which was like, “Hooray, all this time, I knew it was wrong and bad, but I didn’t know why. They kept telling me they were right and I was wrong, but their behavior was actually toxic! Man, I feel validated, yay!” At the same time, I could also see that I had acted just as toxic , which filled me with deep, immense shame. I had also uttered many of the same phrases in my adult life, flung many of the same insults, engaged in the same passive-aggressive actions. The difference was that I had never harbored the malicious intentions that those with certain personality disorders presumably have. I manifested many of the behaviors, not because I was scheming or trying to one up anyone. I was trying to meet my sensory needs and imitating the only patterns I had ever learned. When something had gone wrong in my household growing up, there was no sober discussion of how to manage the resulting emotions or even the situation itself. There was screaming and chaos, substance use and hurtful words, unjustified blame and painful blows. I now know that autistic people often engage in copy-and-paste behaviors to mask their differences and try to fit in. However, this mimicry is utterly unconscious and forget about controlling something if you aren’t aware you’re doing it. Echopraxia — the unconscious imitation of other people’s facial expressions and physical movements , and echolalia — the meaningless recitation of words in familiar patterns, often to relieve stress — are exceedingly common. And my favorite role model, whom I imitated the most, was not mentally healthy. Please note: I’m not trying to escape the blame I deserve; I'm only trying to understand. I know I have said and done lousy, unforgivable things for which I will always feel deserved guilt, and I accept it. In my estimation, the pain it makes me feel doesn’t nearly repay my karmic debt. At the same time, knowing autistic traits run in families makes forgiveness possible. Did my dad truly believe in the hurtful things he said and did, or was he copy/pasting the toxicity he himself experienced? I may never know, but understanding my own pain and why I behaved so badly makes me less critical of others, even if I don’t accept their behavior. I can also see why many autistic women are misdiagnosed with personality disorders. I at first suspected my issues were due to BPD. In a way, I guess I have my relative poverty and lack of early healthcare access to thank for never getting that particular misdiagnosis. What made me suspect something else was afoot was that everything I had learned about personality disorders suggested that they were ingrained. One does not simply decide to stop behaving badly. Just like people didn’t merely stop drinking after learning how it affects your neurotransmitters. These weren’t in line with the stereotypical patterns of human behavior as I was coming to understand them. What was going on? Then, I watched Dr. Kim Sage , read the book “ Unmasking Autism ” and a host of others, and, just like Saul on the road to Damascus, the scales fell off my eyes. Finally, someone handed me that long-awaited pair of glasses and the entire world sprang into focus. So many of my struggles from my earliest memories all of a sudden made perfect sense. My pattern-recognizing mind did its thing, and all the mingled horror and ecstasy puzzle pieces of my experience fell into place. I saw the problem. I also saw how I was already, unconsciously, working to make it better, and how my new conscious knowledge could inspire my continued growth. Everything, Everywhere, All at Once Meanwhile, while I was undergoing my internal transformation, the clock was ticking. Even though I had survived the eviction notice and subsequent rent increase, I nevertheless had one year from December of 2021 to find another place to live. I think we all remember what was happening in the real estate market then, as the ripple effect continues today, affecting countless suffering souls while governments do little but treat the most vulnerable with increasing cruelty instead of aid. That’s what I mean when I say yoga helped me go from homeless to housed, and I feel shame and must sincerely apologize if I’ve made a misimpression. No. I wasn’t literally sleeping on the sidewalk. I was, however, next door to it and terrified, the kind of terror that makes it impossible to eat, sleep or think straight, that leaves you endlessly nauseous and shaking. The kind of terror I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. I had messed up adulting so badly that I had no resources left to stop this horror from happening, not even a proper vehicle to live in or good enough credit to get one. I had no money left to move, nowhere to go and there was nothing in my hometown for rent for people of my income level. I also lacked one other critical element, one that sounds hopelessly stupid in retrospect but was insurmountable at the time: I had no idea how to ask for help. Asking for help wasn’t a behavior I ever learned to copy/paste. Such behavior was considered the ultimate in shamefulness in my family of origin. Admitting vulnerability or fallibility meant risking rage, ostracism, verbal abuse, screams, tears, and, sometimes, physical violence. Also, I literally don’t know to this day how to handle certain interactions. What words do I say? How am I supposed to behave? Like an actor in a play, I wouldn’t only have to be told “reach out for help,” but to rehearse my lines and ensure my audience could understand my delivery. I tried to get help in my way, acted out plenty, and ineffectively, bemoaning my fate on social media — but it quite literally never crossed my mind to start a GoFundMe. The farthest I got was calling 211 at one point. I quickly got the impression that having any income disqualified me from aid, and in my defensive reaction, I said thank you and hung up instead of inquiring further. The idea of reaching out to other adults certainly also didn’t occur to me because as an undiagnosed autistic person, I had never established a sense of myself, let alone one of community. When I was a kid, if you needed something, by golly, you worked for it, and that’s what I kept trying so desperately to do, in any form, even when it traumatized me. I wonder how many of my family’s generational troubles spring from the same dynamic, the same inability to reach out and form the connections with others we all need in this crazy world. However, fate intervened. I met an incredible man who would go on to change my life. At the time, he was stationed overseas. We met when he was home on leave and spent the next several months falling in love over the phone. We spent hours talking, never judging each other. With him, I felt the sense of connection I had been so desperately missing without knowing it. Meeting in person cemented our union, but our souls had already bonded while we were half a world apart. I honestly don’t know if I would have made it had we not met. He helped me with expenses and renting a temporary space. One of my happiest days was buying Lora, my camper, to live in. Having that stability is what allowed me to continue my healing journey. While I had a Plan B, C, and D when we met, they would have been far less pleasant, and I’m so forever grateful he gave me the space, grace, and comfort I needed to continue to heal. Additionally, my beloved is also neurodiverse. Communicating with him is like magic. All the frustrations I had formerly felt trying to talk with neurotypical people just — didn’t happen. I understand him. He understands me. We take each other’s moods in stride. We don’t beat each other up or criticize each other for being human. It’s glorious. He’s also survived past abuse. Our relationship is a beautifully, continuously woven tapestry of love and healing together. We help each other improve in so many ways. With his help, I also started therapy and obtained my autism diagnosis — at age 52. Fortunately, though, I feel no bitterness over not knowing earlier, only joy at having the right answer at long last. I always felt “different.” Even going through the autism evaluation stirred childhood memories of when I was four. My mom wanted me admitted to kindergarten as I would be five soon. I was taken into a room with a giraffe and given an oddly similar test, after which, they labeled me as “gifted.” Not quite, doc, but hey, at least you picked up that there was something way back when. Removing the Second Arrow From an outsider’s perspective, life probably looked at least somewhat okay during these years. Inside, emotionally, it was a storm, one that still rages within me, although the winds have gone from Cat-5 hurricane force to mild tropical storms. You guys, I don’t know how to express it in neurotypical terms, but all that stuff psychologists say trauma does to your brain? It’s real. It’s so real, and I feel it every day. I literally feel it, like any other physical pain. Trauma’s grasp on me is slowly loosening, but healing isn’t an overnight process. It takes time, especially if you endured years of abuse, invalidation, and dismissal. Even though I no longer wanted to participate in toxic behaviors, I still had a whole lot of big feelings from my childhood and adult trauma that I had no idea what to do with. I missed so many essential lessons for autistic kids. Not just how to balance the checkbook but how to identify emotions beyond feeling “good” or “bad” and what coping strategies to use to handle them. I shudder to think how easily I could have destroyed my recovery by engaging in toxic old patterns. And it’s so hard not to sometimes. My learned reactions are — not good. And being autistic, I already have to go through a layer of mental math to process any social interaction to begin with. Then, I must pass my words through the trauma filter, “Is the harsh way I’m phrasing this reflective of the harshness of the reality or only hinder communication with someone who has never experienced such traumas?” I’m the first to admit, I don’t always get it right. However, I continued to cling to my yoga mat and YouTube, and I put those bad boys to work pretty much every day. Although I eventually eased my monk-like routine, daily mindful practice is a must for me. And while nothing soothes me to sleep like a good yoga nidra body scan at midnight, the only way I can ease my “big feels” long enough to sit with them is to add a bit of physical movement to mitigate those cortisol levels and promote clarity of thought. I think that’s one reason the mat worked so well for me. The other is that it is a judgment-free zone to practice mindfulness. To be autistic is to endure constant judgment, often harsh. You don’t smile right or often enough, you don’t look people in the eye, or seem fake when you do (for years, I used the “stare at their forehead” trick until I read this made you look like you have the psychopathic glare!). You never talk enough or always talk too much. When you do speak, you’re too blunt and direct. Everything about you seems to subtly rub neurotypical people wrong. While I hate the “othering” dynamic, some neurotypicals aren’t at all subtle about pointing out your differences and mocking or outright hurting you for them. There’s a huge overlap between autism and PTSD for a good reason. Spending time on the mat lets me work through my ugliest of uglies without anyone judging me for making the wrong facial expressions. I can cry, scream, surrender hopelessly in child’s pose, even sob and rock myself in cradle, and let myself feel that shame, that guilt. I lay down the burden of what has been done to me and what I have done to others and go through that baggage, taking however long it takes to iron each shirt and return it to the correct drawer. I sometimes refer to my time on the mat as “removing the second arrow.” According to the Buddha, in life, you will sometimes encounter arrows or negative events. They can pierce you and wound you. However, getting hit by a second arrow hurts even worse. That second arrow is your reaction to traumatic events. Yes. Many, many bad things happened to me in life. But I followed every one of them with a second arrow — my poor reaction. That’s what ultimately caused my suffering. Spending time on the mat let me reparent myself, teaching myself healthier coping skills. So when future arrows came — like a $1,200 rent increase — I was better psychologically equipped to deal with them without turning to the bottle and having a full-on meltdown. Engaging in this practice daily kept me from going off the rails during this tumultuous time, even though on some days, I came so, so close. Even though I was only a secondary player, relying heavily on my man to secure permanent housing, we were very much partners every step of the way — and there were many roadblocks in this market. Now my challenge becomes figuring out how to use my blessings to help others, which is what I’ve always dreamed of doing. Only Sedona Yoga provides a good starting point, and I’m excited to see what good eventually grows from this endeavor. In the meantime, I’m determined to keep working that soil, planting seeds, and tending my weeds on the mat, just as I clear them from the little acre I hope will someday grow sustainable foods for my family and others. Rebuilding My Mental Health and Finding Myself by Talking to the Mat My process of healing and becoming better on the yoga mat is by no means over — the process is as endless as the life cycle itself. What my journey has also taught me so far is that there is no perfect time to change your life. Change starts with deciding you want it, that the old patterns are no longer tolerable. It’s an ongoing process that requires constant work and upkeep, but it pays off in rewards beyond measure. I certainly don’t want to give literal thinkers — like me — the wrong impression. No, starting a YouTube channel didn’t magically fix my financial woes. Much as I hope Only in Sedona Yoga will flourish and grow, I have no idea what will ultimately come of it. I hope building it in a spirit of advancing mutual healing will result in even more and more goodness, maybe even fulfill my original dream. However, if my words or work on the mat help even one other soul, I have succeeded in life beyond measure. I can’t go back and undo the years before I began talking to my mat in earnest. I can’t make younger me get sober earlier so I might have realized what was happening more quickly. What I can do is take what I have learned these past years and use it to help others who might be in similar dark spots. That’s what Only in Sedona Yoga is all about. Guiding yoga classes on YouTube and in person helps me in my healing journey. I can only hope it helps others remove their second arrows, too. I’ll continue doing it in that spirit for as long as I am able and hope sharing my story can help others find strength. You can have a rough start in life. You can experience trauma. But you can also overcome it with mindfulness, self-compassion, and love.

Written by Jennifer Stanley. Your bones are among the toughest structures in your body, but they’re still living tissue. You can damage them or make them stronger, depending on your life choices. If you’re an older adult, maintaining your skeletal health is one of the best things you can do to prevent physical decline, especially if you’re a menopausal or postmenopausal female (like myself). Can yoga improve your bone density and strength? You might have guessed the answer to that question is yes. While many physical activities improve bone density and prevent the weakness that typically accompanies aging, yoga has unique advantages. Here’s what you should know about yoga and your bone health. Bone Health Trouble as You Age Nearly everyone has an older friend or relative who has “shrunk” with age. Osteoporosis affects roughly 10 million Americans. Please don’t think this disease only strikes after retirement. One in three adults over the age of 50 has some reduction in bone density , called osteopenia. This condition elevates your risk of break, the recovery from which can keep you off your feet, weakening the rest of your skeleton. Osteoporosis doesn’t only bend your spine and make you lose inches. Partially broken and collapsed bones in your spine can cause excruciating pain that hinders your mobility. This limitation also creates a negative cycle, where inactivity continues to reduce your remaining bone density further. What Causes Osteoporosis? It might surprise you that your skeleton continues growing after you reach full height. Bone is living tissue, meaning each day, some cells die and are replaced by new ones. Osteoporosis occurs when the rate of replacement fails to keep up, causing your bones to weaken with time. Certain factors increase your osteoporosis risk , including: Sex: Osteoporosis strikes women more frequently. Age: Osteoporosis tends to get worse with age. Family history: Your risk increases if one of your parents has the disease. Hormone changes: Low estrogen or testosterone increases risk. Diet: Low calcium and vitamin D intake in youth may increase your osteoporosis risk. Other medical conditions: Those with rheumatoid arthritis, endocrine diseases, cancer, HIV/AIDS and anorexia face elevated risks. Medications: Certain prescriptions may raise your risk — talk to your doctor. Lifestyle: A sedentary lifestyle increases risk as exercise improves bone density but a lack of movement weakens them. Furthermore, chronic alcohol and tobacco use heightens risk. Traditional Treatments for Osteoporosis Doctors typically treat osteoporosis by prescribing medications that either slow the rate of bone loss or help you rebuild new tissue. However, they’ll also recommend lifestyle modifications. You’ll need to take extra precautions to lower your fall risk, as your bones will break more easily. Other lifestyle modifications include improving your diet and getting regular, moderate exercise. That’s where yoga comes into play. Here’s how this activity can improve your bone health. How Yoga Improves Bone Health Yoga improves your bone health in several ways. It’s a weight-bearing exercise that doesn’t involve impact, making it accessible for those with joint conditions who find other exercise forms intolerable. Furthermore, it strengthens and maintains flexibility in surrounding connective tissues, improving mobility even in those with arthritis. Its most profound effects may come from balancing various body chemicals that promote tissue healing, including your bones. Cortisol plays a crucial role in healing, but if your body is already burnt out from an overabundance of it, you could have a longer recovery time. 1. What Science Says About Yoga and Bone Health Several studies support the use of yoga for improving bone health. One recent study, the results of which are slated for publication in 2024, shows that this practice improved both the mental health symptoms and bone density of adolescent females with eating disorders. Anorexia nervosa harms bone health by depriving the body of the necessary nutrients for maintaining your skeleton. Many earlier studies suggest the efficacy of yoga as a preventative medicine against osteoporosis. A 2023 meta-analysis of 39 trials featuring over 2,000 participants found that this practice may be an effective therapy , particularly in the following areas: Improving bone density Bettering bone mineral content Helping the function of the lower extremities Reducing pain and fear of injury Increasing quality of life Nor must your practice take much time to produce results. One earlier 2016 study showed that just 12 minutes of daily practice reversed osteoporotic bone loss. How long should you hold each pose? An even earlier 2009 study suggests that bone cells begin to create new bone after 12 seconds and stop after 72 seconds. A nice hatha vinyasa to restorative flow contains the perfect balance of holds and active movement to rock bone density as long as you hold each asana for roughly 30 seconds. 2. Yoga and Thinning Bones: Poses to Avoid While medical science encourages yoga for bone health, there are some postures you should avoid, especially if you have a bad back. Please avoid the temptation to push yourself , especially if you have a trauma history and your adaptive response is to endure what you should not. In general, you should avoid moves that focus heavily on flexion and extension. Doing so can lead to injury , which can keep you from the mat. You also want to avoid deep twists. Finally, remember, everyone’s bone and muscle configuration varies, so don’t force. Use extreme gentleness and caution with the following poses: Forward folds: Keep your weight on your toes while simultaneously focusing your attention on the hamstrings. The emphasis is not to get your hands to touch the floor but to open up the big muscles on the backs of your legs. If you feel any tugging in your lower back, straighten it by pressing your palms against your calves or thighs. Drop-backs: Drop-backs are an Ashtanga move that those with degenerative discs should avoid. Wheel: I’m a fan of a rock star or wild thing, a gentler way to get into a backbend. Camel and sphinx are also safer alternatives. Seated forward folds and butterfly: These moves can put tremendous pressure on your lumbar spine. The best advice is to keep your back straight, making your body resemble more of a tilted letter L rather than rounding through the spine. My preferred alternatives these days are to perform forward fold standing or supine leg raises. Twists: In general, easy seated or supine twists shouldn’t cause pain as you only twist to your level of comfort. Use caution with Matsyendrasana twists and bound twist poses that put external rotational force on the spine. 3. General Tips for Practicing Yoga With Thinning Bones When practicing yoga with thinning bones, keep mindfulness at the forefront of your practice. Sure, it’s fun to jump back into plank, but not at the risk of an achy back for a week or more afterward. Keep your practice low impact and modify poses to suit your unique body. The beauty part about yoga is that unless you’re doing a completely different routine in the front row of a crowded studio, you’re free to add variety. In fact, it’s encouraged — part of mindfulness practice entails tuning into sensory cues, including the interoceptive ones from within. Inversions are a tricky vixen. In some patients, they ease pain, but many find the risk of neck injury not worth it. I personally avoid inversions, not because of my spine but because going upside down does something very wonky with my equilibrium. However, others choose to incorporate them as the benefits they receive from easing spinal compression outweigh the risks. You can also invest in specialty headstand trainers or take to the sky with aerial yoga for the spinal perks. Your Bone Health and Yoga Yoga can play an important role in helping you maintain bone health as you age. The weight-bearing component increases density, while non-impact flows protect joints damaged by arthritis or disease. Keeping your bones healthy through yoga is an excellent choice to make as you age. Doing so reduces your risk of fracture and the lowered quality of life that often follows injury. Whichever style you choose, adding yoga to your life can lead to healthier bones

The veil between the living and the dead is particularly thin for me this year. However, by deeply meditating on death, we learn the secret of life. My world shattered this past summer. Poe, the hero of my first fiction book but a very much real-life cat, crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Anyone who has lost a beloved knows the devastation. Poe was much more than a pet to me. Yes, he was a cat. But he also saved my life. He came into it in my darkest hour, giving me one bright thing to look forward to every day. That little bit of goodness — seeing his cute, cropped ear arrive at the back door for food, gradually gaining that little feral’s trust — was the only thing that held me back from crossing the bridge myself. I had lost everything: my health, my ability to work, and with it, my life’s savings. I also lost a marriage, much of my mind, and was about to lose housing for the second time in my life. In desperation, I turned to the only profession you can do lying in bed, no degree or certification necessary. The degradation and self-loathing I felt made me honestly believe the world would be better off without me in it. The only thing keeping me here was a little cat who needed me. And now, he is gone. But he is also always with me. Coming to terms with his death was the worst pain I’ve ever felt, and I’ve been through quite a lot. While some people turn to their family or the church, I went back to my healer for solace — my yoga mat. Here is what I learned through my meditations. What Happens After We Die? I can’t answer that question. Anyone who says they know is either deluded or intentionally trying to manipulate you, absent proof; no one can raise Lazarus and interview him. All any of us can do is make a reasonable guess, based on what we know of what science knows. Many people claim to know what happens after we die. And, please understand, my purpose in writing this piece isn’t to convince anyone about what the afterlife is like or challenge anyone’s religious beliefs. Death forces us to confront our beliefs, to either find solace in them or come to a deeper understanding. It pierces the veil of our illusions, our fear, our desolate sense of loss, of never again, is a perception. We might turn to what we believe, but we realize belief isn’t knowing . Death is the great equalizer, but it affects us all differently. Still, every human who has ever existed has wondered: what happens next? We know the physical body decays, but what about the stuff that animates us? The unique cosmic soup that makes up who we are? Where does the ephemeral force that pushes the flower through the green fuse go when our bones become so much compost? I thought of this question and the river analogy as I stood cleaning Henry’s tank, where Pleck still swims and Goldie once did. He was yet another family member, a goldfish, who passed away just yesterday, throwing me back into what some Buddhist traditions describe as the bardo, that mysterious limbo that skirts the line between life and death. As I refilled the tank, I watched as the water poured from the faucet into the bucket. I considered leaving the water running between dumps, but out of conservation concerns, I did not. However, that simple act made the mental connection. Where does each drop of water go once it flows from the faucet to the sink? It’s not gone, yet you can no longer taste it, touch it or perceive it with any of the traditional five senses. Yet you know it still is — somewhere. It’s like Thich Nhat Hanh speaks of when he makes the allusion to the cloud. Where does a cloud go when it disappears? We do not say a cloud died. We know it is still there, only it has become something else. Each human being is a unique biological creation that can only exist during this moment in time. They’re living flesh made of matter. Evolution shows it — while many people contain traces of Neanderthal DNA, for example, a full-blooded Neanderthal would have a pretty difficult time of things today. Who you are biologically depends on your DNA, but that isn’t the whole story. The science of epigenetics shows us how our life choices can influence our physical manifestation. Each tiny choice we make, from what to eat to how we relate with others, turns some genes on and others off, increases levels of some chemicals and decreases others. But there is something else, too. The decisions we make aren’t mere outputs of our biology: anyone who has kicked an addiction knows it takes a tremendous amount of free will to say no when every dopamine-drenched cell in your body screams, “Yes,YES! And right NOW!” Often in defining our limitations, we find our freedom. Humans are finite, bound by time. They are also mortal, bound by flesh. That mysterious force, the energy behind all of this, driving the green fuse through the big bang flower is the third portion, that which we don’t understand. Humans Have Limited Perspective Because we are bound by time and biology, we cannot possibly know everything or see all there is. All we know is what we can perceive through our senses. We now know there are many more than five , but every human has the same ones in varying amounts, and even that can change slightly throughout life. For example, our time-sense is limited by our biological mortality, which is why the last five minutes of class last forever to bored schoolchildren but each passing day seems progressively shorter as we age and things start moving way too fast. We know that other living creatures have differing perceptions. I remember many times gazing into Poe’s eyes, wondering how he saw the world. He was so good, so patient, so pure, never lashing out in anger, although his life had been every bit as harsh as mine in its own way. Like me, he had been abandoned, discarded, left to survive or perish alone despite being very small and utterly unprepared for the task. I don’t know how he perceived the world, but his example showed me that I could endure suffering with the same grace. That was Poe’s greatest gift, and the part of him that will forever live on: he showed me you do not have to carry forward the evil energy that flowed onto you undeserved. You don’t have the power to know everything in this life; no one does. You may never know why horrific things happened to you or those you love. But where your freedom, your choice comes in while you live is to not carry that energy forward. You are an alchemist while you live and breathe; you determine how you interact with the other energy directed toward you. If it is dark, you can join that sinister chorus — or you can choose to be loving and kind in spite of it, sending that energy forward instead of more negativity. That choice, that energy, is the third magical element that makes people, well, people. We are time-bound, interdependent on everything else happening in the brief 60 to 100 year span where we live and breathe. We are biology-bound, and how we treat our body influences how we act and the choices we make, but they can only influence. That third element, the part that decides, that’s how we take the energy that came before and push it into the future. Poe did it so beautifully. He took everything evil that was done to him and despite it all, was the most loving of cats. And in doing so, he brought out the love in me, love that was buried deep behind walls of defensiveness and ego. He changed the energy of hate into love and showed me how to do the same. See the interconnectedness, how one act of love can create a ripple effect? Our energy, made material through our choices while we live, creates it. What that third element, that green fuse force is, we may never know. Our perception may be limited by time and biology to prohibit it — I don’t know. However, we know it exists. And despite external influences like work pressure and internal forces like biology, we still use it to make independent choices, thus creating our future, and, through extension, humankind’s collective future. Energy Is Never Created Nor Destroyed An old Chinese experiment proved years ago that humans do have an energy field. While Western minds might find the idea of a bodily energy field curious , the stuff of a Sedona aura reading, it’s an integral part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Although scientists haven’t classified exactly what it is, some of it appears to be a sort of near-infrared radiation. I remember saying in a yoga class or meditation once that you are your own nuclear reactor of energy. It turns out, that analogy isn’t too far off the mark. Western minds accept Einstein’s theory of relativity, but few mindfully meditate upon it. However, every school child who has taken a basic physics or chemistry course knows that energy is never created nor destroyed. It changes form, true, like Thich Nhat Hanh’s cloud, but it doesn’t disappear. Much of the stuff that is in you, at the elemental level , has existed for millions of years, nearly since the beginning of time. You might not feel that way when you climb out of bed feeling creaky in the joints, but it’s true when you get super teeny tiny, smaller than even the most microscopic cell. You need the unique combination of those elements to make what you think of as you, well, you. That’s why you are one of a kind. There are so many infinitesimally small elements that come together, and that precious combination only happens once. That’s why life is something to cherish, why it is so very wrong to take it, and why death affects us so profoundly. Once someone is gone, they are truly gone forever. What, Then, Remains? The loss of a one-of-a-kind, precious thing that cannot be replaced is enough to drive anyone to madness. Yet, have you ever looked around in the aftermath of death and noticed how life goes on? It stuns you — how can this possibly be? How can others enjoy their lives and possibly be happy? Don’t they know the loss that just occurred? That everything just ended? Only, everything didn’t end. Life goes on because the essential elements that create it remain. The raw material doesn’t go anywhere. It still exists, as does the energy created through it. And if the clay remains, and if that clay is what’s necessary to create the animated form we think of as life, it only makes sense that life will rise again from it. It will never be exactly the same as what came before — but it will be similar. Everything exists in an intricately linked system; understanding that helps you care for it by performing your role in it to the best of your ability. Nor does the energy every living creature transmits during their time here cease to exist. It, too, goes on. Sometimes, it is destructive — we see this as war and murder and oppression continue — but the energy continues to flow. The good also continues — we see this in schools, street and town names, things that honor the efforts of those who have passed, in the way each new scientific achievement builds from the previous ones. It continues in each new generation. Even stars, when they burn through their energy reserves, don’t disappear. They become black holes, and what those mysterious beasts are, no one knows any more than they know where the energy driving all of it came from originally. Some scientists believe they go to infinite multiverses, a universe of universes, going on and on forever like an ever-growing chain. It’s fun to conjecture about what might be, but we have to stay grounded in what we know here on earth. Every hour, every minute, every second, someone dies. Yet every hour, every minute, every second, someone is born. It’s the transition between death and life — the loss of consciousness — that no one understands. Perhaps that’s a part of the beauty of life’s design — you have to be conscious to experience it. In nature’s infinite mercy, she only allows us mortals to perceive the decay of their bodies for so long before sweet oblivion takes over. What happens next, no one knows for sure. Many people believe the energy goes forward, changing into yet another form. Many children have memories of past lives when young that they forget as they age, just as older adults forget much of their youth as time passes. I was one of them. I was raised in a conservative Catholic family where even the mere mention of reincarnation would have been laughable (and diversity was not permitted in my family, so I’m pretty sure my toddler-self didn’t encounter anyone with a different belief system). However, my past life memories felt as real to me at age three or four as memories of the past few years do to me now. Death could be the Universe’s ether, a way of blocking pain when it is too overwhelming for this mortal body to bear. It’s like needing to be put unconscious to undergo surgery, only the transformation happening is that force seeking yet another green fuse to push open a flower. If having your knee or abdomen cut open is too painful to bear while conscious, imagine what it must feel like to shatter at the elemental level. Pain is sometimes necessary — but most of us seek to avoid the worst of it. Pain avoidance lies at the heart of every addiction, and both physical and emotional pain affect the same parts of your brain. It’s what makes broken-heart syndrome a very real phenomenon. Are the twin energies traveling together to whatever comes next, or is the phenomenon simply a physiological overload of stress on your cardiovascular system? Maybe it’s both. We don’t know. We only know what we can measure, what we can perceive. We do know that the Universe provides the ultimate ether as the elements that make up our physical selves break down. It’s why we say death is sometimes merciful in the case of people enduring long-term pain. Suffering can only happen while you are conscious, while you live. Death Unites Us in Our Shared Humanity There’s one thing all humans intuitively understand about death, and that’s its finality. When someone dies, they aren’t coming back to this life where you can see their smiling face, hear their comforting voice or feel the touch of their hand — or fur. They have shattered and spread while we remain whole, except for the empty space next to us where they once sat. We all know this truth, and none of us know for sure what happens next. I know I have my beliefs, but I’m also very aware that they are just that — beliefs. Even though I try to look at things from a scientific perspective, I’m also aware that I’m limited in my perception. And filling in the blanks is very dangerous, so dangerous it sparks wars, destroying precious, unique lives, robbing people of those they love, robbing us of our very humanity. People can now look to artificial intelligence to see what happens when people fill in the blanks of what they don’t know with random ideas. AI hallucinations can sometimes be amusing, but it doesn’t take a genius to see the dangers inherent in letting that information disseminate to the public as truth. While computers can compile research from what’s already known and scan information way faster than any humans, they can’t design and conduct replicable experiments to separate truth from fiction. It’s more vital than ever that people examine their beliefs about death in the light of what we do know, not what we don’t. Humans have created more powerful weapons than ever, capable of obliterating thousands of lives with a single bomb. These weapons would not even exist if people saw through their illusions and admitted that they don’t know what comes next. If each of us truly sits and takes time to reflect on life, how unique it is based on all we know, how each individual life is a one-in-a-Googol chance, we wouldn’t destroy it so carelessly. We would protect it as feverishly as we now protect our homes, gold or national pride. Murder, be it in war or in the street, is destroying something irreplaceable. It may come back in some form — but it will never be the same. And you don’t only kill the dead, but a valuable part of the living by taking from them something you can never give back, something reparations can never repay. When you stop and reflect on life and death in light of what we know — not in light of your belief system — you see how deeply wrong it is to destroy even one life. Because here’s the thing: we all experience death. That sense of loss you have when someone you love dies? The enemy you wish to kill has loved ones that will experience that same sense of loss. What if they are to act on their feeling of revenge and not forgiveness? You see how war continues forever in some regions, as world leaders continue watering seeds of hate, spreading it to others. When you reflect on life and death in light of what we know, not what you believe, you realize that if you want your children born into a peaceful world, then you must work for peace in every word and deed while you are here on earth. Maybe it takes going to a retreat and sitting down with your enemy in deep meditation. It’s certainly better than snuffing out hundreds of innocent lives with one bomb while you sit detached, discussing “strategy.” No matter how strategically you plan, carrying forward that energy of hate will carry forward war and destructive energy. If you want peace for future generations, you must work toward it now, here, while you live, even when it is hard and violence seems easier. Life is how energy changes. There is no other way to create a peaceful future that we know of today. I think about this now as I write these words. What drives me? It is the hope. The hope that people will read these words and reflect mindfully. That they will influence others to walk the path of peace and love. Perhaps it's good that humans don’t know what happens after we die. All we know, collectively, every single one of us who has ever experienced a devastating loss, that there is no other pain like it. Even if you don’t die of broken-heart syndrome, you often wish you did. Can we use that shared pain to unite, not divide us? After all, if no one knows what happens after we die, we should all collectively fight to prolong life as long as possible, not destroy it. I don’t know what that looks like — if it means forcing warmongers into meditation retreats or simply keeping up the loving education — but I know what it doesn’t. It doesn’t look like getting so caught up in your egotistical beliefs about what might happen after death that you destroy life here on earth. Life Is Our Miracle, Our Chance to Change Our Energy Death, in its utter mercilessness, can be a great teacher. It can teach us how to be more merciful, how to tread lightly with one another’s hearts. Instead of hastening each other to earlier graves, not only through war, but through overwork, bad habits and dangerous practices, we can nurture each other through this life. And, as each of us nears our time of transition, we can offer comfort and solace, easing their passage with love. We know that matter is never created nor destroyed. What continues is what we do with the energy we are given throughout our lives within the boundaries of our bodies and time. It is a heavy responsibility, but also a great gift. We create the future, with each choice, with each word, each connection we form with others, each contribution. What we want that future to look like depends on every one of our choices — we are all interdependent. We can use death to bring people together instead of dividing us. Perhaps no place is as steeped in death and the bardo than the Middle East. As I took a necessary break in writing this article this morning for a mindful walk, I listened to a dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh, which is my practice for calming my mind. He spoke about having Israelis and Palestinians come together at Plum Village to meditate together. At first it is hard to simply sit and to deeply listen with those you do not even consider people, but enemies, demon-creatures you must destroy. Yet, by the end of ten days, all participants hold hands during walking meditation and break bread together at meals, joyfully, freely, because they recognize their shared humanity. They realize that all of them have suffered the same traumas, in the same way. There might be different actors, but death is death, pain is pain, suffering is suffering. That is what I mean by death is the great equalizer: It unites all of humanity in suffering. Yet, while we still live, while we still breathe, we have the power to change that. Each person who refuses to carry forth the energy of war means that one less child of the future generation will be born into a war-torn world. Each time you hold back an angry, harsh word meant to hurt, each time you restrain your hands from harming another living creature, you change that energy. Try a little experiment sometime. Get mindful enough that you notice when a situation between you and another living being can potentially turn negative. Then try manifesting the energy of understanding, of peace, of letting it go — perhaps make a joke. What could have ended up in an argument can instead unite and bond you with another. It all depends on how you choose to use your precious energy, that stuff that we can’t define with time or biology but know exists while you live and breathe in this form, here and now. Doing so creates the future you want to see and shifts that energy for those who catch it. Negativity can be contagious, but so can positivity. It all begins by reflecting deeply on death and marveling at the priceless secret it reveals: energy and matter may continue, but each unique life only exists once. Let’s use that shared experience to bring us together, and make this kingdom here on earth happy. We know that creating a brighter today begins with each one of us; let’s do the work, beginning with deep mindfulness and listening to each other, finding our shared humanity, even in the suffering of death. When Poe died, it brought everyone in our little Only in Sedona Yoga family together. He transitioned to what’s next surrounded by everyone who loved him and a caring team who delivered him with utmost comfort. None of us can avoid death. But we can all work together to make it possible for everyone to have such a peaceful passage. That is where our beliefs come in, not as a cudgel to destroy other human life but to ease the transition from here to whatever comes next. Coming to Terms With Death on the Yoga Mat Means Coming to Terms With the Unknown I don’t know what happens after we die. No one does. Living with the unknown is hard. As someone with severe anxiety, trust me, I feel it in every fiber of my being. Fear is an ever-present beast I wrangle, and no fear is greater than that of not existing. However, one thing managing an anxiety disorder teaches you is how to act in spite of “I don’t know.” How to find healthy ways to connect with other humans and handle the negative feelings inside of you that can lead to contention with others. I do trust in energy being never created nor destroyed. It is. It simply is. And because it is, we are. The energy that animates each one of us, that puts us in the driver’s seat of this human body we inhabit for a brief moment, has existed since the creation of the Universe — nay, even before, for what did that energy come from? Nothing truly dies, but everything changes. You can’t step into the same river twice, and you can’t hold someone in the earthly realm once their energy has gone from their mortal flesh to wherever it goes next. But you can treasure it while it’s here, and you can continue to spread the love they brought you long after they’re gone. The day before we put Poe to sleep, I spent the entire day with him just lying in bed. Just loving him. Petting his fur. Feeling him breathe. Building the love energy between us, the same love energy that sends tears rolling down my face as I write these words, sobbing the same desolate, inchoate cries from the depths of my being. And when the grief gets too much and the emotions overwhelm and I feel like I myself may die, I remind myself that what I am feeling is the love we created while he lived. The emotions are powerful because the love we created is powerful. That lives on through me. It makes me conscious that the choices I make daily reflect that love, my actions reflect the effect he had on me, and I want to honor his memory by being the best me I can be. I want to take the lesson of peace he taught me and share it with the world. I can think of no better way to honor his legacy. I can’t pet Poe anymore. I can’t see him. But oh, how I can feel the love we shared. And I can spread that love forward in what I say and what I do. Doing so might not answer the question of what happens after we die. Every day, I wonder where my beloved Poe is now. Every day, the raven whispers, “Poe is nevermore.” I know that is true in one sense. But to that raven, I quoth back, no, Poe is forevermore. His love was his legacy. All of this, all of us, all of existence, is forevermore. What that existence will look like, though, depends on the decisions we make while alive. Poe’s brief, shining moment shows us how to make that existence, our brief time here, beautiful.

Wouldn’t life be easier if everyone got along? Sometimes, the cause of stress-producing conflict is an unfair world, but other times, the issue lies squarely with you and your maladaptive reactions to tense circumstances. I’m no stranger to this phenomenon, and emotional regulation is admittedly among my biggest challenges. I’m also a fan of holistic medicine, which treats the whole patient versus beating symptoms into submission solely through allopathic means like prescription medications and surgery. Various factors influence your overall health and how disease manifests in your body and mind. While it’s often impossible to pinpoint a singular cause for your troubles, addressing each of the varying contributing factors can often bring considerable relief. One example of this is how your diet can influence your mental health. Although a steady diet of salmon and spinach salads won’t cure anxiety or depression, ensuring your body has the right nutrients to produce various neurotransmitters in the right amounts can make a surprising difference in your mood and outlook. Can you improve emotional regulation through diet? Cleaning up your plate can’t hurt — and may help. What Is Emotional Regulation? Emotional regulation refers to your ability to use positive coping strategies to diffuse or moderate negative emotions. One example is hitting the gym after a tough day at work to burn off your frustration on the punching bag instead of turning your temper on your spouse or children. Why does it matter? After all, this is America! Shouldn’t we all be free to express all our emotions, good or bad? Emotional regulation is crucial because acting impulsively in a pique of rage, frustration, or despair often makes a bad situation worse. You could shatter fragile relationships beyond repair and even harm yourself and others — for example, by driving erratically after an argument and causing an accident. Emotional regulation shares much in common with maturity and is a critical component of it, but it doesn’t necessarily improve with age. There are older Americans in their 80s and 90s who still struggle with dysregulated emotions. Fortunately, it doesn’t matter how old you are. You can always take proactive measures to improve your emotional regulation, including adopting healthier daily practices , like cleaning up your diet. Personal Aside: The Intensity of Dysregulation If you follow Only in Sedona Yoga on YouTube (shameless plug: please like, subscribe, and share), you know that I talk to my mat to regulate my emotions. However, mindful movement alone isn’t always enough. As someone with a trauma history , I learned some pretty downright horrific, let alone maladaptive, stress responses as a child and never unlearned them as an adult. When tough times struck after becoming ill with mysterious symptoms, I became horribly dysregulated. I lashed out at others, including those who only wanted to help (I’m so sorry, guys). While I complained of lacking a support system, it’s no wonder they left, considering I occasionally fired potshots over their bows. I also hurt myself. When I was dysregulated, my emotions were so intense that I couldn’t see two fingers if I held them up right in front of my nose, let alone possible solutions to the problems I faced. That frustration added to the negativity, creating a rolling spiral that crushed everything in its path, including my spirit. However, in a panic to do something, anything, to save myself, I made some terrible decisions. These days, I’m much, much better at not letting my negative emotions result in impulsive, erratic acts that make already bad situations even worse. I share this personal aside because I want you to know that you are not alone if your feelings sometimes feel so powerful, so intense, you have to act and act right beeping now , if only to make the voices in your head stop screaming. However, there is hope. With time, I have gotten much less reactive. The emotions that once threatened to drown me now only go up my nose and burn my throat a little. I’m much better able to manage them, and you, too, will regain that feeling of control with time, practice, patience, and compassion toward yourself. Talking to the mat is responsible for a lot of my healing — but diet also plays a role. Is Diet Alone Enough? Let’s be clear: improving your diet can help with emotional regulation. It will not, however, transform you from the pre-ghost version of Ebenezer Scrooge into the new and improved one by itself. Improving your diet is one piece of the holistic healing pie. However, you might notice two significant improvements after a few weeks of changing your eating patterns if you’re anything like me: The fire cools: Strong, dysregulated emotions are like wildfires, burning you from the inside until you take some action to douse the flames. Over time, an improved diet can decrease the intensity of these blazes so that you don’t have to fight as hard. You might still have moments, but they occur less frequently and blow over more quickly. The sky brightens: Sometimes, addressing a nutritional deficiency alone is enough to change your mood dramatically. Other times, the effects are more subtle, but the overall improvement in your outlook aids in making other healthy decisions, like sticking to your yoga program, that further accelerate healing. How Diet Affects Emotional Regulation Diet affects emotional regulation in several ways: through managing inflammation levels, preventing nutrient deficiencies, and nurturing a healthy intestinal microbiome. Here’s a closer look at each function. 1. Inflammation and Dysregulation Generalized anxiety disorder is my bugbear, but I’m not alone. Rates of this disorder and depression increased 25% during the recent pandemic , during which substance abuse also rose. One way that diet affects mental health is by increasing or decreasing systemic inflammation. Systemic means it affects your whole body — including your brain. For example, researchers have found an association between systemic inflammation and increased anxiety levels. Healthy foods, like the ones listed in the last part of this article, decrease systemic inflammation. Conversely, ultra-processed foods laden with white sugar, bleached flour, and unhealthy fats increase it. 2. Nutrient Deficiencies and Mental Health As previously noted, deficiencies in certain minerals, such as magnesium, zinc, and selenium, can adversely impact mental health. While eating foods high in these substances helps, a well-rounded diet is equally important. Various micronutrients go into manufacturing neurotransmitters and maintaining bodily structures, and in general, the more brightly colored whole foods you include, the better —- it ensures sufficient intake of everything. 3. Your Microbiome and Mental Health Researchers have found an association between disruptions in the intestinal microbiome and the following mental disorders: Anxiety Depression Schizophrenia Bipolar disorder Autism spectrum disorder Eating disorders Your intestinal microbiome refers to the colonies of beneficial bacteria lining your intestines. They help you digest and much more. For example, you make 95% of your body’s serotonin in your gut, and many researchers believe these pint-sized powerhouses send messages to your brain, influencing mood. 9 Best Foods to Improve Your Emotional Regulation Through Diet The best foods to improve emotional regulation through your diet, therefore, address these three factors. Here’s what to add more of to boost your mood and outlook. 1. Nuts Nuts are among the best sources of those miracle mental minerals: magnesium, selenium, and zinc. Although they’re often salty-tasting, they contain oodles of potassium to mitigate the impact on your blood pressure. They’re great for solo snacking as an alternative to chips, and you might be surprised by the prices — many varieties are roughly equivalent in price to junk food these days. Choose health and nutrition over inflammatory snacks. 2. Seeds Seeds are also mental miracle mineral sources, but they are especially beneficial to women. That’s because they contain lignans, phytoestrogens that may balance female hormones and decrease period-related anxiety and depression. Flaxseed is particularly beneficial and may help post-menopausal women reduce their breast cancer risk. 3. Fatty Fish Fatty fish makes this list because it is your best source of omega-3 fatty acids. Researchers associate deficiencies in these substances with various mental disorders , including anxiety, depression, and Alzheimer’s disease. Although you can find omega-3s in foods like flaxseed, only seafood contains DHA and EPA , two forms of omega-3 your body struggles to make from plant-based sources. 4. Yogurt It’s time to nurture your microbiome. How do you do that? With probiotics and prebiotics. Prebiotics refer to a type of dietary fiber these microscopic bacteria love. Probiotics are the organisms themselves, which exist in fermented foods like yogurt. Although you are born with a stash of them, they deplete over time — add more through diet. Other probiotic-rich, fermented foods include: Sauerkraut Kimchi Miso Kombucha Kefir 5. Berries Berries are a rich source of anthocyanins. These antioxidants occur in red and blue food and are particularly good for combating inflammation in your heart and brain. 6. Broccoli and Leafy Greens Broccoli and deep, leafy greens are nutrient powerhouses. They contain many of your B vitamins, iron, and filling fiber to nurture your microbiome while keeping you fuller for longer. A salad with nuts, greens, berries, and a yogurt dressing is a lovely lunch for improving your emotional regulation through diet. 7. Whole Grains Whole grains complete the B-vitamin puzzle. However, it’s crucial to read labels, ensuring they read “whole grain” or “whole wheat.” Be wary of combos — a label that says “wheat flour” and “whole wheat flour” may contain only a smidgen of the good stuff. Why does it matter? The nutrition and fiber you want are in the bran and germ, which manufacturers strip away when processing flour. As a result, eating refined flour is akin to consuming sugar for its effect on your blood glucose, which can increase your Type 2 diabetes risk. 8. Turmeric Turmeric is a miracle spice. However, it works best with its inflammation-fighting sidekick, black pepper, as the piperine increases your body’s ability to use the curcumin in this root herb by 2,000%. Add a bit of each to your morning tea. As a bonus, adding turmeric’s anti-inflammatory power to your daily routine could ease chronic pain. 9. Green Tea If coffee makes your anxiety worse, try green tea. Although it has some caffeine, it pales compared to a cup of joe — about 15 milligrams versus 200. Additionally, green tea is a fabulous source of EGCG, an antioxidant that may ease depression symptoms and make you less impulsive if you have certain mood or personality disorders. Foods to Avoid to Improve Your Emotional Regulation Through Diet The foods you should avoid to improve your emotional regulation through diet include most, if not all, ultra-processed foods, as they increase inflammation. You should also avoid any that cause a food allergy , even if your physical symptoms seem mild — get mindful and journal about how you feel after suspect meals if uncertain. For example, stay clear of the following as much as possible: Processed convenience meals Fried foods Many snack foods, such as chips, pretzels and crackers Many baked goods, especially those with bleached flour and lots of sugar Candy Holistic Healing: Improving Emotional Regulation Through Diet A holistic approach to health requires you to examine multiple factors that give rise to unwanted symptoms. While fixing your diet alone is unlikely to cure your mental health symptoms, you can improve your emotional regulation through the foods you choose. Feeling dysregulated and out of control is scary and can lead to increased stress and strife in your life. It only makes sense to keep yourself as balanced as possible through any means available to you. Add more of these nine foods to improve your emotional regulation through your diet and mindfully tune into and perhaps journal about how you feel. The difference may impress you.

This article first appeared on LivingWithHM.com There’s a Type 2 diabetes epidemic in America. Nearly 100 million of us live with prediabetes or the full-blown condition, and what’s scary is that many don’t know their risks.1 However, it’s one of the most preventable illnesses, and you don’t need any special skills, oodles of money, or even regular healthcare access. You must, however, know what to avoid. You already know about sugar, but did you know that bleached flour is just as bad, possibly worse? Furthermore, this stuff lurks in many products, including packaged convenience foods. However, you can learn to avoid it. Best of all, there are plenty of alternatives, many of which will elevate your baking if you live for the kitchen — all while improving your family’s health. What should you try and how will it affect your food’s taste and texture? How can you keep it convenient? We have your answers. Dig into these 14 alternatives to bleached flour while protecting yourself against what’s arguably America’s top health risk. What’s the Problem With Bleached Flour? The problems with bleached flour are twofold. One, it has less of the good stuff your body needs. Two, it may contain traces of a toxin your body doesn’t. 1. Bye Bye to the Good Stuff Bleached flour comes from wheat. “Hey, wait,” you might think, “That’s a plant-based, healthy food!” That’s correct — in its original form. Wheat consists of three layers: Bran Germ Endosperm The manufacturing process of bleached flour begins by stripping away the bran and germ. Guess what? That’s where a considerable portion of the nutrients and fiber lie. You miss out on vitamins, but that’s not all. Fiber helps flour digest more slowly, preventing the steep blood sugar spikes that can predispose you to Type 2 diabetes over time. When you take that away, what remains is a fast-absorbing substance that’s nearly the equivalent of a spoonful of sugar. Yikes. Then, manufacturers add bleaching agents like benzoyl peroxide directly with the flour and mix gaseous bleaching agents like nitrogen peroxide and chlorine into the freshly-milled stuff.2 That creates another problem. 2. Hello to Alloxan When you mix chemicals with food, you create byproducts. One of these is alloxan. What’s that? It’s a substance that scientists use to degrade the pancreatic beta cells in laboratory mice.3 Researchers have found trace amounts of this stuff in several brands of bleached flour. Why is it so bad for human health? Your pancreas is where you make your insulin, particularly your beta cells. That’s right. Each time you eat bleached flour, not only do you spike your blood sugar, predisposing you to Type 2 diabetes. You also consume a chemical that damages the organ responsible for combating these spikes. Statistics suggest the results are not good, leading to increased disease. How to Recognize Flour on Food Labels One problem with avoiding bleached flour is you’ll seldom see those two words used on nutrition labels. Instead, you’ll see “wheat flour.” What happens when the average consumer reads, “wheat flour?” That’s right. They think it’s healthy. Not you. Like Jellystone’s Yogi, you’re smarter than the average bear. But what should you look for? Instead, look for the words “whole grain” or “whole wheat” on the label. Pro-tip : The words “contains whole grains” can be misleading. Read the label. It might say wheat flour and then whole wheat flour, indicating that you have a mix of bleached and unbleached stuff in there. You’d have to write to the manufacturer to discern the precise ratio. Stick to whole grain only. Where Flour Lurks in Food Bleached flour is everywhere in Western diets. The statistics begin to make sense. Unfortunately, you have to read the labels of more than your loaf of bread. Bleached flour may lurk in the following: Baked goods Snack foods like pretzels and crackers Breading: Processed convenience foods are often full of the stuff — more on this in the FAQs section. Pasta Gravies Cereal Sauces Meat Substitutes: Pay attention, vegans and vegetarians. 14 Alternatives to Bleached Flour to Experiment With Fortunately, there’s a wide variety of alternative flours to play with when you cook at home. You’ll also find these used in more healthy convenience foods as people educate themselves and demand alternatives, although you might pay a steeper price. The DIY method keeps your costs low and doubles as a valuable prep — it’s much easier to store flour than fresh bread. How to Use Flour Substitutes Please note that alternatives to bleached flour will vary slightly in taste and texture from what you’re used to. However, change can be a good thing. You might find that you like these alternatives better! Plus, you get another bonus. Remember, bleached flour removes the filling fiber that keeps your appetite at bay. Switching to alternatives will keep you fuller longer, which can stretch your food budget and maybe even help you drop a few unwanted pounds without trying. Your best method? Experiment! Play with different alternative flours to find your favorites or create a signature blend of two or three favorites. Start with easy swaps, like the breading on oven-baked chicken, and progress to baking. Here are 14 alternatives to consider. 1. Whole Grain Flour Whole grain flour doesn’t strip away the bran and germ, giving you much more nutrition. You also maintain the filling fiber that keeps your blood sugar under control, lowering your Type 2 diabetes risk. 2. Almond Flour If you want to eat more nuts and seeds for your mental health, consider doing so by substituting almond flour. Bleached flour can increase systemic inflammation, which researchers consider as a factor in some anxiety disorders.4 However, that’s not the only reason almond flour benefits mental health. Nuts are high in magnesium, a mineral that may ease symptoms of anxiety and depression.5 3. Spelt Flour Spelled flour comes from an ancient grain. However, it still contains gluten, so pay attention if you have celiac disease or an intolerance. It’s a primitive relative of modern wheat. 4. Brown Rice Flour Brown rice is a whole grain while white rice is not. Read labels to ensure you get all the nutrition and fiber. 5. Amaranth Flour Amaranth is another ancient grain, one preppers in the southwest rejoice over. It grows well and quickly and the leaves are also edible. However, manufacturers grind the grain into a slightly flowery, nutty flour. 6. Oat Flour Oat flour may or may not be gluten-free, depending on the manufacturing process. If you have a severe intolerance or celiac, look for the words “manufactured in a dedicated gluten-free facility” to protect yourself. 7. Chickpea Flour Are you a vegetarian or vegan who needs a protein boost? Look to chickpea or garbanzo bean flour. It’s chock-full of the muscle-building macronutrient. 8. Rye Flour Rye flour has a slightly more bitter taste than wheat. It’s a great source of multiple B vitamins. 9. Coconut Flour Coconut flour is popular for baking and frying. It has a slightly sweet taste that’s heavenly in muffins or panko breading. 10. Buckwheat Flour Buckwheat is another alternative to bleached flour that vegans should embrace. Why? It’s one of a handful of plant-based foods that’s a complete protein, giving you all nine essential amino acids your body can’t make itself.6 11. Sorghum Flour You might recognize this flour from gluten-free labels. It’s a popular alternative to wheat in commercial products prepared for this crowd. 12. Millet Flour Millet is a small, yellow grain that tastes vaguely reminiscent of corn. As such, it’s great for baking and breading and makes a lovely blend with other alternative flours. 13. Cassava Flour Cassava is a South American tuber that’s somewhat similar to a sweet potato. It’s used as a staple in many countries and makes flour akin to potato flakes — but more finely ground. 14. Nut Flour Various nut flours abound, such as hazelnut, macadamia, walnut, and pecan. Although they can be pricey, they’re also full of magnesium and other minerals like zinc and selenium to boost mood and mental health.7 FAQS Here are your answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about alternative flours. 1. Do Alternative Flours Taste the Same as Bleached Flour? Bleached flour is bland because manufacturers strip away the stuff that provides flavor. Alternative flours each have their own unique taste. Some varieties, like sorghum, have more of the neutral taste preferred in baked goods, but others add a new twist. Your best bet is to experiment. You can blend several alternative flours in varying ratios until you find a taste and texture you fall in love with. You might even create unique combos for different dishes, such as almond flour, millet, and sorghum for baking and a coconut-spelt blend for coating fried chicken. 2. Do You Substitute Alternative Flours in the Same Ratio in Recipes? In general, alternative flours measure up scoop for scoop with unbleached flour. There’s no need to adjust your recipe. You can swap them out cup for cup. 3. What’s the Healthiest Alternative Flour? Is this a trick question? Just kidding. The healthiest alternative flour for you depends on your unique body and needs. Some blends are higher in protein, making them attractive to vegans, while others contain trace minerals your body needs.8 4. How Do I Avoid Bleached Flour If I Rely on Convenience Foods Because of My Busy Lifestyle? It’s a tough question. More healthy convenience foods now contain whole grains, but you must read labels. While microwaved meals might cost more, you can often find bread, crackers, and pasta made from whole grain. Combine that option with snack foods that resemble their natural forms. For example, nearly every convenience store sells mixed nuts, string cheese, and a few assorted fruits. Hit up bulk health food stores when you have time to stock up on non-perishable, natural snacks like trail mix and dried fruit and veggies. These cost more upfront but won’t go stale. Resolve to Try These Bleached Flour Alternatives You now know that alternatives to bleached flour play a valuable role in the fight against Type 2 diabetes. One possible reason the condition has reached epidemic levels is because of the adverse health effects of the white stuff. The sooner you experiment with whole grain and alternative flours, the more quickly you’ll find the varieties you love. Resolve to try these bleached flour alternatives this year and slash your risk of what may be America’s number one health threat. References: 1. About Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes | National Diabetes Prevention Program | CDC . 15 Nov. 2023, https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/prevention/about-prediabetes.html 2. “Flour Bleaching | Baking Processes.” BAKERpedia , 10 July 2018, https://bakerpedia.com/processes/flour-bleaching/ 3. Ganga, S., et. al. “Dark Side of White Flour — Maida.” Indian Association of Health, Research and Welfare. 2020, 11(1-3), 100-105. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341394368_Darkside_Of_The_White_Flour_-_Maida 4. Guo, Bingqi, et al. “Neuroinflammation Mechanisms of Neuromodulation Therapies for Anxiety and Depression.” Translational Psychiatry , vol. 13, Jan. 2023, p. 5. PubMed Central , https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-022-02297-y 5. Nazarinasab, Masoumeh, et al. “Investigating the Effect of Magnesium Supplement in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder under Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Treatment.” Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care , vol. 11, no. 12, Dec. 2022, pp. 7800–05. PubMed Central , https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1164_22 6. “13 Nearly Complete Protein Sources for Vegetarians and Vegans.” Healthline , 21 Apr. 2020, https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/complete-protein-for-vegans 7. Totten, Melissa S., et al. “Trace Minerals and Anxiety: A Review of Zinc, Copper, Iron, and Selenium.” Dietetics , vol. 2, no. 1, Mar. 2023, pp. 83–103. www.mdpi.com , https://doi.org/10.3390/dietetics2010008 8. Barnes, Mia. “What’s the Healthiest Flour Alternative?” Body+Mind Magazine , 6 Oct. 2021, https://bodymind.com/whats-the-healthiest-alternative-flour/.

Our beloved Poe cat ascended to his next adventure on June 26, 2023. We honor his passing and remember this special family member. Poe cat gave Jennifer a reason to continue during her darkest days. You can honor his legacy by buying a copy of his book by clicking here . All proceeds benefit RAICES. ***** How do you write a eulogy for the “person” who saved your life? It doesn’t matter if he had four legs instead of two. Little Poe cat had more humanity than most humans I know. Perhaps it’s best if I keep this as he would have wanted: short and sweet. He was the most loving soul who ever lived, but he was also simple. The smallest things delighted him: the warmth of home, the caress of a caring hand, nourishing food in his wee belly. Many thanks to all of you who offered words of comfort during this time of grief. You have no idea how much it helps to know that Poe cat was so loved. He may have begun his life in this world homeless and alone, but he spent his final moments surrounded by his loving family and a caring veterinarian team. Many thanks, too, to the Universe and the folks I work with for giving me this time to spend with him and grieve. Although his last days contained more pain than I would have wanted, they were also filled with love. Our last Sunday together, we laid in bed the whole day, just being with each other. I can’t tell you how precious the gift of those final hours was. And his legacy will live on. Before he passed, Poe gave me the title of the second book, something I’ve been struggling with since its conception. Poe, Onyx and Squeeks will likely complete sometime in 2024. It will be the second book in his legacy and charitable quest. Poe came into my life when I had nothing to live for. Every day was pain. Still, every morning, I looked forward to seeing him on my porch, to guessing how many cans of Sheba he would devour, to seeing how close I could get without scaring him. Every day, we built a bond of trust, even as the rest of my world collapsed around me. I firmly believe that little angel stayed in my life just long enough to make sure I would be okay. He was a true angel in material form. I don’t know the secrets of life and death — these things remain a mystery to us all for good reason. However, I do know that energy is never created or destroyed, and that little guy powered enough love energy to heal the world. I have no doubt his spirit is off being someone else’s angel at this very moment. I also don’t know what the future will bring for sure. I only know he showed me the way. I have big plans for the nonprofit I’ve been dreaming of building that are all inspired by him, but I don’t know if it will ever come to fruition. I know I’m assembling the parts, with Poe’s love and guidance, and it gives me a reason to go on, a purpose, something to work toward. Poe taught me so much. He taught me how to persevere in the face of overwhelming odds. He taught me how to accept suffering with grace, and how to look for the beauty, the goodness, the compassion and caring in life when it seemed like there was none. He was the gentlest soul I have ever known, and taught me how mildness can in reality be great strength, far more powerful than harsh and angry words. Most of all, he taught me that love is the most binding glue, the real reason we all are here, and the one thing that goes on long after we are gone. If a cat can attain Buddhahood, I have no doubt in my mind. Poe was a Buddha. Safe travels, wise and dear one. Thank you for your many lessons. Your legacy will live forever. So will my love for you, my son.

Written by Jennifer Stanley While everyone is different, a near universal experience as you grow your yoga practice is becoming more mindful in daily life, not just on the mat. It’s one reason talking to the mat is so powerful — it brings about deep change from the inside. Many yogis engage in mindful eating, tuning into what you take into your body and why. Mindful eating can lead to unexpected benefits, like weight loss. It might even help you uncover hidden health issues like food allergies, giving you the power to address them and improve your well-being. Perhaps the most important perk, though, is that this practice enhances your enjoyment of every meal — and shouldn’t life be about feeling good while being kind to ourselves and others? Here’s why mindful eating is yoga at the table and why you should embrace it. What Is Mindful Eating? Think about the last time you ate. Was the urge driven by genuine physical hunger, your appointed lunch hour’s arrival, a special celebration, or a need to distract yourself? Do you remember what you ate, why you chose it, what nutritional value it provided and how the flavor and texture felt on your tongue? You might come up with some of these answers even if your last meal consisted of a bag of chips at your computer. However, you could answer each one in detail if you ate mindfully. The process entails remaining fully present in the moment, treating each dining experience like a rich and joyous celebration of being human — which it is. Mindful eating begins with the selection and preparation of your meal to the enjoyment of the dining experience. It’s your chance to dine like the French, who believe you should savor meals and the human relationships that bond over them. You can even think of it as a small act of rebellion against a world that wants you to hurry up and be more like a machine. Food reminds you that you are a living creature, an integral part of the miracle of creation, not a robot. The Many Benefits of Mindful Eating Mindful eating does much more than serve as a testimony to the human spirit amid a high-pressure world. It also benefits you. Consider the following perks before deciding you simply “lack the time” to tune into your meal. 1. Gain Awareness of Your Body’s Natural Cues Millions of Americans struggle with obesity. One reason for the soaring rates is that far too many of us eat mindlessly, grazing at our work desks and pulling through whichever fast food joint is the most convenient when we’re too wiped out from our busy day to cook dinner. This sacrifice comes at a steep price — losing touch with the ability to tell when we are hungry and when we feel full. Mindful eating rebuilds your relationship with your body’s hunger and satiety cues. Over time, you gradually get better at checking in with yourself before dining. Doing so gives you greater agency over your behavior. When you recognize that you aren’t digging into the cookie tray out of hunger but rather because they look so good, you must try a sample, it’s easier to stop at just one. 2. Develop a Deeper Appreciation of Food You might say grace, but when was the last time you genuinely felt thankful for your food? If you haven’t felt physical hunger for some time, you might have lost touch with the simple joy eating brings. It is participating in the cycle of life. As you tune into your meals, you gain a deeper appreciation for the taste and texture of certain foods. You’ll also learn more about your likes and dislikes. For example, perhaps you always hated the mushy, overcooked asparagus of your childhood but find you love it lightly sauteed with a little olive oil. 3. Cultivate Gratitude and Ease Negative Feelings Around Meal Time The next time you eat, check in with your emotions. What are you feeling? You might be surprised what a bit of mindful exploration unearths. For example, you might notice that you feel vaguely guilty for grabbing that bag of chips instead of a healthier snack, especially if you struggle with weight or medical issues. Mindfully explore how you could manage that emotion. You might: Opt for something healthier, reminding yourself that you aren’t depriving yourself forever, simply making the best choice for you at this moment in time. Remind yourself that life is about balance and allow yourself a small indulgence, resolving to make healthy choices 80% of the time but permitting space for being human. Either way, cultivate a sense of gratitude — you can take your choice of snack. Focus on that abundance and give thanks that you have multiple options. It’s much better than digging in with mixed feelings, mindlessly snacking, then becoming overwhelmed with guilt as you scrape the final salty bits from the bag’s bottom. Becoming aware of your emotions around food may, with time and practice, ease the symptoms of eating disorders and aid in your remission. 4. Enrich Your Relationships With Family and Friends The fabulous thing about the French is they don’t let life’s other demands stand between their celebrations of friendship and family — which inevitably include food. Meals are an event to savor mindfully, often spanning more than an hour, as people take time to put their forks down, engage in conversation and celebrate their connection. One of the biggest drivers of the mental health crisis in American society is loneliness and the lack of a sense of connection. The statistics are particularly dire among younger people, as nearly 50% of those aged 18 to 24 reported anxiety or depression symptoms in the past year. Giving people back the time to gather at the dinner table might combat some of them, helping people reconnect and build community. 5. Recognize Which Foods Work Well for Your Body Guess what? Your physiology is unique, and everything you eat affects your chemistry for better or for worse. Mindful eating allows space to observe how you feel after eating certain meals. Doing so can help you identify food allergies and sensitivities that affect your well-being, even if they don’t quickly lead to fatal illness. Some intolerances surface as little more than a general feeling of malaise, gastrointestinal distress or an altered mood — the only way to notice and identify the culprit is to pay attention and experiment with eliminating problematic versions to see what brings relief. 6. Control Your Health and Weight Without Stress Personal aside: I wish I could have back all the energy I wasted worrying about my weight when I was younger. I tried one diet after another, when what I really needed to do was tune in mindfully to what I was putting in my mouth and its effect on how I felt instead of seeking outside validation that I was “doing it right.” Diet books can be valuable sources of information that provide insight on how various foods affect the human body. However, they aren’t a replacement for knowing yourself, and they aren’t always reliable. For example, we might not have soaring Type 2 diabetes rates had people mindfully tuned into how they felt after overindulging in ultra-processed, high-carb snacks simply because they were labeled “lite.” Furthermore, there’s a lot that goes into what you eat and why you eat it — physical hunger might not even make your top three list. Taking time to listen to these compulsions is a must for feeling more in control over what you choose to eat and why. How to Have a Mindful Meal: A Script Want to make your next meal a mindful one? Here’s a script to follow. Please don’t get too hung up on the details — what matters most is remaining in the present moment and mindfully tuning into each step. Here’s what to do: Start with planning your meal. What’s on the menu? Explore what factors you consider. If you’re like most mere mortals, your cravings probably top the list — what are you in the mood for? How can you satisfy that desire while meeting your nutritional needs and creating a dish that tastes great on your plate? Amass your materials. Pay attention to the ingredients you use and the cooking method. Are you sharing your meal with others? Consider inviting them to help you prepare the dishes. Explain you’re doing mindful eating and why and invite them to explore. As you cook, ask yourself various questions. How does heating change the texture and consistency of the food? How do the colors and flavors blend? Set your table with care when there’s a break in the stove action. How can you make it inviting, so people want to join you at the table? Add aesthetic touches that delight your soul. When you sit down to eat, take a moment to mindfully express gratitude for your meal, either out loud or in your mind by observing a moment of silence. Resist the urge to immediately dig in. Instead, plate your meal as if you were serving it at a fine restaurant. Observe how you feel as you anticipate the first bite. Is your mouth watering? Inhale the aromas of your dish and nibble and sample before digging in. As you progress through the meal, remain in the moment. Savor each bite. Put your fork down between mouthfuls and enjoy the company, too, chatting or genuinely, deeply listening to what they share. You might be surprised at the complexity in a seemingly simple dinner when you treat the occasion with respect and honor, like the French. As you finish eating, give thanks once more. You might want to vocally thank any companions. Tune into how you feel. Hopefully, you are pleasantly sated and also full from the camaraderie you shared or the pure self-love you poured into making a special dish for yourself. Mindful Eating as an Extension of Your Practice The mindfulness you develop on the yoga mat spills over into daily life, making each moment richer. Everything becomes an extension of your practice, including meal time. Mindful eating is like practicing yoga at the table. Although you aren’t doing physical poses, you bring the same energy of awareness and loving-kindness to mealtime, creating a positive ripple effect that may go on to transform your life in other, magical ways.

Written by Jennifer Stanley A viewer recently wrote, “I’m a veteran with PTSD, and lately, events in the news are highly triggering. Can you help?” I felt this question to the depth of my soul. I’ve also been having a hard time with the state of the world, and it’s been triggering some intense panic attacks and other anxiety symptoms in me, too. Although I’m not a veteran, I live with and love one. Therefore, this question hits home in that way, too, as we struggle to help each other process the events around us. I’m not writing as a doctor or scientist, simply someone with my own skeletons who cares for someone with a similar history. Here are the coping tips we use to stay sane — including two I want to try — to stay centered when trauma and the news don’t mix. 1. Find Support A good support system can be hard to find but is essential for counterbalancing the negative stimuli bombarding you daily. Although it’s tempting to isolate yourself, engaging in avoidant behavior can lead to loneliness — and missing out on the good things life has to offer that counteract the bad. Fortunately, you can find online and in-person support groups. Reddit is a surprisingly good resource, and apps like 7 Cups let you connect virtually from wherever you are. Furthermore, there’s no shame in reaching out for professional help. One of the bravest things you can do is admit you need assistance. If you have coverage and can afford the copay, a therapist can be an excellent sounding board even when you aren’t in a full-blown mental health crisis. 2. Turn Off the News Here’s a huge tip, and one I admittedly struggle with as someone in a media-related profession. People today have 24/7 access to nearly everything happening in the world, but that’s not necessarily a good thing if you’re coping with a trauma-related or anxiety disorder. Fortunately, you can learn to tune out, although it can seem difficult at first. Consider cutting the cable cord and investing only in apps for channels you want to watch — you can save a bundle while eliminating the temptation to let CNN play in the background. Use apps such as Freedom to block access to certain apps at particular times or even cut off your internet access completely while you reset your nervous system. 3. Exercise When something triggers you, your HPA axis sets off a cascade of events that results in adrenaline and cortisol release. These two stress hormones give you the energy to get up and go, but you can develop a tolerance over time, contributing to numerous health woes from anxiety and depression to Type 2 diabetes. Dissipate these chemicals the way nature intended before they can affect your psyche. Your body can’t tell the difference between a brisk run around the block and fleeing a hungry lion. Movement mitigates your stress hormone levels, making you feel more relaxed, calm and focused. 4. Yoga Mindful movement also matters. Yoga is one of the best tools for healing trauma that gets trapped in your somatic nervous system — the cells all over your body, not just your brain. Through talking to the mat, you gain awareness of how it manifests. From there, you can breathe into tight muscle areas, consciously relaxing them. The information superhighway in our bodies runs in both directions. Signals from the body can relax and calm the mind just as thoughts originating in the brain can prompt physical changes. Healing yourself through mindful movement can be a powerful act of self-compassion that’s as rewarding as a warm hug or a spa day, sending your nervous system the message that you’re okay, you’re safe and you’re loved. 5. Focused Meditation Many people recommend meditation for stress. However, for some, sitting quietly spurs rumination, leaving them feeling worse than before they took to the mat or zafu. When the world’s stress triggers a trauma reaction, your goal is to bring your nervous system back into balance, not figure out the answer to every problem — an impossible task. Instead, used focus meditation techniques such as the following to shut out the negative stimuli making you feel tense: Breathe and count backwards from ten: Consciously slow your breathing as you count in your mind. You might even repeat the numbers in your mind as you inhale and exhale — ten, two-three-four, ten two-three-four-five, nine, two-three-four, etc. Light a candle and set a timer: For thirty seconds to several minutes, mentally describe the flame, being as detailed as possible as you slow your breath. Scattergories list: Choose a neutral topic and a letter — such as “a boy’s name” and “A.” For 30 seconds to several minutes, mentally list as many as you can think of, inhaling on one name, exhaling on the next. 6. Diet Can food affect your mood? You betcha. There’s a huge link between anxiety, depression and systemic inflammation , and certain not-so-healthy snacks add to that burn, such as: Sugar Bleached flour Unhealthy fats Processed meats However, there’s a positive side. Just as the above foods can make you feel worse, getting more of the following can improve your mood and mindset: Omega-3’s: Found in fish and certain plant-based foods such as flax seeds and hemp seeds. Many Americans don’t get enough and eat too much omega-6 , increasing inflammation. The ideal ratio is close to 2:1, although the average is closer to 16:1. Magnesium, selenium and zinc: These minerals, found in nuts, seeds and many other plant-based foods like spinach and whole grains are necessary for making various neurotransmitters. Brightly colored fruits and vegetables: These contain various antioxidants, which whisk free radicals out of your body before they can damage your cells and spur inflammation. 7. Supplements and Herbs Several over-the-counter remedies, including herbal supplements, can help you feel calmer and improve your mood and mindset, including the following: Chamomile Lavender Lemon balm: Can worsen anxiety in some. Kava: Generally boosts mood but can cause a mild dissociative feeling in some. Valerian: Use caution with this herb if also taking benzodiazepines. Also, some people report relief from the following supplements: L-theanine: This amino acid is found in tea and helps some feel calm. GABA: You can buy supplements of this neurotransmitter that acts as the brain’s natural valium, although you might not absorb enough to make a substantial difference. Theobromine: Found in chocolate and said to boost mood while providing energy. 8. Therapy You don’t need to be in a mental health crisis to seek out therapy. In fact, it might be better to seek it when you aren’t in danger of a meltdown or behaving in a manner that could harm you. Why? It takes a while to find the right fit, requiring the luxury of time you don’t have when you feel overwhelmed and intent on self-harm, if only to put a stop to all the negative stimuli bombarding you. 9. EMDR EMDR stands for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. During a session, you recall a traumatic event as the therapist creates sensory input, such as having your eyes follow a light rapidly back and forth. This combination crosses certain “wires” in your brain, weakening the connection between the painful thought and the physical cascade it sets off, prompting panic. Therapists typically perform EMDR, but it requires additional training. Ask if your provider has the requisite experience or seek a referral from your primary care provider. 10. Ketamine Research shows that ketamine therapy can correct some of the structural brain changes that accompany trauma, contributing to the flashbacks and other symptoms of PTSD. It weakens your amygdala’s response to the trauma script that goes off in your mind when you feel triggered. Those seeking this treatment should do so under the guidance of a professional team with experience in using the correct dosage and guiding you through the experience.  Keeping Your Balance When Trauma and the News Don’t Mix The suggestions above can help you keep your balance when dire news stories activate your trauma response and leave you feeling panicked, miserable, anxious or depressed. They aren’t magic cures, but they can provide the strength you need to create a rich and meaningful life despite outside chaos. You can use these tools as proactive measures to protect your mental health or help you get back on track if currently suffering. Remember, destroying yourself won’t solve the world’s problems. Nurturing and healing yourself so that you can be the best version of you that you can be can help you contribute to the solutions. o=

Written by Jennifer Stanley You don’t need anyone to tell you that the world is an increasingly hostile place. News of war and violence scream at you from headlines daily, even if you do your best to avoid them — they show up in your email, on gym televisions, on your Uber driver’s satellite radio. It’s enough to make anyone feel more than a little hostile themselves. However, yogis know peace begins within, by cultivating mindfulness and taking responsibility for what you can control — yourself. You can calm your body and mind through breath and movement, and in doing so remain serenely courageous through chaos. Better, you can begin to shift the energy within you towards that of peace, creating a ripple effect that spreads to others, as attitudes are contagious. Practice this loving-kindness meditation for yourself and send good vibrations to a world that sorely needs them. Postures for Sitting or Lying in Meditation The best posture for this loving-kindness meditation or any meditation session is whatever makes you the most comfortable. There is no one “correct” meditation posture — it’s highly individualized. However, here are some classic poses to consider: Vajrasana: This kneeling posture is similar to the hero's pose in yoga. Kneel on the floor, allowing the feet to separate. This pose may help with keeping your spine straight if other seated meditation postures Sukhasana: This easy seated posture is similar to the criss-cross-applesauce pose you might have used as a kid sitting on the floor. Simply fold your legs in front of you, legs folded, with one slightly forward. Lotus or a variation: Lotus is an advanced meditation posture that can help with spinal alignment, but it isn’t kind to everyone’s knees. You can also take a half-lotus, crossing only one leg on top of the other with the ankle toward the groin. Savasana: Some people prefer to lie down during meditation (I’m one of them). If taking corpse pose or savasana, try keeping your head straight, as letting it fall to one side encourages sleep. It also helps to place a pillow or bolster beneath your knees, especially if you have lower back, hip, or knee pain. Setting the Mood for Your Meditation Experienced meditators can reach a contemplative state nearly anywhere, but most mere mortals do best in an environment conducive to relaxation. Dim the lights, perhaps using colored LEDs to create a rosy glow. Adjust the temperature and have a blanket handy, as you often become cool when seated or lying for extended periods. A little aromatherapy doesn’t hurt — rose, ylang-ylang and lavender are good scents to use for this meditation, as are any scents you find relaxing and nurturing. Suggested Guided Loving-Kindness Meditation Begin by taking several slow breaths, elongating your exhales slightly. You can center your awareness by counting backward from ten as you count your inhales and exhales, such as this: “Inhale, ten, two, three, four,” and, “exhale, ten, two, three, four, five.” Continue breathing this way until you reach one, repeating if necessary until you feel calm and relaxed. Pro-tip : it sometimes helps to burn off physical energy before sitting in meditation. Going for a run followed by a stretching cooldown or practicing an invigorating vinyasa routine into deeper restorative stretches can mitigate stress hormone levels and get you in a better mindset — try it if you feel too restless to sit. Once you feel a sense of inner peace descend, draw your awareness to your heart chakra, the center of your chest. Explore the sensations there. Can you feel your heart beating for you? Next, visualize someone you love dearly. It may be a pet — I often reflect on the pure love that Poe , and all beloved pets, teach. Let that feeling of love build and grow. As your aura of loving-kindness grows, extend that feeling of acceptance and compassion to yourself. Picture a rosy glow filling every cell of your body, energizing every fiber. Gradually extend this sense to others, beginning with those nearest and dearest to you. Visualize the light of love spreading to your neighbors, colleagues, and even those people you find distasteful. Continue letting this feeling of loving-kindness grow and emanate from you. Visualize it spreading so that it envelops the entire world, entering the hearts of those engaged in war and violence and transforming them with awareness. Imagine a planet in peaceful coexistence as if it were reality. Gradually reconnect with the world around you by wiggling your fingers and toes as you exit your meditation. Take several deep, 3-part breaths, letting first your belly, then your diaphragm, and finally your chest expand before parting your lips and sighing your exhale. Blink your eyes open and smile warmly at the world. Spread Love to Yourself and the World With This Meditation You can repeat this meditation any time the world’s ugliness tears at your soul. Think of it as defensive armor for your soul, safeguarding against the bitterness that can easily creep in when news of death and despair bombard you. Peace and loving-kindness begin within each one of us, and you can’t spread what you don’t feel. By generating compassion for ourselves and others on the mat, we can’t help but carry that emotion forward into daily life, spreading serenity, acceptance, and joy to everyone we touch. Ease Into Your Meditation With a Little Yoga for Peace  Do you need to burn off a little restless energy before meditation? Try this yoga for peace routine to gradually calm your central nervous system and induce a more peaceful mental state in yourself before spreading it to others.

No Sedona trip is complete without a visit to perhaps it’s most famous rock formation — Cathedral Rock. I headed out soon after the rangers reopened it in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic . I thought that it would be empty, but the parking lot was packed before 8 a.m. Granted it is nearly summertime in the desert, and things get toasty quickly. However, word to the wise: go early. Update, November 14, 2022: Visitors can now visit the trailhead more conveniently by taking the Sedona shuttle. You will need to do so if you arrive after the trailhead parking shuts down at sunrise. You can find information about the Sedona shuttle here . The trip up Cathedral Rock Trail isn’t entirely for the faint of heart. You can climb all the way to the spires, but doing so will require using hand-carved holds in the rock at one point and copious butt-sliding if you hope to descend safely. The rapid altitude change will increase your heart rate better than any stair-climbing routine. This hike is not for those with severe vertigo or other disabilities. Fortunately, while I have both, I’ve learned to work my way around them — at least most of the time. Today was one of my better days, which made me smile because I love a good rock scramble before breakfast. Don’t let the climb keep you away from this legendary landmark , however. You can enjoy breathtaking views from Templeton trail, which takes you around the rock. While it isn’t wheelchair-accessible unless you have a four-wheel drive on your device, it is a flat, pleasant stroll. It doesn’t get nearly as crowded as the ascent, so you can free yourself from the madding crowds and enjoy the beauty of nature. Along with the sides of the Cathedral formation, you’ll spy Courthouse Butte and the rabbit ears. Because I am a plant geek, I stopped to snap a few pics when a red hue more vivid than the rocks caught my eye. I was delighted to find a Parry’s agave towering nearly as tall as the surrounding trees. In case you were wondering, yes, you can use this plant to make tequila. That got me dreaming of a margarita and a siesta, so I headed back to my Jeep. My trek lasted only two miles, but you can follow Templeton trail for much longer. I elected to cut through Easy Breezy to return to the trailhead. Reader note: All photos on Only in Sedona are free to use! Please do us a favor and link back to us if you borrow any. Thanks!

Are you seeking a mostly flat but gently rolling 5-mile hike with breathtaking views? The Jim Thompson trail will not disappoint you. You can cut the trek in half by parking a vehicle at either end, or you can do the full out-and-back journey. You won’t break too much of a sweat, but your jaw will drop more than once. The trail was named after the first European settler in 1887 , who needed a road between his property and what later became the town of Sedona. Today, horses still roam the pathway that their ancestors walked — I didn’t see any in the flesh, but the way was littered with apples of the dung variety. After the first half-mile, you come to a gate. Don’t worry — it doesn’t do an effective job of keeping people out. However, on part of your trek, you feel as if you’re walking directly up to the red rock walls. I found this extremely soothing, especially because our little town is on shelter-in-place restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. You do cross a few small streams in wetter weather. Sedona’s winter has been wet and cold, so I crossed one or two. In the summer months, these will transform into arroyos — a fancy Spanish word for a bone-dry wash. From the trail, you can catch a glimpse of Chimney Rock and Summit. You can also see Cathedral Rock off in the distance. Most strikingly, you catch a glimpse of Snoopy sleeping peacefully on his red rock dog house. Aw! Before you know it, you wind your way behind the back of Ship Rock, one of the most recognizable formations in Uptown as you head toward Oak Creek Canyon. Later, as you approach the Midgely Bridge end of the trail, you get to see it from the other side. You don’t pass by many steep ledges, so no worries on this trail if you have a touch of vertigo. However, there are one or two spots where you can stop and have a picnic. That is, assuming that you can have contact with other folks in the outside world. Finally, as you near the trail’s end, you can catch sight of Midgely Bridge. If you take two vehicles, you can park one at the Jim Thompson’s trailhead, located off Jordan Road in Uptown. The other party can park at the Midgely parking area. I am loving life solo at the moment due to the quarantine, so I turned around and went back. Five miles in the sun felt glorious after being cooped up in the house all week. If you go: From Cottonwood, take Highway 89A north to Jordan Rd. in uptown. Follow the signs to the Jim Thompson trailhead parking area. The road in is a wee bit bumpy. You don’t need 4WD, but it helps. Alternatively, stay on Highway 89A north, cross Midgely Bridge, and park in the adjacent area. Both lots tend to get crowded when the nation isn’t in shutdown, so go early. Reader note: All photos on Only in Sedona are free to use! Please do us a favor and link back to us if you borrow any. Thanks!

I hadn’t planned to add another 13.1-notch to my belt this weekend, but I’m glad that I did on this hike. Outer Limits is a newer 6.1-mile trail that you won’t find on many maps — including those on the trailhead. I couldn’t even locate it on Google Maps, though I’ll keep you posted if that changes.  Update, November 14, 2022: You can now find this trail on many updated maps. The trail runs from the Cultural Park/Girdner Trailhead. It takes you all the way over to the Cockscomb rock formation , so named for what it resembles. The trail itself is 6.1 miles. Once you reach the intersection of Cockscomb, you have another nine-tenths of a mile to the Aerie Trailhead parking area. Although it was February 15, not 14, when I made my trek, Mother Nature nevertheless generously blessed me with the first spring flowers — and the heavenly sound of bees returning. The pretty pink flowers of this species of manzanita attract the little buzzers. It’s funny — bees used to frighten me a bit. Now that I know how crucial they are to the ecosystem, I smile every time I catch a buzz — of the auditory variety. The trail looks easy enough as you enter the woods. However, you do cross Dry Creek, which entails some significant hill climbing. Given the length, I’d rate this hike on the challenging side of moderate. It’s decidedly a favorite of the mountain bike crew — I was the only pedestrian I met. Everyone else had pedal power to cover the substantial mileage. Still, you will find plenty of places to stop and rest — and boost your intake of vitamin D , the sunshine nutrient. Pro-tip : Take plenty of water and snacks, particularly if you attempt this during the warmer months. I quickly lamented having only one thermos of herbal tea and a handful of nuts. By the time I finished my adventure, I was ready to eat the proverbial horse and dangerously thirsty. Yet another sign that spring arrives early in the desert — Dry Creek lived up to its name today, unlike on other adventures when it ran strong. Today? If it weren’t for the way Mother Nature carved the trench, you’d never know a river ran through it. Once you climb up and away from the riverbed, you can see across the small town to Courthouse Butte in the Village of Oak Creek. When I finally reached my destination, I had a decision to make. If you’re a tourist to our little neck of the woods, you’ll soon learn the wild west can welcome you harshly at times. While I wanted nothing more than to dial a ride from the parking area, cellphone reception out at the distant Cockscomb is iffy at best. Either way, I was looking at doubling the length of my journey. Did I want to travel home on pavement or dirt? If I could surround myself with trail dust like Pigpen from “Charlie Brown” fame, I would. However, if I ever find a 13.1 sticker, I’m displaying that puppy on my Jeep proudly. Getting there: From the south, Cottonwood direction, take Hwy 89A north to Cultural Park Road. Turn left and park in the dirt parking area at the Girdner trailhead. Outer Limits starts on the left side of the dirt road past the gate. Alternately, take Dry Creek Road to Boynton Canyon Road. Turn Left on Aerie Road and park at the Aerie trailhead. Reader note: All photos on Only in Sedona are free to use! Please do us a favor and link back to us if you borrow any. Thanks!

A stunning hike with unmatchable views. What started as a 1.5-mile hike ended up taking a hair over five today. I was happy as the proverbial mollusk at slightly getting lost in the woods. Plus, with views this jaw-dropping, who wouldn’t want to spend some time soaking in all the good stuff. The trail starts with magnificent glimpses of Thunder Mountain to the west and Ship Rock to the north. The first part of the path features rolling hills. You’ll elevate your heart rate slightly, but you won’t feel a hardcore burn. These trails see their fair share of biker traffic, so please remember to follow proper etiquette rules and give a friendly greeting to all you pass — it’s a small town, and we’re chummy like that. Today’s journey led from Adobe Jack Trail to Coyote. From there, we took Grand Central Trail to Manzanita. We took a detour on Javelina and completed our loop by exiting Crusty back onto Adobe Jack. The entire trek lasts approximately three to four miles, but I was unable to get an exact estimate. Followers of my other blog know I have a lively host of health conditions, and so does my hiking partner. He has to slow down, and I have to keep moving. As a result, I doubled back several times. I didn’t mind a bit! Along the way, you’ll enjoy views of some of Sedona’s most famous red rock formations. You’ll catch a glimpse of Marg’s Draw, where you can hike near the well-known Snoopy Rock. You’ll see Elephant Rock minus her impressive trunk. On parts of the trail, you can spy the spire of Chimney Rock , and on the way back, you’ll see Sugarloaf summit. If you decide to recreate this hike, make sure that you eat first. Crusty Trail takes you right past Mariposa Restaurant on the return trek, and you’ll smell the heavenly aromas from the grill. It doesn’t matter if you’re a vegetarian — the scent will make you drool. Chef Lisa Dahl isn’t a local legend for nothing. She makes me want to become a better blogger so that I can enjoy her culinary creations more often. Reader note: All photos on Only in Sedona are free to use! Please do us a favor and link back to us if you borrow any. Thanks!

Are you seeking the ideal medium-length hike? Do you want a trek that will elevate your heart rate without making it pound out of your chest? Perhaps you merely dream of the opportunity of photographing one of Sedona’s most iconic rock formations without encountering too many fellow souls? If so, try the Scorpion-Pyramid Trail Loop. This loop comes in at a hair over 4.9 miles — almost a perfect quint. You’ll go up and down a bit, but you won’t encounter any places where bouldering becomes necessary. You will, however, lose your breath from the stunning views. You’ll encounter plenty of places to rest and enjoy a snack , so bring your favorite trail food with you. You shouldn’t need to refuel, but cashews taste better in the wilderness. During the colder months, why not pack a picnic lunch? Chances are, Yogi and Boo-Boo won’t appear to swipe your basket! You have two choices of where to park. If you park at Sedona Red Rock High School, you’ll get the full excursion. You can also park at the trailhead at the base of the Red Rock Loop Road. If you enter through this direction, you’ll cover a tad less than four miles total. The ascent is far less vigorous on the Pyramid side of the trail. If you want to blast your hamstrings and quads, go the opposite direction for a steeper climb. Don’t worry — the exertion still ranks as moderate. You’ll see the backside of Cathedral Rock , quite possibly the most photographed formation in all of Sedona. Many photographers shoot this vortex from the opposite angle. Dawn’s early sun typically blocks out decent photos from the east, but given the overcast weather, the rocks obliged by striking a pose. On the way back, enjoy views of the Rabbit Ears out in the distance. Whenever you’re in West Sedona, you can get your bearings by looking for Thunder Mountain. It’s nearly always ubiquitous in the northwest. Getting there: From Cottonwood, take AZ 89A North to Upper Red Rock Loop Road. Turn right and park at the high school OR follow the road to the parking area at the base of Red Rock Loop Road. Reader note: All photos on Only in Sedona are free to use! Please do us a favor and link back to us if you borrow any. Thanks!

If you travel Dry Creek Road on a popular day, you’ll see cars lined up for what seems like a mile in each direction near Vultee Arch Road. If you want to beat what author Thomas Hardy referred to as the madding crowd, and you don’t mind walking an extra mile, Lizardhead Trail offers a way in minus the traffic. You’ll find the slightly hidden trailhead just past North Shores Drive. You’ll quickly come to a fork. If you go right, you’ll follow the Upper Lizardhead trail until it loops back. As of right now, the return fork lacks a sign, so I suggest going to the right. You’ll get your heart pumping a bit on the ascent. If you have vertigo, there are a few spots that might leave you shaky at the top. My advice? Keep walking and don’t look down. Of course, you can also take the lower Lizardhead trail proper. It’s relatively flat and simple to follow. You’ll pass the ubiquitous Thunder Mountain, which is visible from almost anywhere in Sedona. Here, you can see the top peaking over a hill and saying hello. The entire Lizardhead loop, upper and lower, is only 1.2 miles. I hadn’t planned on a long hike, but I always feel bummed when I’m off the trail so quickly. However, if your objective is to reach Chuck Wagon Trail, the Vista, and perhaps continue to Devil’s Bridge, you’ll enjoy plenty of adventure further along. The views from the vista don’t disappoint, though. Even if you turn around, you get to enjoy breathtaking scenery. I did the reverse of what I recommend. I entered via Lizardhead trail and returned by climbing over the top. However, I could have hopped on Girdner Trail and gone that way as well for a longer trek. Are you starting to see the way the trails connect? You get a great shot of the “lizard” as you ascend on the way back. Personally, I think the formation looks more like a turtle. When you reach the apex, you can barely catch a glimpse of Cathedral Rock hiding behind Summit and Chimney Buttes. Getting there: From Cottonwood, take Hwy 89A North to Dry Creek Road. Turn left on Dry Creek Road. You’ll find small places to park just east and west of North Shore Drive. Reader note: All photos on Only in Sedona are free to use! Please do us a favor and link back to us if you borrow any. Thanks!

I love lazy Saturdays. Okay, so my weekends are rarely that restful — but would you kick it inside on the couch if you lived in one of the most beautiful places on earth? I hope not! Girdner trail is a medium-difficulty number in West Sedona. You’ll start at the same head where Stirrup and Saddle Up Trail make their way in (or out, depending upon your direction) to the wilderness. From the trailhead to the exit onto Dry Creek Road at the Two Fence trailhead, you’re looking at a 4.9-miler. You’ll cross over the creek, and if the waterway isn’t living up to its name , it can be tough to see where to go. On this day, the water level was low enough at the crossings to pose no difficulty. I was delighted. It was cold, and I wasn’t looking forward to wet socks. Instead, I found myself singing “Just Around the Riverbend” from Pocohantas. You’ll enjoy magnificent views as you gaze westward toward Boynton Canyon. You’ll see Cockscomb in the distance — another trail that sees relatively little tourist traffic. If you want to take off with your dog and not encounter another soul, I recommend both treks. I only met with one friendly fellow hiker on my adventure. Do you see the mesa in the distance in the above picture? That’s Doe Mountain, which is another breathtaking hike — literally. There’s one spot on the ascent that I’ve nicknamed “Vertigo Point.” Once you push past it, though, you can hang out and have a picnic at the top. But I digress. Back to Girdner. The trail was named for a family of ranchers who lived in the area. If you follow it to the end, you’ll emerge in the Seven Canyons wilderness. I hung a right turn at Two Fence because I arrived at the trailhead on foot. If you have a second driver, it’s worth it to hike 3/4 mile to the end so that you can shuttle yourself back. Of course, you could also turn around and go back the way you came. People get crafty in the desert. I stumbled upon this rock sculpture a nature artist built. It looked lovely framed by Chimney Rock and Thunder Mountain in the background. You’ll pass several other trails along the way, including the part where Stirrup and Saddle Up intersect. I’m dying to explore the AZ Cypress Trail myself. However, I hadn’t come equipped with food or water, only my two feet. The views on the exit didn’t disappoint. Getting there: From Cottonwood (south), take Hwy 89A north to the stoplight at Cultural Park Road. Turn left and park in the trailhead parking past the community college.  Reader note: All photos on Only in Sedona are free to use! Please do us a favor and link back to us if you borrow any. Thanks!

Saddle up, pardner! There’s a new trail in West Sedona. It’s relatively short — the direction I took only has you wandering in the woods for a mile. Still, when you see a path so shiny and fresh out of the box, it doesn’t have a completed sign yet, you take it!  The trail goes up and down a little bit. It’s enough to elevate your heart rate, but not enough to make you break a sweat on a 50-degree day. Along the way, you enjoy stunning views of Thunder Mountain and Cockscomb in the distance. In wet weather, trickling creeks will play relaxing spa music to accompany your journey. I turned on Saddle Up. You’ll usually figure out the reason for the name of this trail quickly enough. From the apples, I’d say it sees regular equine traffic. If you retrace my steps, you’ll exit in a residential neighborhood. If you’re not from around these parts, it can prove tricky to find your way out. You could reverse your route, of course. I recommend staying straight on Stirrup, though, until it connects with Girdner further up. You’ll get a significantly longer hike, but you’ll exit the woods along the parking area on Dry Creek Road. Getting there: Take Highway 89A north from Cottonwood. Turn left at Cultural Park Drive to the Centennial/Girdner Trailhead parking. Take Girdner trail to Stirrup. Reader note: All photos on Only in Sedona are free to use! Please do us a favor and link back to us if you borrow any. Thanks!

Are you looking for a flat roughly 2 1/2 mile hike that keeps you close to the heart of West Sedona? If so, you can trek from Sugarloaf to Chimney Rock or vice versa using a combination of the Teacup/Thunder Mountain/Adante trails. Views of Thunder Mountain greet you as you enter from the Sugarloaf parking area. You want to follow the path to the first signpost junction. Hang a right, and you’re headed toward your destination — but I suggest a side trip up Sugarloaf summit first. It only adds .3 miles to your trek, and it blasts your hamstrings — scaling a mountain is way more fun than hitting the Stairmaster! More importantly, you enjoy spectacular views. Once you’ve sunned yourself like one of the many Sedona geckos at the top, it’s time to pick your way back down and head to Chimney. The nice thing about this hike is, even if you get turned around in places, it’s hard to get lost. Merely head toward the rock with the flue-like spire at the top, and you’ll eventually reach it. The hike is as flat as you can find around these parts. If you’re a trail runner or biker, it won’t give you any challenges. You’ll pass a few interesting formations along the way. Sometimes, you pause to photograph a random rock and prickly pear — why not? These cacti are gorgeous any time of year, but especially in the spring, when they come alive with blooms. As you near the end of your trek, you’ll see Summit Rock approaching. Like Sugarloaf, this mountain is a short heart-pounder that will *switches to infomercial voice* give you that toned, sexy derriere you desire. However, my dinner was calling me, and since I had arrived on foot, I still had to run home. I opted to scale Summit another day. I took one look back at Sugarloaf from where we came and exited the parking area, stage right. Getting there: Take Highway 89A north from Cottonwood. Turn left on Coffee Pot drive. Turn left at the stop sign at Sanborn Drive. Turn right at the stop sign at Little Elf. Follow the brown hiking signs to the Sugarloaf/Teacup trail parking area. Reader note: All photos on Only in Sedona are free to use! Please do us a favor and link back to us if you borrow any. Thanks!