Suffering from anxiety?

depression?

aches, pains, and stiffness that come with daily life?

Try Yoga

Yoga is the ancient science and practice of moving the body in such a way that it releases the physical and emotional tensions that accumulate through daily living.

Yoga is for all people; every age, shape, gender, faith and color. Its purpose is to cultivate comfort and strength in the body and can be scaled to every level of experience and capability using props; like tables, chairs, blocks, straps and pillows.

As we traverse life, facing trauma and perform repetitive, constrictive actions, we develop stiffness, tension and pain in our muscles and joints that can manifest as other maladies (for example, neck tension contributing to headaches and migraines).

  Yogic asanas

(“comfortable or effortless positions”)

strategically position parts of the body, utilizing both gravity and the architecture of the body itself, to achieve increasing degrees of strength, flexibility, expansion, and fluidity within the bones, joints and muscles. Stretching and strengthening in these ways also stimulates the production of endorphins (feel-good chemicals) that contribute to sensations of well-being and emotional release that are experienced both during and after practice.

   The deep breathing and slow intentionality required to comfortably take and hold asanas engages the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system. This acts as a kind of para-chute that slows things down in the body and shifts the nervous system into a state of “rest, relaxation, and digestion”, as opposed to the “fight, flight, or freeze” activation of the sympathetic nervous system that we often find ourselves in in the fast paced modern age.

The unusual and positive stresses placed on the bones during asanas (poses) also catalyzes the deposition of extra layers of calcium into the living bone matrix, fortifying it. This is extremely beneficial in regard to the lessening of bone density that can occur as we age (Osteoporosis), but must also be done slowly, gently and with caring attention to the body and its signals.

   In addition to strengthening the muscular and skeletal systems, the twisting action of some asanas also produces a “wringing” effect in the abdominal organs that aids in the flushing and  elimination of toxins in the liver and other organs by directing  lymphatic fluid and blood toward the larger vessels of the cardiovascular system.

Yoga makes us feel better by activating muscles and systems that we don’t usually use, giving us time to rest, and by releasing the tensions and the traumas that we store in the body, mind and spirit.