Category Archives: Yoga as Therapy

yoga silence quotes

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yoga silence quotes: city living is not silent…there is a beat to every city even at night. Sometimes the only opportunity to turn all the sounds off is during deep sleep when we unplug.  There seems to be a lot of yoga classes where they play really loud music and I have tried to embrace it but can’t. I taught the other day and did not have my ipod on me and the student said it was fine, she was happy to hear the cues, directions, and her breathing. I like this quote because I think it is about balance. If you are always in noise, silence becomes unfamiliar and unfamiliar may not be comfortable. If you are always in quiet, then if there is noise, you may not be able to focus. I love yoga silence quotes because they appeal to my Yoga MInd, but I am just starting on Spotify, trying new music for the yoga classes where they prefer it…

Click the link below to listen to Rana Waxman’s playlist Rana yoga playlist  on Spotify:

http://open.spotify.com/user/12141563042/playlist/62l4e3icRgTVOBWL6UVpKE

yoga silence quotes

yoga and stress

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yoga and stress

focus:breathe

Yoga and stress: Are you “stressed out” ? Is your day “stressful”? In technical terms, stress is load. If you have too much load, you will break what you are overloading. It’s like over stretching and then tearing the muscle you are ‘trying’ to lengthen. The softer practices of yoga (and I am not saying don’t practice asana) are important and  complementary to our busy – ness in so many useful ways. This advice by Thich Nhat Hanh is a nice reminder that the breath is the link between mind and body. Letting yourself think think think about all your stress will just make your body tenser. A mindful approach, a breath by mindful breath approach is something that yoga can teach you.  If you have five minutes you can learn how to do do by downloading my Yoga Mind cd. That is what it is there for, and you can then take it with you to practice instead of letting things get out of hand.

Rana -yogaWe need to learn how to breathe and consciously diffuse a potential stressor, as well as how to mobilize our body so that it can let go of the tensions and learn how to quiet the mind so that our split second decision-making skills are clearer, these are all tools we can learn to use, so that our lives are balanced

Yoga: Upward Facing Dog

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Yoga Upward Facing Dog:

Yoga Upward Facing Dog Pose: This blog is inspired by an article I just read on protecting your back in upward facing dog; the author asks, “Have you done 50 headstands today? How about 50 triangle poses? That would seem excessive, wouldn’t it? But doing 50 upward-facing dog poses (urdhva mukha shvanasana) a day can be business as usual if you take a vinyasa class.”

The phrase,’just breathe through it’ is fine if you are talking about a mild challenge but we are not trying to say ‘grin and bear that compressed lumbar spine’ at all whatsoever.

Yoga: Upward Facing Dog

So true. What is enough? What is too much? I think the sensations or feedback from both breath and body are definitely key, and somewhat of an art to read and be in tune with. I have seen a lot of fast paced classes where there is not enough time to cultivate alignment and so over time, you end up repeating the same poses without ever getting the body mechanics of the pose. I really like pose breakdowns for this reason, and agree with the author that just simply taking the time to get to know a pose is worth it in the short and longterm. When you do this particular backbend frequently with improper form, there is a likelihood of feeling compression, pain, and a sense of the vertebrae jamming together or just the chest popping out. But in any backbend, you want flow and distribution. The use of props is absolutely going to get you there ~ Rana -upward facing dog-chair

 

The props used here are self explanatory – yoga chair, yoga strap, yoga mat. An easy way to get into the pose is via plank pose using the chair, and what I love most is that you really get to strengthen the upper body and really open the spine at the mid back instead of feeling everything scrunched up at the base of the spine.

I think this photo was taken when I was a bit stiff, so had I warmed up a little more, could maybe have gotten some more opening, but the feeling I recall is one of fluidity, and that is where you derive the therapeutic benefits of the pose – in this case, this variation felt relieving of some mild sciatic pain that I had at the time. The pose itself has other benefits such as:

  1. Improves posture
  2. Strengthens the spine, arms, wrists
  3. Stretches chest and lungs, shoulders, and abdomen
  4. Firms the buttocks
  5. Stimulates abdominal organs
  6. Helps relieve mild depression, fatigue
  7. Therapeutic for asthma

Enjoy!

Yogatherapy – the shoulder jacket

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Yogatherapy – shoulder pain relief: – the shoulder jacket for yoga shoulder pain relief. If you have a desk job, drive a lot, walk a lot or just plain shlump-a-lot, your shoulders may round forward and your head may drop. That is a lot of strain for the shoulders and neck, don’t you think? Headaches anyone? Probably that and other issues. Basically if you take that posture with you into everything else you do, it will not improve unless you teach yourself new muscular movement tricks.  Here is a simple but highly beneficial way to use a yoga strap to keep the shoulders seated on the back and open the front chest. You can even use it while you sit at your desk. It is a great yoga therapy tip for anyone who suffers from the shoulder shlumps ! I like 8ft or 10ft straps; you can get one here.

If you look like or are worried about looking like the kyphosis in this photo, yoga as therapy works wonders, I see it and work with it in private yoga classes all the time.

yogatherapy yoga shoulder pain relief

The steps for following along side this use of the yoga strap for a yogatherapy shoulder jacket are:

A ~ take belt buckle over left shoulder, leave tail down

B ~ take the tail cross the back under right armpit

C ~ loop the belt over the right armpit, take it with left hand

D ~ buckle up!

You can use this when you are sitting at your desk, or try a brief meditation with it.

 

When in doubt go to yoga

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Yesterday on Facebook I shared a post by A.G. Mohan about the confusion in the yoga world. One of the take-aways is

“In today’s world many people think of advanced yoga as being able to perform complex physical postures; often with a misguided understanding that something is to be gained from this. Rather, the essence of practice and its power to transform is taking a back seat, as more attention is placed on the external form than the inner journey. How centred and balanced we are during our practice, along with the level of control we have over our breath and our minds is what determines our progress on this path. It has nothing to do with physical prowess or the ability to perform fancy postures and lengthy, complicated sequences.”

The practice in yoga is one of focus, and in calm, all doubt dissipates

when in doubt

Prenatal Yoga as Therapy

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Prenatal Yoga in private class format is tailored to your needs, as they change and evolve through your pregnancy.  There is a great read over on Yoga International about modifying a practice for prenatal students and some of the tips are pretty spot on if you teach a group class and a pregnant woman is among the participants. I have usually, in my career, taught prenatal yoga one on one and each of these lovely students has had different requirements.

In all the years I am teaching, I agree with the author that no 2 pregnant women are alike. Sometimes an active practice is helpful, but when fatigue sets in, a restorative yoga practice can feel refreshing. As I have mentioned before, restorative yoga is not merely stretching out over a bolster. Skills can be taught and employed. Today I taught someone who was complaining about not being able to breathe well. The baby’s weight pulls the rib cage inward, so you have to really focus – especially when you are off the yoga mat – to stretch the top chest upwards toward the jaw line, without jutting the jaw forward.

prenatal yoga supta baddha konasana

The pose above/below is a really great rest and digest – Supta Baddha Konasana (reclined bound angle). The 3 minute Eggs were great to fill all the spaces, and hold the hands (really softens the shoulders) this mom was breathing way easier after class and during the week that passed, had translated the new awareness to better all-day posture. Private yoga classes rock! 

supta baddha konasana

Revolved Head To Knee Pose – Yoga Therapy Version

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Revolved Head To Knee Pose – Yoga Therapy Version was written on a day I felt like experimenting….sometimes I get into a playful mood about being so tight ~ sitting, driving, walking…feel a bit seized up here: Quadratus Lumborum  – the QL – the hip hikers that never quit….so I try to mix in some inspiration from my trusty yoga props and get going to explore the terrain of the side waist. Here is a fun pose to try. One of the articles that I incorporated was a study of how to use the feet in asana by one of my teachers – this is why I have used the block on my extended foot – to keep doing the work in the feet and explore how that translated to working the hips

Revolved Head To Knee Pose - Yoga Therapy Version

Revolved Head To Knee Pose Rana Waxman

Revolved Head To Knee Pose Rana Waxman A

 

 

 

 

 

Revolved Head To Knee Pose – Yoga Therapy Version –

parivrtta = revolved

janu = knee
sirsa = head

Revolved Head To Knee Pose Rana Waxman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found using a strap and block made me really have to do the work of grounding the femurs, engaging my glutes and lifting through the spine to get the side bend.

Revolved Head To Knee PoseSometimes less is more

Benefits

Stretches the spine, shoulders, and hamstrings
Stimulates abdominal organs such as the liver and kidneys
Improves digestion

Therapeutic Applications

Mild backache
Anxiety
Fatigue
Headache
Insomnia

Tip- Before you work at a long hold, experiment with getting just the right amount of real rotation in the mid back….When you release, loosen anything that is straight and neutralize (center) the torso before moving to next sidestretch QL

Yoga – Tension Tamer

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Yoga – Tension Tamer

It’s hot summer and tempers can flare. Sometimes an active yoga session is less desirable than a restorative one. That’s why you need tension taming tools in your yoga practice toolkit.

Here is a great set up for mindfulness and is also a great way to practice pranayama lying down. We positioned a bolster with a shelf of folded blanket so that the forehead is higher than the chin, shoulders cascade. Small of the back is snuggled right up to the end of the bolster. Student on right side needed a little extra blanket support for lumbar. I especially like this variation because it opens the chest, so if you sit rounded over a computer a lot (or driving), it will give you a little extra something special.

Restorative

 

For those with very busy minds, you have to look upon this pose and the time spent in it as a practice to soothe tension, without actively chasing any thoughts away. Your best bet is to acknowledge thoughts and emotions without getting lost in them; remain a calm witness on a journey. Naturally, the first few minutes, the mind may fight you off, so see if you can just make up your mind to be in it for 5 minutes or more, to really feel the effects of settling in and settling down

Kindness and the Modern Yogi(ni)

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Word of the day: ahimsa: kindness

Let some thought or deed reflect this ‘hugging’ energy on and/or off your yoga mat. Share the feelings of being uplifted – I am seeing many 2 person semi-private yoga groups lately – or you could even practice a relaxation with someone! or just take away from this short blog that an intelligent and balanced yoga practice should contribute to feelings of well-being and the body getting overall healthier and pain-free

hugging

Yoga and avoidance

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I think this is partly true in that if an asana feels too challenging we may avoid it rather than break it down into steps or modify it to suit our present needs…for me as a teacher, the importance thing is to learn the skill and people often find my classes challenge them in entirely unexpected ways.

On the other hand, we have to learn what would just definitely not suit us and omit it if possible so as not to provoke injury, dis-harmony or imbalance…

The nice thing about using yoga as therapy is that you get a chance to understand why you might avoid a pose. Perhaps there is a lot of tightness around a certain area that you are unsure how to work into. That is the beauty of private yoga lessons, you get to ask lots of questions, have undivided attention and get into a practice that is not superficial at all.

avoidance