Tag Archives: stressrelief

savasana

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Relax

 

 

 

 

savasana isn’t just the 15 minutes at the end of your yoga class, it is a stand-alone practice… why not create a window today?

Benefits of Relaxation:

– deepening your breathing,
– reducing stress hormones,
– slowing down heart rate and blood pressure,
– relaxing your muscles
– increases energy and focus,
– combats illness,
– relieves aches and pains,
– heightens problem-solving abilities,
– boosts motivation and productivity
– increases happiness, by releasing dopamine, seratonin, oxytocin and other immunomodulators to change brain chemistry

Starting a Relaxation Practice:

All you need is the desire or motivation! Even the most stressed out individual can learn how!  Rana Waxman can help you determine which techniques are best suited to you, and her Therapeutic Yoga Program is designed to help you learn a sustainable relaxation practice. Learn to move from GO GO GO to LETTING GO – it is vital to a healthy lifestyle.

YOGA as Therapy

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“Yoga Therapy is the process of empowering individuals to progress toward improved health and well-being through the application of the teachings  and practice of  yoga” – International Association of Yoga Therapists (definition 2011)


“It’s well known that stress can contribute to back pain and that yoga reduces stress.  Yoga, however, approaches this in a way unfamiliar to Westerners.  We believe our minds cause our bodies to move, our brains sending signals down nerve pathways to our muscles.  And, of course, that’s true.  However, in yoga, the opposite also applies.  The state induced by yoga in our bodies calms our minds.” – Loren Fishman, MD, and Carol Ardman,   Yoga for Back Pain Continue reading →

Prevention or Cure? Headaches and the modern Yogi(ni)

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“Almost all experts agree that prevention of osteoporosis is more effective than treatment” – Loren Fishman, MD, and Ellen Saltonstall , Yoga For Osteoporosis


“According to yogic texts, regular practice of Pranayama prevents and cures diseases” – B.K. S. Iyengar, Light on Pranayama


“heyam duhkhamanagatam: Future suffering should be avoided” –Patanjali, Sutra 11.16, The Essence of Yoga by Bernard Bouanchaud

STOP – take a breath, exhale completely
LOOK – inside, be aware
LISTEN – for guidance, the voice of instinct or just common sense Continue reading →

Relaxation and the Modern Yogi(ni)

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“The antidote to stress is relaxation.  To relax is to rest deeply” –
J. Lasater: Relax and Renew


“Sava in Sanskrit means a corpse, and asana a posture.  Thus savasana is a posture that simulates a dead body, and evokes the experience of remaining in a state as in death and of ending the heart-aches and shocks that the flesh is heir to.  It means relaxation, and therefore recuperation.  it is not simply lying on one’s back with a vacant mind and gazing, nor does it end in snoring.  It is the most difficult of yogic asanas to perfect, but it is also the most refreshing and rewarding” – B.K.S. Iyengar : Light on Pranayama Continue reading →

Sunday Blue Monday?

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Last Monday I had a conversation with someone who said they HATED Mondays.  “I don’t know why but I am exhausted, even though I did nothing”, he complained.  I have heard many times from clients that their worst night sleep is Sunday night.  For many, it is restless, with the mind taking control and going over every detail for the next day’s schedule. For others, there just hasn’t been enough downtime to really feel like they had a break. Continue reading →