I grew up listening to the music of Kate Wolf, a North Coast singer/songwriter, who described the “golden rolling hills of California”.
It’s true: For most of the year, the hills of Northern California are shades of gold and tan, the colors of field mice, cougars, and deer. But for a brief period in the spring, after the winter rains, and before the sun begins to bake our hillsides, the landscape around my home glows with shades of green. (An artist friend once said he couldn’t paint Sonoma County without a healthy tube of chromium oxide green.) But before the hills green, there is a brief period when it seems we’re awash in yellow.
Last Wednesday night, a friend drove out to the house to help with a project, and when I opened the door, she said “everything was yellow on the drive here,” and it certainly seems that way.
The still-greening hills have a yellow tinge, the coastal hillsides are covered in the bright yellow blossoms of invasive gorse, acacia trees are in full bloom, fields of mustard blanket coastal ranches, the Monterey pines hold up candles of golden pollen, and feral daffodils are springing up in defiance of the late winter storms. So right now, the hills are golden and rolling, but not the way they’ll be most of the year.
Luther Burbank, who settled in Santa Rosa, said in 1875 that he had found “the chosen spot of all this earth so far as Nature is concerned”. Myself a member of a rare species – the California native – I definitely agree. But I’ve heard from so many people who moved here from other areas that this is a hotbed of seasonal allergies. Lots of allergy suffers find relief at the coast during the hot, dry summers. But this time of the year, the bright yellows that surround us herald the return of peak allergy season for coastal dwellers. The acacia, pines, and cypress trees make lots of people suffer. This is also peak season for respiratory infections, and I’m certain there’s a corollary.
Since I’m an allergy sufferer myself, and live in a house that’s sandwiched between pine trees and a cypress grove, I’ve learned to look for the telltale warning sign that my allergies are about to ignite – a coating of bright yellow pollen on my car, so thick I could write my name in it (if I dared to touch it).
My allergies have gotten better over the years. I have less bouts of uncontrollable sneezing, less wheezing, less itching, and far fewer cases of bronchitis, and I attribute this – in part – to yoga.
This time of the year, I’m frequently asked if I think yoga can help allergies, and my response is enthusiatically “yes!”
However, as with all things yoga, this takes time and patience.
(Please note that nothing I’m about to say should be construed as medical advice. This essay is about mild-to-moderate seasonal allergies and NOT about serious allergies that involve anaphylactic symptoms. I believe that yoga newcomers should practice under the supervision of a teacher, and that every yoga practitioner should honor the needs and limits of her/his own body.)
I also need to say here, I’m a firm believer in taking measures to relieve allergy symptoms before secondary infections – sinus, bronchial, etc. – set in. There are a variety of ways to do this including complementary and allopathic, or western, medicine. In the past, I’ve had good results with acupuncture. When my symptoms are really flaring, I’m not beyond taking a Claritin.
What I recommend to my students is that they integrate into their practice, long, slow, deep poses, with a focus on the breath and progressive lengthening of the muscles.
Here is why I think this is helpful for allergy sufferers: The cells that mediate our allergic, immune, and inflammatory responses hang out in our connective tissue. Called “mast cells,” these cells are filled with granules that are rich in histamine, heparine, and other inflammatory substances (there may be as many as 17 different biochemical operating ingredients).
I believe that progressively stretching our connective tissue helps to disrupt mast cells so that over time, we have less of these stored inflammatory substances, and become less reactive to allergens. This is my own personal belief, based on what I know about the human body and yoga. The hot, itchy, burning feeling some people experience in, and after, deep stretches is a sign that histamine that been released (not lactic acid).
We can’t “stretch” muscles any more than we can stretch a pot roast (another example of muscle). We can only coax them into progressive relaxation. We don’t have the conscious ability to completely relax any muscle in our body, but we can relax them beyond our normal holding patterns. When we do this, the collagen that makes up much of our connective tissue and runs through our muscles, stretches slowly. Much of the collagen in our body is contiguous – the fibers that make up our tendons and ligaments connect to fibers that run throughout our muscles, and form the coverings of our muscles, organs, etc. This is our fascia. When the fascia is moved and stretched (through yoga or massage, for example), it results in chemical changes (through the disruption of mast, and other, cells) that mediate allergic response, inflammation and help support our immune system.
There’s also a side benefit to all this: Flexibility gained through this type of lengthening tends to have a long-term effect. Attempts to stretch collagen quickly can result in tears and damage, hence the fragility of tendons and ligaments. However, it can be stretched slowly and will adjust to the new length, creating more freedom to relax muscle fibers in the future. Conversely, when muscles are short and unused, the fascia tightens around them like shrink wrap.
So what do I mean by “long,” “slow,” and “deep”? I mean holding poses, especially deep forward bends, like paschimottanasa, janu sirsasana, and forward-bending upavishta konasana, for a minimum of seven minutes, up to fifteen minutes at a time. (A timer can be helpful.) If that’s too long for you, start with less time (say three minutes) and work up from there. In order to do this, you need to prepared to stay there, and also prepared to protect your back in these poses. Certainly, not every yoga practitioner has the flexibility to rest their head on their shins or the floor. Blocks, bolsters, the seat of a folding chair, a pile of blankets, the edge of a coffee table – all of these are ways to support your body in correct alignment as it releases into the poses. You can sit on the edge of folded blankets and rest your head on a block, or the seat of a chair, for example. In order for muscles to begin to lengthen, it’s imperative that they are safe. This is why pushing, pulling, and bouncing can have a detrimental effect on your flexibility (and are potentially dangerous to your connective tissue). Creating a safe environment for your muscles takes time. I have read that it can take up to seven minutes (although the number I have heard from different teachers varies) before the protective mechanisms in our body will begin to “let go” and allow our muscles to lengthen.
You may experience a sensation of heat or itching in the muscles you’re working. Be sure to distinguish this from pain. Any pain that causes you alarm indicates you should come out of the pose.
During this process, bring your focus to your breath. Keep it slow and even. Some people may find it helpful to lengthen the exhalation part of the breath cycle. Be aware of how you can let the breath expand the body during inhalation, and let your muscles lengthen during the exhalation. Feel how this becomes a rhythm. Use this as a time to allow your mind to relax as well.
Last of all, be sure to come out of the poses carefully. Bear your weight on your hands and don’t try to sit up using your back muscles. Instead use your arms to push yourself to an upright position.
Not everyone is a fan of this style of muscle lengthening. Some people find they don’t have the patience, or that they panic when their breath is restricted in deep forward bends. Over the years I have found it to be a comforting and relaxing part of my practice that has increased my flexibility. I also credit it with reducing my allergies, making me much happier to see the early signs of spring on the North Coast.
Namasté & Blessed Be.
Oh I love Kate Wolf! She had the most pure and lovely voice and her songs were (are) beautiful.
I don’t suffer much from allergies, but my mother and daughter do so I know they are no fun.
I used to feel a lot of fear in forward bends. I still do, but it’s lightened some. I am not sure if it is because the breath is restricted, maybe that’s part of it. I’ve been told that forward bends are about surrender, and people who have a hard time surrendering might have reactions as a result. I wonder what a seven minute paschimottanasana would be like for me?! Maybe I’ll try it. In Ashtanga, we only hold poses for 5-10 (deep, slow) breaths.
Fun to stumble across you blog, especially because I love California so much. Say hi to it for me.
Dear Suzi,
Thank you for your refreshing take on allergies and fascia. As a massage therapist, I have long been preaching about the benefits of connective tissue or myofascial release therapies. I now have a newfound inspiration to try yoga again. And I look forward to finding out what the heck “paschimottanasa” means. See you in class!