When I have the privilege to serve as a yoga instructor, I think of how to best facilitate as a students’ guide to make sure they are safe on their journey of self-discovery. I am most mindful of students’ safety because I myself have learned few lessons in my own practice. One of them being, finding the edge and not going over it to the extreme. Same goes for your diet/cleansing practice – nothing extreme please. It’s not about “extreme makeover” only great for TV ratings. It’s about finding our equilibrium and longevity at ease.
The subject of physiological importance of Electrolytes I’d like to share as we head into hot summer season. We will be perspiring more which is great for the complexion as the pores are drained out, giving you a lovely glow. Just be aware that we can also be draining out important minerals that our body needs. So we’ve got to replace them by hydrating well as perspiration flushes out the good AND the bad in our system.
“In physiology, the primary ions of electrolytes are sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), chloride (Cl−), hydrogen phosphate (HPO42−), and hydrogen carbonate (HCO3−). The electric charge symbols of plus (+) and minus (−) indicate that the substance is ionic in nature and has an imbalanced distribution of electrons, the result of chemical dissociation. Sodium is the main electrolyte found in extracellular fluid and is involved in fluid balance and blood pressure control.
All known higher lifeforms require a subtle and complex electrolyte balance between the intracellular and extracellular environment. In particular, the maintenance of precise osmotic gradients of electrolytes is important. Such gradients affect and regulate the hydration of the body as well as blood pH, and are critical for nerve and muscle function. Various mechanisms exist in living species that keep the concentrations of different electrolytes under tight control.
Both muscle tissue and neurons are considered electric tissues of the body. Muscles and neurons are activated by electrolyte activity between the extracellular fluid or interstitial fluid, and intracellular fluid. Electrolytes may enter or leave the cell membrane through specialized protein structures embedded in the plasma membrane called ion channels. For example, muscle contraction is dependent upon the presence of calcium (Ca2+), sodium (Na+), and potassium (K+). Without sufficient levels of these key electrolytes, muscle weakness or severe muscle contractions may occur.
Electrolyte balance is maintained by oral, or in emergencies, intravenous (IV) intake of electrolyte-containing substances, and is regulated by hormones, generally with the kidneys flushing out excess levels. In humans, electrolyte homeostasis is regulated by hormones such as antidiuretic hormone, aldosterone and parathyroid hormone. Serious electrolyte disturbances, such as dehydration and overhydration, may lead to cardiac and neurological complications and, unless they are rapidly resolved, will result in a medical emergency.”
(Excerpt from Wikipedia)
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Deficiency can lead to hypocalcemia and other complications…
What are 7 symptoms of hypocalcemia?
1. tetany, seizure
2. circumoral numbness
3. paresthesis (pins and needles)
4. carpopedal spasm
5. tetany may result in trousseau sign
6. tetany may result in chvostek sign
7. prolonged QT on EKG
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So I learned the hard way couple of years ago. Hot yoga studio room is usually heated at 105 ideally BUT the studio was jam packed like a Japanese commute hour train and extremely hot. Hotter than usual – maybe it was 115 by the end – thanks to the communal heat so stoked. I had finished my 90 minutes of over the edge practice well. Yet I gasped for fresh cool air as I came out of the heated room. I really needed more air – first time in my life …hyperventilating(there’s first time to everything but this I would have liked to have avoided). I practically crawled out of the heated room and just could not get up. I was fully conscious – my muscles just froze, “help” and it felt as though I could not breathe. The instructor rushed over and in his arms I recall him pouring cold coconut water into my mouth, encouraging me to drink. There was a RN from local hospital who was one of the students on hand – she rushed over and soon had a brown paper bag over my mouth so I stop hyperventilating. Comments “Good, she’s not unconscious” then, she might have massaged my hands and feet when I told her they were freezing into stones of immobility – I heard her say “she’s got tetany”.
What? Fear rushed through my head as I felt the numbness in my peripherals – I thought, no, I am too young to have a stroke! Aren’t I? Why can’t I move my hands and feet? What’s this tingly sensations turning into burning pain? I felt a feeling of panic overtake me as I tried to move but could not. It truly is a scary feeling when your mind/brain is sending out a command to your body, in this case, “move it !”, but the body does not respond:( You truly break out in cold sweat (I had both the hot and cold versions that day!). It was a payback time: all this time, my body was sending out signals but my ego/mind/brain simply ignored those messages. Now the reverse was happening much to my chagrin: the mind was telling the body to move; and the body simply ignored such plea. Yes, my mind-body connection was out of whack – was I really doing yoga then?
I was fatigued, sleep deprived and stressed beyond belief but rather than back off a bit and rest, closet Type A, I felt obsessive to stoke a yoga session that day. I had gotten down to my ideal weight and I intended to keep it so this practice, I felt compulsively, is a MUST! I felt the tingly sensations in my fingers right around Standing Bow pose – my favorite pose back then – but ignored the signals and went over the edge throughout the practice, totally absorbed, staring into my reflection in the mirror as I had staked out my favorite mat space directly FRONT of the mirror, FRONT row. The room felt hotter than the usual 105 and was confirmed someone said – oh, 110 at the start – as it was jam packed that Saturday morning with a popular teacher. As Judith and Matsy would say, I was not doing yoga.
So I learned my lesson. Things did not feel quite right and It took me couple of months to recover from that episode. I really had to reach deep within to access my innate ability to heal while seeking out the true teachings of yoga. I heard later that some never fully recover from a heat stroke – so I am lucky. I attribute my “real” or true-to-self yoga practice for my recovery since then. It would have been unimaginable to foresee this trajectory back then when I was gritting my teeth to get my yoga “on” and only “intention” set was to squeeze in a practice during my busy schedule, whatever the cost. Where was the sthira (stability) and where was the sukham (ease) ?
I was not doing yoga then. I did not honor my body. I did not practice compassion. I kept on cracking the whip and forced my body into over the edge poses, and shamed my mind for what it could not do. That was not yoga.
In our practice, we need to be grateful for what our body can do today, and feel inspired by what our body cannot do. Then believe. Believe in your body. Believe in your inner wisdom.
I have since then become a seeker and I owe thanks to the great teachers I have met on my journey. I am back on my path and I feel my transformation still unfolding.
I am now doing YOGA.
