The sacrum, often overlooked, plays a vital role in both spinal health and overall movement. It's not just a single bone but a fusion of five vertebrae that occurs as we age, usually completing the process in our 20s. Despite this fusion, the sacrum is part of a dynamic system that requires awareness and movement to stay healthy.
Yoga and creativity share a special connection. Both require us to move beyond the confines of the familiar, to explore the unknown, and to embrace the perspective of a beginner—a fresh lens through which we see the world. This convergence of yoga and creativity is a catalyst for inspiration, opening doors to new ideas, perspectives, and ways of being.
Yoga therapy is fundamentally about empowering you to take an active approach to self-care through the tailored application of yoga. Unlike general group classes, which aim to benefit a wide range of participants, yoga therapy offers a personalized and evolving practice that addresses specific health challenges and promotes overall well-being.
iRest Yoga Nidra can be perceived as resting, especially since rest is in the name, and we all are not people who rest. Resting can even be a bit scary. It is easy to wonder: Will everything be OK if I slow down and rest? What if I told you that iRest Yoga Nidra is active resting? You are doing something. You are actively listening to a voice, following the prompts, re-wiring your brain, and improving your health.
May is mental health awareness month. It is a time to actively engage in conversations about our struggles and triumphs related to mental health. According to NAMI, the national movement has sought to raise awareness about mental health, fight stigma, provide support, educate the public and advocate for policies that support people with mental illness and their families.
There is some evidence that yoga may be helpful in reducing depressive symptoms. But yoga is not a cure. Yoga offers tools that supports your mental health because it promotes a lifestyle aligned to the four major dimensions of recovery.
Yoga is a practice. You might be practicing your balance, flexibility, strength or perhaps it is mindfulness. Yoga is not a single practice. The more you practice yoga, the more you recognize the universality in life.
Harmonizing your mind, implies that you learn how you think. You explore how you interact with the world and yourself and how those interactions shape your emotions. In yoga terms, you cultivate Yama. Yama is narrowly translated as ethical guidelines or restraints. In reality, they are a set of universal practices that are fundamental habits of the mind. The 5 principles are a means to be aware of the instinctive patterns of the mind and to move them towards compassion.
The Feldenkrais Method is a system that uses a series of movements to guide the practitioner to use body sensation and perceptual feedback. In this method one gains a better awareness between comfort (favorable or easy) and unfavorable (painful or straining) positions. This focused practice teaches how movement patterns develop and how to retrain your movement patterns to avoid discomfort.
Dogwood Studios is excited to be able to offer a Feldenkrais Workshop April 30th with Guest Teacher Jacob Tyson (PT, DPT). The workshop will teach you about the method and how it can help you Optimize Your Yoga Practice.
Dogwood Studios is excited to announce that we are moving into our new home! We are joining the wonderful yoga collaborative at Yoga Shala to offer Dogwood’s Mindful Movement and Yoga classes Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 10am to 11:15am. Fridays we will also offer our hybrid Meditation Class at 11:30am to 12:30pm.
Sometimes we think we have to be resilient; that if we are firm and strong, we can power through the turbulent times. However, if we try to power through long term uncertainty, we can hit a wall. We can shift our focus from powering through stress to transforming stress. We want to have a better relationship with what is causing the stress and how we can respond to it. This personality style is called stress hardiness.
Chanting soothes your nerves. It calms your mind. And it promotes positive emotions. Yoga teachings say that in our current challenging time of Kali Yuga (the age quarreling and of misunderstanding), chanting is the tool to support being more at peace. Chanting mantras connects an individual to the Universal cosmic vibrations.
Pain is a protective mechanism. It is a signal that there is something wrong in the body. Pain is an alert message. It tells you that there is a problem that needs to be addressed. Pain is a sensation of the nervous system, but as scientists try to learn and understand pain, they are finding that fascia is important in pain generation and treatment.
