YOGA
WHAT IS YOGA?
Yoga is an ancient and complex practice, rooted in Indian philosophy. It began as a spiritual practice but has become popular as a way of promoting physical and mental well-being.
Although classical yoga also includes other elements, yoga as practiced in the Western world typically emphasizes physical postures, breathing techniques and meditation.
There are many different yoga styles, ranging from gentle practices to physically demanding ones. The beauty of yoga is that you don’t have to be a yogi or yogini to reap the benefits. Whether you are young or old, fit or unfit, yoga has the power to calm the mind and strengthen the body. Yoga is for everyone.
HOW DOES YOGA AFFECT MENTAL HEALTH?
Studies have shown that yoga can help strengthen social attachments, reduce stress, relieve anxiety, depression and insomnia. More and more people are embracing yoga as a complimentary tool to psychotherapy. It helps to focus on healing through movement and working through the body.
A study by Khalsa (Harvard Medical School), showed that yoga targets unmanaged stress. It does this by reducing the stress response, which includes the activity of the sympathetic nervous system and cortisol levels. The practice of yoga enhances resilience and improves the mind- body connection. Body orientated techniques like yoga increase awareness of sensations in the body, which helps to stay more focused in the moment and create feelings of empowerment. Because it targets stress it is helpful in a range of disorders such as anxiety, depression, obesity, diabetes, chronic pain problems, insomnia, anger related problems, PTSD and trauma. (Novotney, 2009)
OUR YOGA PARTNER
We are privileged to have partnered with Yoga Teacher Chloé Russel. Chloé has a studio in Bedfordview where she offers private and group sessions. Online and recorded options are also available. Read on to find out more.
My name is Chloé, I am a yin yoga teacher and trainer, as well as a yoga therapist and trauma-informed yoga instructor. My true passions lay within the practices of yin yoga, using other modalities and tools to better support ourselves, our bodies, and our minds
I am an EYT (Experienced Yoga Teacher), with thousands of hours of training and teaching experience. I have been practicing yoga for over a decade, and I have been teaching yoga since 2015. Throughout this time I have come to learn what we need most, and the opportunity to slow down, recollect and reconnect back with our bodies.
Yin Yoga is a style of yoga that incorporates meridian therapy (cultivating an awareness of the organs) with yoga āsana (postures), pranayama (breathing techniques), and mindfulness meditation. The yin postures are practiced seated or laying down, with or without the support of yoga props.
The intention of yin yoga, through meridian therapy, is to cultivate an awareness of our physical bodies, by stimulating the internal organs, and yin tissues of the body. Through this stimulation/trigger, we respond through our koshas (sheaths/bodies), either mentally, emotionally, energetically, or spiritually).
By slowing down in yin yoga, we give ourselves the time and opportunity to learn more about how we respond to the world be it mentally through thought patterns, emotionally through memories/trigger responses, or energetically through the co-regulation of our nervous systems.
Yin yoga is a practice for anyone and everyone, a practice that should be incorporated into our daily lives to better support our daily stressors, anxieties, and fears, by working from the inside out
Warm regards,
Chloe Russell