How Yoga Eases Life's Challenges

by Celia Hirsch, owner SPACE/Pilates,Yoga & Beyond

Yoga is an invaluable therapeutic tool because of its broad range.  Since it has become so popular, more people are familiar with the physiological benefits that lead to long, lean muscles, freedom in the joints, and more stable bones.  Eventually through the breath, imagery and concentration it becomes clear that the benefits transcend into other areas of the body including mental efficiency, emotional stability and increased neurological functioning.  

Yoga is a Sanskrit word that means “union”, it was created specifically to join and unite all the aspects of our lives.  Even though it is an ancient practice, it is extremely relevant today as it relates to our internal functioning. Through the practice of asana, you learn to align, fold and twist your body in order to achieve complex poses but that requires learning how to navigate internal spaces.  Our culture encourages the opposite, we are an externally driven society, which has served us well but has taken a toll.  Many people complain of feeling disconnected and out of touch, the antithesis of the integration that they crave.

In order to do yoga successfully, it is imperative to acknowledge that there is a learning curve and that the postures take time to master not unlike learning to speak a new language.  The mental and neurological benefits of language are very well documented.  In a yoga practice, you learn to learn.  Through learning the most efficient placement of joints and muscles, you learn to track mentally which uses previously unexplored areas of the brain.  The sense of achievement encourages motivation and incentive that results in positive thinking.

Any discussion about yoga is not complete without including the use of the breath. As it relates to mental health, the benefits are endless.  There are as many breathing patterns as there are yoga poses and when they are mastered the result is stability, integration and a sense of well being.  The breath is the gateway to our internal world without which we are incomplete and unbalanced.  The more familiar we are with the workings of our mind, understanding the ins and outs of our emotions and the role that our neurology plays the more in control we feel, the more empowered we become and the more easily we can breathe in light of all our challenges.

Celia Hirsch is a yoga teacher and yoga therapist who has just opened a new studio in Bedford Hills, SPACE/Pilates,Yoga & Beyond.

How Yoga Can Help Change Thoughts, Moods and Behavior

By Ellen Patrick, E-RYT 500 & Yoga Therapist, owner and director of  The Yoga Sanctuary in Mamaroneck, NY

When it comes to our mental well-being, yoga therapy offers an overview of what is affected, as well as the tools we can use to become active participants in maintaining this well-being.   The anxieties and bouts of varying degrees of depression that one may experience during a lifetime affect our sense of self, which is know as Svabhava in Sanskrit.  Our sense of self is made up our thoughts, moods and behaviors.  Additionally, we may be affected on the physiological level.  With the guidance of a trained yoga therapist, you can greatly influence your mental well-being, creating more stability, enjoyment and contentment in your life and your relationships.

PHYSIOLOGY

An individual’s mental health may be affected by an imbalance within one’s physiological nervous system.  A personalized asana (postures) practice that incorporates breath with movement and specific breathing techniques (pranayama) is a powerful strategy to either build energy in cases of depression, or calm energy in cases of anxiety.

SVABHAVA – SENSE OF SELF

·         Thoughts

Meditation techniques are invaluable in creating a one-pointed focus for the mind that can halt the self-destructive spiral of thoughts that contribute to anxiety and depression.  Such meditation techniques include inquiry, self-reflection and cognitive reframing.

·         Mood

Our moods are affected by how we emotionally respond to what is happening in the present moment.   These emotions are stimulated by memories and unconscious conditioning from our past.   To help break these emotionally-charged reactions, meditation, chanting, prayer or mantra are profound tools to cultivate more uplifting feelings and attitudes. 

·         BehaviorA disciplined and personalized yoga practice, utilizing the various tools already mentioned, cultivates will-power and impulse control so that your will and intention become stronger than your habits and reactions.

An emerging profession, yoga therapy is founded on the belief that our physical condition, emotional states, attitudes, diet, behavioral patterns, lifestyle, personal associations, and the environment in which we live and work are all intimately linked to the state of our health.  Yoga Therapy is based on empowering an individual to take an active role in wellness and holistic self-care.  One of the fundamental goals in yoga and yoga therapy is to become free from the negative journey of our thoughts, feelings, desires, conflicts, distractions, and habitual and dysfunctional behavioral and movement patterns—all of which dissipate our energy and creates dis-ease.

Ellen Patrick has been practicing yoga for over 30 years, teaching for 12 years and studying Yoga Therapy for 10 years.  Certified as a Yoga Therapist through the American Viniyoga Institute (www.avi.org), Ellen offers individuals private yoga therapy sessions.  For more information go to www.YogaSanctuary.net or info@YogaSanctuary.net.

Life Works Better on "SLOW"

By Stephanie Filardi, Bronxville Wellness Sanctuary

 I have a personal practice of Bikram (hot) Yoga.  Classes are 90 minutes long and consist of 26 poses which are done in rooms about 105 degrees Fahrenheit with 40% humidity.  For me,  Bikram Yoga is an incredible physical and mental work out.  There is nothing quite like it to both bring out, and quiet, my inner critic….

The other day in class I wasn’t feeling my usual strong self.  In addition,  according to my inner critic the teacher was speaking too much, too fast, and was holding us in the poses longer than usual…none of this fun for me on a “good” day.  I noticed myself getting really frustrated– my mind was racing, my heart was beating out of my chest and it was getting harder and harder to breathe and focus.

Half way through the class I realized I would have to sit the rest of the class out if I didn’t adjust my attitude and tame my inner critic.  Since I didn’t want to “sit out”, I said to myself, “Stephanie, the slower you go, the better you will do”. I had no choice but to  slow everything down….slow my mind, slow my heart, slow my breath.  I suddenly accepted the fact that no matter how I felt about the teacher, I had a choice of how I was going to be.  I decided I didn’t have to let the teacher affect my own experience.  And guess what?  I made it through the class just fine.

At the end of class while resting in meditation I realized how this notion of slowing down and doing better is so relevant for my life outside the yoga studio when that inner critic makes an appearance.  How so? Outside the yoga studio, in the external world, whatever is going on does not have to take control of my internal world, or what is happening inside of me.  In one moment, I can make the choice to notice the critic, slow down, breath and choose to be better and do better.  Pretty powerful.