Foreword

Every animal in the forest effortlessly enjoys excellent bone health. Yet, despite considerable effort, millions of humans today experience poor bone health in middle age and beyond. Each year in the United States alone more than 1.5 million fractures occur needlessly. The incidence of osteoporotic fractures in this country continues to rise, despite a federal NIH budget for osteoporosis research that reached $198 million in 2002. Something has gone awry and modern medical science can't seem to find a solution. It appears that all the king's horses and all the king's men cannot put bone health back together again. So what are the king, his horses, his research scientists, and his big health budgets missing?

At the Osteoporosis Education Project we believe that knowledge is the missing element: knowledge not of smaller and smaller bone specifics (which modern science excels at producing), but knowledge about the "big picture"; knowledge about inter-connectedness, about unity, about holism. Our bones are dynamic, constantly changing tissues, connected minute-by-minute to our entire mind-body system. Every morsel we eat, every move we make, and every thought we have affects our bones.

The ancient Indian philosophy of yoga offers a much-needed unified and holistic approach to bone health. This approach has nothing to do with clinical trials or changing scientific opinions. Rather the yoga perspective has everything to do with alignment, balance, harmony, and a life lived in accordance with natural laws. In fact, if you feel tossed about by the seemingly ever-changing reports and recommendations on how to gain and maintain bone health, this book will be a comfort. With admirable simplicity Linda Sparrowe moves us toward unchanging, time-honored ways to renew not only the health of our bones, but also that of our entire body.

In this beautiful and practical book Linda interweaves the wisdom of ancient Eastern traditions with the practical insights of modern Western science to produce a ground-breaking approach to bone health. Gracefully, and with the ease of a journalist, she summarizes current Western medical thought on osteoporosis and bone health. Moving beyond the superficial emphasis on calcium and estrogen, she details a wide range of nutrition and lifestyle factors that can either help or hinder the development and maintenance of strong bones. After establishing this basic groundwork, Linda explores the implications of yoga philosophy and the benefits of yoga postures for bone health.

Linda reminds us of the simple principles of rest and activity. Rest is the basis for activity. Yoga's attention to the breath enlivens our awareness of the principles of giving and receiving. Taking in and letting go are ever-present in our lives as we breathe in and out. Further, these yogic principles of allowing and acceptance free our minds from the fatigue-inducing and bone-damaging clutter of critical thoughts and negative judgments. The Yogis of ancient India proclaimed that life occurs in layers. Indeed, even a cursory inquiry into bone health reveals a multitude of operational layers, nutritional factors, physical forces, electromagnetic forces, hormonal influences, acid-base interactions, and on and on. I have spent two decades investigating the material factors influencing bones. My suspicion, however, has long been that the nonmaterial forces—the nonmaterial layers of life—will prove far more important to bone health than the well-known material forces.

New studies now document the nonmaterial influences on bone. As Linda details, it is now well known that depression and osteoporosis are linked. In fact, any disharmonious emotional or mental state can trigger bone depleting cortisol, adrenaline, and other distress hormones. In a recent Canada-wide bone-health study, Dr. Jerilynn Prior and colleagues asked novel questions about happiness and worry and their relationship to bone health. To the surprise of some, they found that the negative feelings of unhappiness and worry were more highly associated with bone fractures than factors like low calcium intake, lack of exercise, and smoking. These findings provoked me to look up an ancient biblical statement a client shared with me years ago. It's from Proverbs 15:30: "A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones."

Yoga can help preserve and build bone, I have no doubt. And not just through its physical postures and breathing exercises, but also through the way it quiets the mind as it slows the breath. And not just through the quieting of the mind, but beyond that to the awareness that such stillness promotes an awareness that we are connected to, in union with, the divine life force. Even though surrounded by layers of tumultuous activity, we begin to feel in our center that indeed, all is well in the universe. Allowing ourselves to slip into this profound feeling of well-being will prove, I suspect, to be one of the most important things we can do for our bone health.

Enjoy this book. Take a yoga class. Stretch yourself in many ways and breathe new life into your bones.

Susan E. Brown, Ph.D., C.C.N.
Director of the Osteoporosis Education Project