Pranayama mama

Everything is fixed in the breath. It’s undisputedly the life force, our source of nourishment—physically, emotionally, spiritually. When we’re challenged, feeling anxious and disconnected, within any of those self-preserving fundamental systems, always take refuge in your breath.

Yet we don’t because breathing as an involuntary function, we’re not going to forget to breathe. But meaningful breathing with intention is different—when it matters most. I forget to breathe meaningfully all the time. I find myself holding my breath when I need to breathe fully the most.

I love yoga because it’s an opportunity to focus on my breathing in a way that can deliver me into a profound state of peace. That’s why I miss it so much since I fractured the ol’ foot. Since last winter I had gotten back into a regular yoga practice with a teacher, Lee Gregory, who I totally adore, who in my whole yoga life is the only teacher I ever had who somehow, by her words, her gentle nature, allowed me to breathe consistently, deeper, for an entire 1 and ½ hour class. I continue to remember that class with all the pride of a first-grader who comes home with a star on her homework assignment.

I’ve been noticing my mood can swing from crazed to stupefied at the lack of control I have over my life right now. “It’s as if you’re under house arrest, my friend Annette said to me.” “Yeah, but I’m no Aung San Suu Kyi, I thought to myself. I can get impatient, bitchy. Physical release in the form of yoga or any kind of exercise, has always been key for keeping my sanity intact.

You probably know the word yoga means union in Sanskrit. It’s usually defined as union with the divine within—me, you, us—bringing the physical and mental exercises into union. So even though I cannot do my asanas, the postures, I can practice pranayama, meaningful breath, to transcend this rather stifling period I’m going through. Just this morning while washing my coffee cup I consciously took a big, deep and totally exhilarating breath. For a moment I felt high. That was a good reminder for me of how to take yoga off the mat, as they say.

Two good books on the subject, both by the same author, Richard Rose, are "The Yoga of Breath" and "Pranayama Beyond the Fundamentals." He's also a contributing editor for Yoga Journal.

Things Chinese

I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked with some amazing acupuncturists throughout the years. When I was seeing each one of them I’d find myself saying, this is the BEST acupuncturist ever. Jake Fratkin, my very first acupuncturist, who I saw during my dancing years, cured a bad case of tendonitis in my leg with a few treatments. Meanwhile my medical specialist told me to try Advil. Unfortunately, Jake was outspoken and he eventually had to flee Chicago for Colorado where the licensing laws were friendlier than Illinois'. That law, it should be noted, just changed only this May and now they don’t need a doctor referral to legally perform acupuncture on willing clients. (I know, our leaders of the free world are draconian thinkers.) Now, of course, doctors have gotten in on the act: If ya can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Pearls of wisdom from the AMA. . .But I digress.

In 2005, I was doing some research on a Chinese treatment called gua sha, which is a healing practice, then still little known in the US. Gua sha involves stroking the surface of the skin with a round-edged instrument—some practitioners use one of those Chinese soup spoons, others use one of several instruments designed specifically for the treatment. (See photo above left.) It’s good for removing blood stagnation if you are experiencing, say, pain or stiffness and even for fevers and nausea. It’s also a preventive measure for infectious illnesses.


I finally found a woman who practices right here in Chicago, Larisa Turin, and she’s just fabulous. (Full disclosure, I wrote a story about her acupuncture “facelifts” for Conscious Choice magazine.)

I can’t speak to the benefits of gua sha since when she performed it on me, to the back, it was so that I could feel the sensation and how painful the process is, not because I was experiencing any symptoms. She was gentle but, like cupping, it leaves big red spots on your back. Unlike cupping, gua sha can be painful. I bet it could get pretty rough if you get it done in Chinatown. Or China.

Larisa is a truly gifted Chinese Medicine practitioner. And her story is amazing. She was a medical doctor in her native Russia until her diplomat husband was assigned to a post in Mongolia. To keep herself busy she enrolled in a prestigious Chinese medicine school there. Eventually, she and her family moved to the States and she’s never looked back on her Western medicine former life, though this very background is what makes her so great; she’s the perfect combo of Western diagnosis training and Eastern treatments.

Now Larisa’s practice is moving in still another direction. She’s the go-to girl for women with fertility problems. Women go to her from all over the country; one women from London goes to her too. And her practice is not just limited to young women. She is skilled in all phases of the female reproductive cycle, menstrual symptom relief to menopause.

Give her a holler if you’re a female in need, or a man for all other health concerns.

Multi-level scam?

My friend Jonathan Black called the other day. He’s a talented journalist and book author. Last year his book, “Yes You Can!” was published. The book is a pretty hilarious yet informational tour of the motivational-speaking circuit, a portion of which is dedicated to multi-level marketing moguls. He was all over XanGo for a while for a story he was researching for Playboy. XanGo is a “delicious dietary supplement. XanGo® Juice harnesses the nutritional power of the whole mangosteen fruit through a potent proprietary formula,” according to their website.

And, for the uninitiated, which is kind of hard to still be if you reside on planet earth, mutli-level marketing businesses, or MLMs, “function by recruiting salespeople to sell a product and offer additional sales commissions based on the sales of people recruited into an organization. Royalties are paid from the sales of individuals--franchisees--to the franchisor. There can be seven or more levels of people receiving royalties from one person's sales."

That, minus some editing, comes straight from that paragon of precision and rigor, Wikipedia. Anyway, you get the idea. MLMs have been known for years variously as pyramid scams, shell games and the Amway thing.

Jonathan and I trade ideas, contacts and funny stories about the nature of our loony biz. He called this time to tell me a story that he thought would be helpful for my blog. If you knew Jonathan you might be inclined to rush things and try to tease the story out of him before he was ready. Maybe it’s because sometimes he’ll give you the “punch line” first and then meanders his way back to the point. When you do try to ask too many questions too fast (a big problem of mine), he’s likely to get annoyed and say something like, “I’m about to tell you!” Subtext is “If you’d just shut up.”

Here’s how a recent conversation went:

Ring ring.

Me: Hey there. (I already know it’s him; caller ID, dontcha know.)
JB: I had a massage the other day at Nirvana, it’s like this nail place. Forty-nine bucks.
Me: That’s a pretty cheap price. Was it any good?
JB: When I walked into the room I thought the guy was the janitor.
Me: (Laughing) Was it really bad?
JB: I don’t know. . .
Me: So you liked it?
JB: Not really. I think I fell asleep.
Me: That’s always good.
JB: It was about 10 minutes before the massage was over.
Me: What do you mean? That’s when you started enjoying it?
JB: Not exactly. Maybe. When it was over he handed me his card, in case I wanted to schedule another massage. But it wasn’t even a business card, like it didn’t even say he was a massage therapist.
Me: Huh?
JB: It says (pause as he reads). It says The Dubensky Family.
Me: (guffaw)What’s that supposed to mean? Like the whole family gives massages?
JB: Maybe.
Me: Well then—(I’m cut off)
JB: I’m about to tell you!
Me: Something like, Yes, sir.
JB: During most of the treatment he kept talking to me about Himalayan Goji. Have you ever heard of it?
Me: (A light goes on) Oh, so you think he’s one of those multi-level dudes and he was using the cheap massage to lure people in so he could have one uninterrupted hour of Goji selling?
JB: The massage wasn’t bad. . .

You get the idea. Eventually, he confirmed that that’s exactly what The Dubensky family does. Ethical? Mmmmm. Maybe not. You decide.

Did Jonathan buy any Goji juice? I didn't ask. I'll get the story someday.

DIY time!

I had a facial once that left my skin dried out and abrasive for three days. It was a honey facial. Let me point out here that honey is great for spot-clearing a pimple because of its antibacterial properties. But a whole face slathered with honey? In the winter? Uh-uh. Yet, this place loves honey, uses it all four seasons. The word honey is in the spa’s name, honey is in loads of treatments. Honey, honey, honey.

What’s up with that?

Or what’s with the whole food-in-treatments trend? Once I allowed myself to be covered in chocolate. It was supposed to make me feel luxurious as well as being abundant in antioxidants, good for reigning in free radicals, pollution cleansing, protection against the sun and to revivify the skin after a night of too many margaritas. It’s a huge trend—or at least it was when everyone was playing the game of How Many Different Ways Can We indulge Ourselves With Chocolate, but is it worth it?

You can save yourself some bucks if you employ another trend, DIY—do it yourself at home! You probably knew cucumber has been used for ages, especially to eliminate puffy eyes. Easy enough to do yourself. Green tea is also used in many a pricey spa treatment, under the eyes and for many other uses. But did you know cranberry is a powerful antioxidant? Especially its skin of the fruit.

Then there’s mashed watermelon to tighten skin in a pinch, just like tomatoes do. (Avoid the zits, however, because it may sting. And, by the way, did you know that bread soaked in milk is good to vanquish those zits, too?) These are all tips I learned by way of Rona Berg’s “Fast Beauty, 1,000 quick fixes" book, which I bought at the ISPA conference in Las Vegas last year, where Rona spoke and which was tons of fun. Keep the book in your bathroom and check out Rona’s website, which is listed in my Good Links list.

The book also gave me the greatest DIY tip for getting rid of chapped lips, which I’ve inexplicably been plagued with since May. Rona says take a soft toothbrush, apply toothpaste and exfoliate the lips by. . .lightly brushing them. Then follow with ONLY these lips balms: Vaseline, or any petroleum-based product; shea butter; or beeswax. No Carmex or Blistex, as that will only exacerbate it the condition.

Finally, I have to give a shout out to my superbadfriend Jessie, who responded to my previous colonics post by noting that she’s about to DIY her colon with some herbs by Blessed Herbs. I’ve never tried it but Jess is sold, and from the looks of the gag-provoking photos, seems like it'd be a “productive” purchase.

And back to the more socially acceptable DIY facial and body topic, if you’re not into pulling out the mixing bowls and gooping up the bathroom with homemade remedies, check out products by Eminence skin care line. They’re a Hungarian company and have been in the business since for over 40 years and their line is huge—all handmade and using organic ingredients.

What is a spa, really?

I've been having a back and forth conversation via blog posts with Andrew Moorhouse, the blogger who writes about spas from the male perspective at the Great Spa Search.

Andrew was nice enough to follow up on the story I suggested he read in Dayspa trade magazine about how spa operators are trying to attract more men to indulge beyond a hot shave with a beer chaser. Andrew asked for comments on the article and as I was trying to make the comments thingy work it really got me thinking expanding on the-post-that-never-materialized idea. So here are some thoughts:

The author of the Dayspa You've Got Male article quotes a stat released this year by ISPA, which states that 31% of males are currently using spas. I think that this stat is correct but misleading. It all depends on how you define the word spa. These days the term is used so loosely that we don't really know what the place is going to look like and what its vibe is until we arrive. You may be envisioning tranquility and quiet ambiance only to find something else entirely.

It would be interesting to know if the quoted 31% includes MedSpas as well, which is a very different beast. I check and see. In the meantime, nail and hair salons are now attaching the word spa their business names. But aside from the one that are true hybrid venues and do offer bonafide spa treatments such as massage, that stat is likely ramped up because of researchers' lack of specificity. So do your own research—ask your Q's to get your A's because I doubt this naming trend is going anywhere fast. And check in here frequently as I continue to elaborate on treatments that you may have heard about but are not so clear on what they do as to what they are.

A great spa blog for . . .Men!

I love that Andrew Moorhouse has started a blog specifically to get men in on the spa action. I also like that this blog is not about collecting “for-male” spas, which are becoming more common and have a particular shall-we-say aroma of testosterone infusing them. Male spas feels like a misnomer to me. The one's I've seen, which I admit are limited to local places, serve beer and seem more like stylish barber shops, which provide a great service if you are in need of baby stepping your way to the real thing. But Andrew's blog is about enlightening men on the benefits of the concept of spa-ing, which knows no gender. (My partner is definitely in touch with his feminine side and though he gets massages by a male therapist who has a private practice, I can’t imagine him going to a spa—without me.)

In fact, Andrew’s blog, the Great Spa Search, is right on target, maybe even ahead of the curve, and hits a perfect pitch because he's picked up on a big issue that has spa owners scratching their collective heads about. DaySpa, a spa trade journal, ran a cover story in the June 07 issue called “You’ve Got Male: How to attract more men to your spa.” So congrats, Andrew. That's good blogging!

Andrew is located in Australia so if you are planning a trip there, or live there currently, he is collecting Melboure-based spa faves. It’s good to have someone do the research for you, isn’t it?

What is Watsu?

It sounds like a 60s dance, doesn't it? I remember hearing a lot og buzz about, but no one really seemed to know what it was. I finally tried it a couple of years ago, and then wrote a story about it in 2005. At the time it was difficult to find locations that offer it because it requires a pool. When I tried it I immediately fell in love. It’s become increasing more common at destination spas and seems now to be a must-have in all spas with pools.

So what is it?

Harold Dull, a California-based Zen shiatsu practitioner, developed it in the 1980s. Zen shiatsu is a Japanese pressure-point massage technique, so basically this is a water massage. With so many ‘fusion’ treatments out there I was a bit skeptical. But I shouldn’t have been; in the right hands it’s divine.

Get ready for a four-foot deep dedicated pool set at around 95 degrees. Entering it feels like dipping into a warm bath. You’ll be asked to put on floaties around your calves and to rest your head on a fiber-filled pillow, which my practitioner occasionally swapped out to under my knees and neck, leaving her arms free to move me around while keeping me supported. You don’t have to know how to swim, but if you have a fear of water it might be harder to give in and allow yourself to be moved about in the water; the key is to relinquish resistance to what will ensue, which is floating along in a sort of ballet between you and your practitioner. This will give you the deepest state of relaxation that you might ever know. (You’ll also be asked various questions about your personal psychological issues that could unknowingly open up past traumas.)

Once in the pool you’ll be cradled in the practitioner’s supportive arms as she moves you, body part by body part, to and fro, like a hypnotic rhythmic swaying that lasts about an hour. She might move a single leg or arm, stretching it while listening to your body's response to gauge how far she goes. The shiatsu is employed intermittently, finding pressure points with her fingers, or sometimes with her whole hand.

With ears submerged it becomes even more ethereal; breath and heartbeat are amplified and in harmony with the swoosh of the water. She and I struck such a flow that I lost all sense of time, and I wasn’t quite sure if it was she or I initiating the movements. A peaceful ambiguous water dance.