Category Archives: Yoga Therapy

Restore Your Calm

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Restore Your Calm

PeaceFULL : A Restorative Yoga Workshop to Combat Holiday Stress and Help you Reconnect With Your Calm Centre

Holiday Season is upon us, yet with all the extra festivities, so many people are stressed-out, with huge ‘to-do’ lists and “get-it-done” momentum, leaving them feeling exhausted, pressured and with no ability to recover. As the workload increases, and our social calendars fill, our digestive system becomes overloaded and sluggish, and our nervous system can feel more frazzled than filled with joy.

Restorative yoga is the antidote and will benefit and balance out the more active practices that Yoga offers. This specially themed class is a practice of BEING poses, postures held with strategic placement of props for an extended period of time, where the practitioner can detoxify, replenish and recover from fatigue, overtraining, and anxiety. We will also include breathing practices and deep relaxation to help regulate, repair, and allow your body to naturally release tension, elongate chronically tight musculature, and help you access your inner core of joy and peace, light and love.

Come and celebrate the season by immersing yourself, in this peaceFULL practice that will give you the gift of relaxation and rejuvenation so that you can enter into 2015 with a calm and centered approach. It is appropriate for all levels and all are welcome.

$25 in advance call 201-993-1110

$30 at the door

Sunday, November 23, 5:00 – 7:00 P.M.

Jivamukti Yoga Center Jersey City

restorative yoga for calm

Calm and PeaceFULL

The wisdom of yoga sutra 1.2

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yoga sutra 1.2

“yoga is the stilling of the changing states of mind”

We tend to associate the mind with its mindstuff, or thoughts. We even think about our thinking. Sometimes this gets a little compulsive. We even think about postures.
So what is Patanjali referring to in yoga sutra 1.2

Yoga is a practice that balances and consists of maintaining a balance between a quiet mind that is ‘still’, meaning the thought waves are calmed, and the awake and present state where we are able to notice and observe what we are doing. In that balance, the chaos and drama of thoughts rushing around on so many levels about so many things is controlled and directed (one-pointednes).

the word ‘mind’ here is composed of the psyche, the intelligence, thoughts, sentiments, emotions, so it is a broad term here, and can be both subconscious and conscious. When your mind is in the yoga state (yoga mind, I like to say) all the disharmony and disturbance that the mind was previously engaged in is replaced by a harmonious state that is purified and not distracted or subject to the sufferings of the monkey mind.

Does your yoga practice change the way your ‘mind’ feels, and do you take this transformation into your daily life ? #liveyouryoga

yoga sutra 1.2

yoga sutra 1.2

proper breathing

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proper breathing: “without proper breathing the yoga postures are nothing more than calisthenics” R. Schaeffer

Asana is a great forum to discover who you are as a breather. You know from past posts of mine that breathing is a vast topic, with many therapeutic uses and applications. I often work with private clients to dive into their breathing persona and uncover the areas that could benefit from specific asana to help them move toward “proper breathing”.

proper breathing

For some, and I think this is what the above quote refers to, the tendency is to hold the breath or use stressed out breathing (short and shallow) while holding a posture, especially in a challenging pose. This creates more stress and tension in the body. In yoga, we want to create a calm and relaxed body, breath and mind through the conscious use of the breath in asana.

In asana, the break is the link between the mind and body, so that as you learn the  coordination of breath and movement, your practice becomes harmonious, and your breath deepens of its own accord, therefore increasing circulation and stimulating metabolism … Also since there is a huge correlation between emotions, thoughts and breathing practices, one can direct the breath to enhance muscle relaxation by concentrating on tense areas of the body and consciously relaxing those parts with each exhalation.

 

proper breathing

proper breathing

meditation for beginners

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meditation for beginners:

If you are just starting out on a yoga-meditation-stress relief plan, this quote may be informative to your practice: “Meditation is not to escape from society, but to go back to ourselves and see what is going on. Once there is seeing, there must be acting.  With mindfulness we know what to do and what not to do to help.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Contrary to some belief, stress relief via mindfulness practices does not mean that you get to hide from stress or necessarily avoid it altogether. Yoga is actually a system designed to help cultivate the inner witness, that place beyond the noise of the busy mind. Just focusing on the present moment and its wholeness, gives us this gift of returning to our inner peaceful core. This in turn gives us the ability to breathe and calm ourselves during stressful times, get objective, or just respond from a better place, even make healthier choices in the beginning.

If you are struggling with the postures in yoga, you can check out a short but sweet practice on my YOGA MIND cd, called “5 minute mindfulness retreat” which will help you learn how to focus. Awareness really is the building block for the deeper states of meditation; it tends to evolve with patience and practice, not by chasing it or trying to push aside reality. the important thing is not to be the drama you are watching, but rather, associate with the peaceful witness.

meditation for beginners

meditation for beginners

smile breathe move

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smile breathe move: these 3 cues can inspire your yoga today

1. Smile – research shows that smiling actually benefits the brain. That simple mona lisa moment activates neural messaging that turns on the endorphins and happiness molecules. This mechanism is what helps fight off the stress molecules, so the minute you turn your frown upside down, the feel good neurotransmitters (dopamine, endorphins and serotonin) are all released. This induces the relaxation response which can lower your heart rate and blood pressure, and potentially act as a pain reliever.

2. Breathe – the breath is the link between the mind and emotions. For basic tips, I invite you to download the YOGA MIND cd. Diaphragmatic breathing is associated with the relaxation response as well.  Learning to breathe properly can lengthen life span, slow the heart rate, decrease blood pressure, and help you maintain a calm inner state during stressful situations. Good breathing increases energy, helps overcome headaches, helps restore emotional/mental balance, and helps decrease anxiety and sleep disorders

3. Go slowly. Well, mindfully and at your own pace. Everyone is unique so you need to learn to know and trust what you are feeling, and move from that place.

smile breathe move

smile breathe move

yoga humor

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yoga humor :  Where do you find your funny bone? At the end of your humerous! Actually, the funny bone is not really a bone . According to Wikepedia

“the ulnar nerve is a nerve which runs near the ulna bone. The ulnar collateral ligament of elbow joint is in relation with the ulnar nerve. The nerve is the largest unprotected nerve in the human body (meaning unprotected by muscle or bone), so injury is common. This nerve is directly connected to the little finger, and the adjacent half of the ring finger, supplying the palmar side of these fingers, including both front and back of the tips, perhaps as far back as the fingernail beds.

One method of injuring the nerve is to strike the medial epicondyle of the humerus from posteriorly, or inferiorly with the elbow flexed. The ulnar nerve is trapped between the bone and the overlying skin at this point. This is commonly referred to as bumping one’s “funny bone“. This name is thought to be a pun, based on the sound resemblance between the name of the bone of the upper arm, the “humerus” and the word “humorous”.

Pictured below, this is a yoga pose called “extended side angle”  (Utthita parsvakonasana) provides a nice opening for the side body, and stretches out the entire pinky finger side of the arm…

yoga humor

restorative yoga pose of the day

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Restorative yoga pose of the day: Today we included in our restorative segment a posture that is called Viparita Karani or legs up the wall. There are many variations of the pose, I did teach the simplest variation today; the bolsters are very round and large, making it almost impossible for some of the smaller framed students to approach. Also, this may have been the first time for some of the students, so I kept it simple, although we did add some variations while we were in it. You can actually see how unique each person is by how bent or straight their legs, and how much space from the wall they needed.

Definition: “The name comes from the Sanskrit words viparita meaning “inverted” or “reversed”, and karani meaning “doing” or “making” and asana (आसन; āsana) meaning “posture” or “seat” “

restorative yoga poseOur restorative yoga pose of the day was a passive, supported variation of the Shoulderstand that is said to have the following benefits:

  • Anxiety
  • Arthritis
  • Digestive problems
  • Headache
  • High and low blood pressure
  • Insomnia
  • Migraine
  • Mild depression
  • Respiratory ailments
  • Urinary disorders
  • Varicose veins
  • Menstrual cramps
  • Premenstrual syndrome
  • Menopause

Restorative yoga poses in the Yapana® system are called “being” poses. They are held with the support of strategically place yoga props. Instead of chasing a pose, you can allow your body to receive the stretch, as well as the calming effects on the mind. This particular class, as I am subbing for a vinyasa teacher, I do an active component first, but by the end of class fit in restoratives and savasana so it is a fully balanced class

yoga for everybody

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yoga for everybody:

This post is inspired by two things.  The first is by this photo. The second, is I recently met someone who said “this body is not meant to do yoga”. the comment made me a little sad that this person felt excluded from the entire eight limbed system of yoga because of the shape of the body this person lives in.

yoga for everybody

The Western culture very much identifies Yoga with the body. Yes, we do have one, live in one, and use it to move around in, so let us respect it and maintain it. I like how she expresses things up above. “Not all yoga poses are upside-down and pretzelly. They can be simple like this and still work their magic”.  I have heard before, “If you are breathing, you can do yoga”. I agree, and as a yoga therapist, I would say that most of the poses can be brought to you, whether through the use of strategically placed yoga props, or modifications, and substitutions. Breathing practices can also find you, as can visualizations, relaxations, and meditation. You can focus on your breath and do a simple joint opening series, and bring mindfulness into sitting at your desk. Not everything has to be bendy and fancy in order for you to be yoga. “All bodies are yoga bodies”. It is not a one-size fits all practice, your uniqueness can be respected and appreciated.

Yoga Twists Without The Shout

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Yoga Twists Without The Shout: Yoga Twists can either unwind the spine and help digestion or they can torque the spine and de-stabilize the SI joints..etc.  Most of my students – especially those with generic back pain tell me twists feel great but you do want to approach yoga twists with safe alignment (think belly button up).  Using your yoga as therapy, a few tips to keep in mind when you want to unwind with a yoga twist:

~ avoid twisting from the lumbar; stacking the pelvis and shoulders while maintaining a ‘straight’ spine … you may not go as deep but it will be a safer exploration

~ try to open the thoracic area enough to be able to emphasize the rotation here

~ put yourself into neutral after a twist (child’s pose for eg)

~ typically if you have just had abdominal surgery, are pregnant, have sciatica, herniated discs, SI joint dysfunction, twists are contraindicated. Some people want to go deeper into a twist and then you may have to let the opposite hip slide forward with you.

You may find one side easier that the other. You can do the tighter side twice. Feel it out.
Yoga twists Rana-twist garden