Category Archives: Yoga as Therapy

Therapeutic effects of yoga

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Therapeutic effects of yoga include enhanced immune system functioning

Therapeutic effects of yoga

Restorative yoga

“stress has a negative impact on the immune system and prolonged exposure increases susceptibility to disease and leads to physical and mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. Practicing yoga and meditation as a means to manage and relieve both acute and chronic stress helps individuals overcome other co-morbidities associated with diseases and leads to increased quality of life” STUDY

The immune system is a miracle to me. In case you are wondering what that is, “the immune system is a system of biological structures and processes within an organism that protects against disease” (SOURCE) Restorative yoga poses are highly effective at reducing stress and therefore in creating a healthy immune system. The supported poses decrease the chasing aspect which is sometimes present when students “stretch” because these asanas (poses) are done with the strategic support and placement of yoga props which thus nurtures the body and induces the “relaxation response” while reducing the “stress response”. Together, these two effects protect and help to strengthen the immune system. Once your system is compromised, the practice changes, so the best tip is to be preventive with your health. I meet students who specifically do not do this type of practice yet will readily agree they are not able to relax. The number one reason they give to avoid the practice is they think it will be too easy. HMMMM. It’s definitely not the same as jumping around, but it is also quite challenging in its own way. Perhaps your misconceptions are keeping you from optimum health!!

yoga for better posture

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yoga for better posture

yoga for better posture

yoga can be used as therapy for the forward head posture; as you can see (and maybe this is you or someone you know) the dropped head can create strain that radiates throughout the body, not just the torso. We have become a society of rounded shoulders, whether as an emotional bracing mechanism or as a result of driving, sitting at a computer, hunching up against the cold weather…

Some symptoms of forward head posture include:
  • Forward head position.
  • Rounded shoulders.
  • Chronic pain (neck, shoulders, upper, lower and middle back)
  • Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction.
  • Teeth clenching.
  • Fatigue.
  • Arthritis.
  • Pinched nerves

“Forward head posture leads to long term muscle strain, disc herniations, arthritis and pinched nerves”. There is also a kind of dual thing going on in yoga classes (some) where we as teachers, want you to feel like you are “perfect as you are” however, big however, if you take this forward head posture with you into asana, it is NOT beneficial to you. In many ways, a therapeutic application of yoga can undo this posture so that, going forward (not with the head, but in practice!) you can actually benefit from what you are “doing”. I have seen many students change their postural setpoint but it does take patience and persistence, and also, private yoga lessons do wonders. 

Check out previous helpful tips come to class, schedule a private

 

Solar Plexus Chakra

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Solar Plexus Chakra  ~ today in instalment three we focus on the solar plexus, this a continuation of the past 2 days and an older blog post I wrote. The third chakra is also called The Manipura (navel) –or solar plexus, and is associated with the colour yellow.

Each of the 7 chakras is associated with particular emotions and specific issues that we deal with in life. They also relate to how we handle these in our own internal processes and our ways of interacting within our environment. These chakras can be thought of as power/distribution centres of life energy, or prana.  They are sensitive and fluctuations or imbalances can occur through external stressful circumstances, long stored physical tension or limited self- concepts.

The meditation today is “I love myself. I am willing to stand up, with strength and confidence, for that which I believe. I have the freedom to make my own choices in life with appreciation of my sense of self. I am connected to the source of all power and it flows through me to encourage the power of others.” Key concepts are power, will, energy, metabolism, control, fire amongst others.

 

solar plexus chakra

solar plexus chakra

If a chakra is deficient, it does not receive the energy it needs to help with manifestation of its positive qualities in the world, and, when excessive, it can dominate the personality which creates further imbalances for the chakra to receive, absorb, integrate and distribute the flow of energy through our being.

 

 

 

Bringing your life into focus

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Bringing your life into focus with your yoga practice

“Life is like a camera. Just focus on what’s important and capture the good times, develop from the negatives and if things don’t turn out, just take another shot”

The other day on the blog we talked about drishti which translates to focus, or gaze. I think when we are well-rested we tend to see things in a more positive light than when we are exhausted. Yoga practice can be very replenishing, especially if you balance out your practice with restoratives and quiet time.

People whose attention is all over the place can benefit from simple mindfulness practices and our breath is an excellent tool. You will find that just spending a few minutes (I have a 5 minute practice on my CD)  following your inhales and exhales is quite powerful and transformative. It may be challenging to keep your focus on your breathing, thoughts can be strong distractions, but stick with the exercise and reap benefits over time. Attention follows awareness. We tend to lead busy lives that speed us from one thing to the next and then collapse from fatigue, which is all we can then focus on. Let’s try to cultivate new habits, move into the holiday season with equanimity and face 2015 with a great outlook. Join me this weekend for a PeaceFULL workshop !

focus

Safety in movement

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LOL! When in doubt :

-don’t

-modify

-ask for options

-think length, space, comfort versus pain, pinching, bone on bone friction, compression

-get personalized attention

-familiarize yourself with anatomy

-take responsibility

-slow down

-break it down into smaller steps

Patanjali, in the yoga sutras, explained that there are five causes of suffering, one of which is dvesa, aversion, or, revulsion, avoidance. I think this is a larger discussion, involving many personal considerations. Sometimes we avoid things we know will be dangerous, or, we are not ready to do them. At other times, we are just plain afraid, having perhaps imposed limitations which are not really there, we just don’t muster up the courage or right effort. To know what is what for yourself requires healthy introspection and self-reflection. This is a part of yoga practice. Knowing how to balance effort with ease, doing with being, and using intelligence and common sense. Injuries, in the end, do heal and we do learn from all that we do, but they also slow us down, add impediments to health, and create scar tissue. If you can get through practice with safety, I believe you are then enjoying sustainable yoga practice.

avoid injury

 

Word of the day is drishti

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Word of the day is drishti “or focused gaze, is a means for developing concentrated intention. It relates to the fifth limb of yoga (pratyahara) concerning sense withdrawal, as well as the sixth limb dharana relating to concentration.”

drishti

drishti ~ focus, gaze

 

Sometimes we practice asana with eyes open, sometimes, eyes closed. When we focus with open eyes, this focus is called drishti, or gaze.  It is a soft and diffused gaze rather than a hard stare. Many classical poses have drishti points, and some pranayama techniques also call for a specific position for the eyes, such as the “third eye” area between the eyebrows, or, at the tip of the nose.

A classical yogic meditation techinique is Candle Gazing, where you maintain a soft eye focus on a candle flame. The focus helps to calm the mind, via the eyes. We are a very visual culture (think TV, Ipads, movies etc) and if you ever watched a crime show thinking you were relaxed, you should periodically check your heart beat because often the seeing is actually stressing the system. This doesn’t mean don’t watch your favourite crime show, just be aware that there is a powerful effect going on in your nervous system.

A nice way to “reset the eyes, erase the mind” is to palm the eyes after your meditation or relaxation. This technique is a way to relax the eyes, and stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system. You rub your palms together to generate warmth then bring your palms gently over closed eyes

Find Peace This Weekend in Jersey City

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Find Peace This Weekend in Jersey City cause I am teaching an all new restorative yoga class …   peace – do you find it elusive?

Finding Peace In Jersey City

Restorative Yoga Class Jersey City  ~ Restorative Yoga: This is exactly what is being recommended as a Yoga practice to promote recovery. Whether you are an athlete and find it hard to rebalance from high energy workouts, or whether the daily grind leaves you worn out, restorative yoga is fast becoming the new go-to practice.  This is a series not to be missed as it promotes flexibility and the rest and digest mechanisms necessary for optimum health.  Learn strategic prop supported “being” and “still” asanas that deepen your experience of yoga.  Whether you are new to yoga, looking to refine your yoga practice, or balance out an active existence, this series will give you the opportunity as well as provide you with relaxation and breathing techniques to combat the stresses of daily life. The class is a 1 hour 35 minute format, and will also cover pranayama and savasana. Come chill! Here’s the link to the calendar:  https://ranawaxman.com/calendar/

Not convinced? check this out “Their findings showed that the restorative yoga practitioners lost significantly more subcutaneous fat over the initial 6 months of the study period, and kept losing it during a maintenance period with less direct supervision. There was no significant loss of visceral fat in either group.” and the following article which stresses the crucial role of recovery: “Without question, yoga provides excellent opportunities for recovery. But restorative yoga—a specific, passive style of this popular mind-body technique—can be of particular use to fitness professionals with stressed-out, maxed-out clients. Here are practical strategies for introducing restoratives into your client’s everyday routines to promote recovery and relaxation…Restorative yoga combats fatigue, balances tight muscles, reduces overtraining injuries, speeds recovery from illness or injury, and reduces depression and anxiety”

 the dance for peace

 

Yogic breathing and stress relief

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Yogic breathing and stress relief.

BKS Iyengar wrote; “The diaphragm, according to yogic science, is the seat of intelligence of the heart and the window to the soul.  During stressful situations, however, when you inhale and exhale, the diaphragm becomes too taut to alter its shape. Yogic exercises address this problem by developing elasticity in the diaphragm so that, when stretched, it can handle any amount of stress, whether intellectual, emotional, or physical.”

New students often feel their breath is caught some place, although as a teacher, I often notice that even people who have ‘done’ yoga are not actually breathing into their bodies and are also kind of stuck someplace. It takes diligence and commitment to understand our own breathing patterns, learn and/or unlearn chronic unhealthy ones.  Generally when the breath and the asana are done in unison, with a mindfulness and focus, it actually brings tranquility to the cells, releases held tension, and aids in bringing the mind into a stillness, rather than a stuckness. I think the word ’embodiment’ is a good one here. Smiling inside further helps solicit this response. If you ever practiced and held tension in your face or clenched your teeth, that pattern is not doing anything to create extra ease in body/mind/spirit. The advise below may help you develop, deepen, refine your practice!

Yogic breathing and stress relief

simple stress relief

yoga and its cold cures

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from overload to cold curesyoga and its cold cures…

“It’s not the load that breaks you down it’s the way you carry it”.

I think this expression needs a little play. Are any of you suffering from the common cold? Perfect example of a little viral infection – actually of the mucous membranes that line the respiratory tract – which includes nose and throat. Common symptoms can be nasal congestion, discharge, sinusitis, sore throat, coughing, headaches. So how does yoga help? Well, yoga postures can be pretty helpful for respiratory disorders. Some sequencing might include downward facing dog with head support, other inversions and some soothing backbends to open the chest. The focus is more restorative, opening, and relaxing for the system. Downward facing dog is not a restorative in that it requires a lot of muscular effort but a bolster under the head or some other support has benefits for the brain, very soothing to the nervous system and can cure fatigueI am actually teaching a restorative yoga workshop to support the immune system – check it out

Stress definitely knocks us out when we don’t have a plan, and even the best of us, with the most disciplined practice get overwhelmed sometimes. All you can do is your best to prevent the cold, but if you have it, you will find it will pretty much dictate its needs which usually include rest and fluids. The neti pot is my favourite yoga cleansing technique, which pretty much keeps the airborne viruses at bay. You have to do it routinely. And here is something to think about when you feel like your resistance is low, resistance takes a lot of energy, and as BKS Iyengar said: “fear and fatiigue block the mind. Confront both, and courage and confidence will flow into you”

 

Nurturing The Spirit With Yoga

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Nurturing The Spirit With Yoga

“It is not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority. It’s necessary.” ~ Mandy Hale

According to the yogic system, it is the fluctuations of the mind that impose themselves on the body  and thus bring about mental and physical imbalance. The remedy if you will, is a focused and dedicated practice of asana and pranayama to calm the agitated mind, or wake up the sleepy mind, and balance out our system, thus preventing disease. While this may mean that restoratives are called for, it may also mean that a stronger practice (like standing poses) is a better recipe.

As always, you need to start where you are. Usually we just do more of the same, whereas your practice should be organic. The balance between the more active and passive postures will vary from person to person, and season to season. Too much of the active practice can still exhaust you, too much passive can lead to lethargy. I usually teach both constituents in my classes but in private yoga lessons,  the practice will specifically address the student. I also have two upcoming workshops which will give you some idea of how restorative practices can be used to enhance calm and support the immune system.

I find this interesting: “Lymph glands are scattered throughout the body, including between muscle fibres. The muscle is literally helping to pump the gland to effectuate lymphatic flow.  Hence, inactive muscles impact on the lymphatic function” ~ Pete Egoscue

Always add relaxation. It is the integrating factor.

Nurturing The Spirit With Yoga

Nurturing The Spirit With Yoga