yoga for the hiccups!?

Ask anyone who's ever been around me during an episode and they'll confirm that I get very unusual, violent hiccups. There's no muffling cute little "hic" noises for this girl because my hiccups sound more like some sort of hungry jungle bird. A widely accepted consensus for the animal most closely resembling the sound is...a Velociraptor...and it's embarrassingly accurate.

Besides the terribly loud noise, my hiccups also manifest at an abnormally fast pace with intense diaphragm spasms. They're painful. And they don't go down without a fight. Holding my breath, chugging water, chewing gum, being startled, swallowing sugar, hanging upside down, and drinking water with a freshly snuffed out match are among a few of the worthless cures I've tried. (I would not have attempted many of these "remedies" on my own, but people try to "help" me...or something.)

Anyway, yoga continues to amaze me as it aids in healing many aches, pains and ailments. I've had luck with yoga helping me in so many ways, so why not hiccups? I tried various pranayama (breathing exercises) such as alternate nostril breathing, ujjayi breath and uddiyana bandha (abdominal lock) to no avail. I had no idea what I was doing, but since hiccups originate in the diaphragm, I knew that some sort of pranayama should work.

Vagus Nerve Image

After a ton of research, I ran across this blog and found that jalandhara bandha is believed to stimulate the vagus nerve. What's the vagus nerve? Apparently, the vagus nerves carry a wide assortment of signals to and from the brain and are responsible for a number of instinctive responses in the body (ie. hiccups). Stimulation of the vagus nerve can be used to treat various medical conditions such as epilepsy (or hiccups)! Interesting stuff.

"The home remedies used to stop hiccups are believed to work on two principles. One way to stifle hiccups is to overwhelm the vagus nerve with another sensation. The vagus nerve signals the brain that more important matters have arisen, so it's time to knock off the hiccups. Other methods interfere with breathing, increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood. This probably causes the body to become more concerned with getting rid of the carbon dioxide than making hiccups." - howstuffworks.com

This seemingly explains why some people/hiccups respond to being scared or distracted, while others have luck with breathing in a paper bag or swallowing sugar. Needless to say, during my usual violent inconsolable hiccups, I tried the jalandhara bandha and to my utter amazement, it worked within a few breaths. So for those of you who are like me, please enjoy the following easy instructions next time you get the hiccups!

How To perform jalandhara bandha (chin lock):
*Use caution or seek guidance if you suffer from low blood pressure, respiratory problems or neck injury.

1.) Find a comfortable upright position with a long, straight spine. Press the shoulder blades together to lift the chest upward toward the chin (don't press the ribs forward). Simultaneously, drop the chin toward the chest.

Yoga Journal tip: "Jalandhara requires the chin to rest comfortably on the sternum (neck flexion). Many beginners make the mistake of only lowering the chin; in fact your chin should be met half-way by the elevated sternum."

2.) Lengthen the back of the neck and begin to take deep, long diaphragmatic breaths in and out through the nose, pulling air from the pit of the belly. (Similar to ujjayi breath technique)

3.) Take 5-10 long, slow breaths through the nose with the chin tucked and the sternum lifted. Enjoy the rest of your hiccup-free day! :)

Namaste, people.

Wholehearter on Facebook: Normally, I don’t make a habit of taking pictures of people in savasana, but Zero's not a person. ...

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poison ivy annihilation

If you're a hardcore gardener, I'm sure you too have dealt with many a splinter, scratched eyeball, blister, back spasm, mystery bug bites, falls, gunshot wounds, broken shovels, and inevitably: poison ivy. The bane of many gardening adventures, poison ivy plagues me and holds certain areas of my yard hostage. Well, I've had it. It's my yard and I'm not going to let that stupid weed control me or turn into a kudzu and eat my house. It could happen.

The house of a lazy gardener who thought that weeding was a joke....

I've come to accept that I'm fairly terrible at identifying poison ivy/oak (especially when it's mixed in among all the other junk I'm fitfully weeding) so there's no avoiding contact for me. Removing all the roots is the only way to get rid of it, even if it's playing dead, so I'm just going to try to get it all done as quickly as possible and hope for the best. 

My fool-proof plan: I plan to embrace a very possible ongoing poison ivy rash for as long as it takes me to eradicate it. I also plan to have the last laugh when my yard is poison ivy-free.

Until yesterday, I proudly strutted through my garden assuming that I was among the elite 10-15% of the population that is not allergic to urushiol (the poison ivy chemical). I've never really had anything that was undeniably poison ivy and Calogel always quickly did the trick for any minor irritation. Needless to say, I was appalled when poison ivy had the audacity to show up on my arms and Calogel worked about as well as whatever worthless and ineffective analogy you can think of. It was so insanely itchy that I couldn't sleep, so I scoured the internet for home remedies and other options. I didn't like the idea of pouring bleach on my skin, wrapping myself in saran wrap like a burrito, or taking Prednizone, so I decided to try the apparent saving grace: a mud mask?

Lush mask I had on hand - any one will do!

I was skeptical, but then realized that one of the main goals of a facial mask is to draw oil from the skin. So after washing up and very apprehensively applying some, it not only instantly cooled and relieved all itching, but it also drew out moisture and formed a protective barrier over the poison ivy. I left it on overnight and awoke to a marked improvement. Definitely worth a try next time you have poison ivy!

So don't worry, this itchy little set-back has only further fueled my wrath and determination to quash the ivy. I strongly believe that there is a special place in hell for this weed. I lost this battle, but with the help of Lush, I shall win this war!