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
Rana Waxman is a registered yoga therapist ERYT-500, with 20 years of teaching experience. Rana is a freelance writer and social media expert in addition to leading yoga workshops internationally and teaching alignment focused private and group Yoga Lessons in Hoboken and Jersey City NJ.
