Yoga gives you a moment when you stop. You observe what is going on in your body, you observe your thoughts and your sensations without judgment. This awareness is the first step in releasing tension and breathing naturally. It may be the only time of the day when you are aware of your breathing and how the breath can start to change the way you feel.
If you feel stressed then you might not be breathing fully. This activates the sympathetic side of the nervous system and prepares the body for ‘fight or flight’, which switches our body into survival mode. As humans, we also have the capacity for imagination, which means we can imagine situations that do not actually exist. We can activate our physiological stress mechanisms in response to worries and fears that are not actually happening to us, they are in our imagination. We need to move away from this fight or flight state because while we do need some stress in our life to keep us active and motivated we do not want to be in a stress mode long term as it can start to affect our health.
When you put the body into poses supported by bolsters and blocks and then breathe naturally you start to switch from the sympathetic nervous system to the parasympathetic nervous system. You give your body the opportunity to go from fight or flight to rest, digest, restore and renew. Your body can start to heal, which it can not do when you are in fight or flight mode.
In this workshop, we will hold supported poses for 5-10 minutes and breathe fully so that we can start to release physical tensions held in the body by initiating the relaxation response. All of the poses will help to release the diaphragm and allow us to breathe easier with less physical restrictions. You can come and practice being a human being rather than a human doing and help your body to begin looking after itself rather than just trying to survive.
Vicky runs Stress Release and Deep Relaxation workshops throughout the year.
Since qualifying in 2008 Vicky has studied with many world-renowned teachers such as Rod Stryker, Doug Keller, and Julie Gudmestad. In 2013, she studied with Laura Kupperman on her Yoga for Survivors course and began teaching yoga for those living with cancer. The classes are for any form of cancer and any stage of recovery. Vicky has seen firsthand how yoga can offer benefits to those living with cancer such as building strength, increasing range of motion and decreasing feelings of stress. Learn more about Vicky by visiting her website.