Iyengar Yoga With Rachel Lovegrove

I met a lady recently who said that her husband loved it when she went to yoga.  He told her, “You always come back a much nicer and calmer person after the class!”  The practice of yoga can help to unlock the blocks and emotional disturbances in our life, often associated with loss of confidence, anxiety, depression, nervous disorders and stress. Coming to a weekly, or twice weekly class, gives us the time and space to reflect on our lives and also shows us a more peaceful way of being.

The practice of physical yoga postures, breathing techniques and relaxation actually starts the process of “detoxing” the body of stress.  We hold our tension in our muscles and our posture is often a tell-tale sign of our state of mind. For example, someone with a collapsed chest and rounded shoulders may have depression or lack of confidence or simply be fearful of experiencing life, due to past experiences and their ways of coping with them.  Someone who is a shallow breather, who feels their muscles aching more than others or who’s eyes won’t relax is often someone with anxiety or unreleased anger or frustration.  They tend to rush into their postures and be impatient when doing relaxation postures.

Over time, the practice of yoga postures helps people to come back to their true nature, peace.  We get glimpses of it from time to time, moments of clarity when all our problems, worries and habitual clinging on to life are let go of, and we are simply just in the moment, on our mats.  The idea is then to take this feeling of groundedness into our everyday lives and learn to live a little more in balance.  We learn to create the state of mind that can help us to change the way we perceive life’s stresses and strains, the way we deal with them and to help us move more freely through them.

A skilled teacher can help individual students through the process of change with specific postures and techniques tailored to alleviate our more negative feelings and to enhance positive feelings.  Very broadly, and obviously these postures need to be modified to suit all levels of physical ability and experience also, back bending or chest opening poses are beneficial for depression and anxiety; inverted postures such as headstands, shoulderstands are good for combating fearfulness and lack of confidence; forward bends are very good for emotional stress and fatigue; breathing techniques can be applied for a wide range of stress disorders and twisting poses are a great way to release the physical blocks we create in our bodies when we hold ourselves in tension.

Yoga can also help those who have gone through serious trauma, drug or alcohol addiction and many offenders in prison practice yoga to help them rehabilitate back into society, to come to terms with their path they have created and to start the process of change.  A carefully balanced programme of postures and relaxation will guide students to maintaining emotional strength and stability and to releasing gently and slowly many of the emotional disturbances and habits associated with their conditions and life choices.

BKS Iyengar says of yoga & the mind:

“The primary aim of yoga is to restore the mind to simplicity and peace, and free it from confusion and distress. This sense of calm comes from the practice of yogic asanas and pranayama. Unlike other forms of exercise which strain muscles and bones, yoga gently rejuvenates the body. By restoring the body, yoga frees the mind from the negative feelings caused by the fast pace of modern life. The practice of yoga fills up the reservoirs of hope and optimism within you. It helps you overcome all obstacles on the path to perfect health and spiritual contentment. It is a rebirth.”

For more information or to book a class or individual session, contact Rachel on +44207 5588658 or +351 913839621.

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It is well known that Yoga can help with many aspects of life, many activities, health and stress conditions but did you know that it can help with motorbike riding? As a fan of motorbikes and a recent novice rider, I found out just how physical the art of motorcycling really is. Notwithstanding the physical impact of injuries, the day to day riding of a bike is a physical work out in itself. First, the arms, particularly the upper arms and shoulders can get stiff and fixed in one position, you tend to work the same muscles for long periods of time. Secondly, the hips and pelvis, again, fixed in one position work hard to maintain the posture of the upper body and on long trips, cramps can occur, calf and ankle muscles tighten and knees can ache. Even the hands and the wrists can get tired and when the weather is cold, the muscles have to work harder to combat the drop in temperature. During the course of a ride almost every muscle in the body will come into play in some form or another.

If you look at the various positions of different kinds of riders, you will see also that the posture applied by the design of the bike can vary too – in racers, the rider is forwards so the lower back muscles elongate and the upper back can be very rounded.

In street bikes, there is a more upright posture and in cruisers, the legs and hips are slung forwards and the hands are high up. All of these positions have an effect on the spine which will effect the impact into the lower body and the internal organs.

Yoga can help to improve a persons riding technique by toning all the muscles groups through weight bearing and toning exercises as well as targeted posture work to focus on specific areas. With the awareness of posture through yoga, riders can often improve their riding position by learning how to be a relaxed rider with all their muscles and joints working efficiently and ergonomically. Once off the bike, a few simple stretches can help to alleviate the stiffness and cramps and a regular practice will keep riders fit and healthy to ride better and longer. Regular yoga practice also helps with concentration, coordination and reaction speeds and although unfortunately accidents do happen, the recovery time in people who do yoga regularly is a lot faster and better than in those who have no body health programme in place.

Massage also alleviates tired muscles or tension in shoulders, backs and legs and a good therapist will often give advice on posture and preventative measures – a good therapist or teacher won’t just love you and leave you – they will be a point of reference for you to keep working towards a better ride, a safer ride and and better one life.

Rachel offers private consultations to focus on specific areas for any sport or activity.  As a qualified yoga teacher and massage therapist, she is able to provide a fully comprehensive body maintenance service to help people maintain their fitness, strength and flexibility as well as managing their stress and relaxation levels. She runs classes and workshops in Northampton and around the UK and provides massage treatments to target specific problem areas such as upper back & shoulders, arms, legs and neck.

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6th March 2010 at BALANCE Studio, Northampton

A  big thank you to everyone who came today to the workshop at BALANCE.  We focussed on postures which help to alleviate the symptoms of depression and anxiety.  The morning session looked at gentle ways to open the chest leading into some simple back-bending techniques which had everyone giggling – a quite normal reaction!  After a short lunch break, we looked at postures to combat anxiety such as inversions followed by more introverted forward bends and restorative postures to calm the senses and rest the nervous system.  It was a wonderful day and as we left the studio, the sun shone on a beautiful spring day.

Next workshop dates at BALANCE are 2nd, 3rd & 4th April – check the Classes page for details of a new 7 week class starting on March 15th & 17th plus other workshops around the UK.

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A message from Odanadi – a charity set up to prevent human trafficking throughout the world.

YOGA STOPS TRAFFICK is a one-day global Yoga event to raise awareness about human trafficking in India and arcross the world.

On MARCH 13th 2010 Yogis everywhere will roll out their Yoga mats to take a stand against trafficking and show their support to its millions of victims.

Kicking-off from the grounds of the Mysore Royal Palace, YOGA STOPS TRAFFICK INDIA will be led by a group of young people from local anti-trafficking organisation Odanadi Seva Trust, many of whom are survivors of slavery, domestic abuse and forced prostitution. Over the years Astanga Yoga has come to play a vital role in their rehabilitation program: building their physical and mental strength, restoring a sense of peace, confidence and self-worth.

Get involved by organising your own YOGA STOPS TRAFFICK event at your local yoga centres, living rooms, parks or any other public spaces – just use your imaginations.

To request more information, promotional materials, fundraising suggestions or to find out more about Odanadi please contact Sean Cleere or Sarah Harris at yogastopstraffick@gmail.com. Or just visit our website www.odanadi-uk.org.

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Article from the San Francisco Yoga Conference Blog (http://blogs.yogajournal.com/sf06/2006/01/come_into_the_now_1.html#more)

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Here is a very interesting article published by the Himalayan Institute on improving your back bending techniques through better understanding of the anatomical functions of back-bends.

Better Backbends

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This month’s focus is on seated forward bends.  When practised regularly, seated forward bending movements have many benefits:

Let’s look at a classic forward bending posture, Pascimottanasana (intense stretch of the West). If you have a back or hamstring injury, please only practise this posture under the guidance of a qualified teacher.

1. Sit on the edge of a folded blanket or yoga foam block with your legs extended away from you. The legs should be together but can also be a little apart if you are a beginner or are pregnant. Toes look at the ceiling and heels stretch strongly away. The more you extend your heels, the stronger your legs will feel.
2. Using your hand beside your hips, turn your fingertips towards your feet and press into the floor – the elbows should be slightly bent, not straight. From the base of your spine, lift up, lift the chest but keep the shoulders back and down. See that you’re not leaning backwards but lifting straight up from the hips.
3. On an inhalation, raise the arms up above your head, stretching strongly to the finger tips and feeling the chest lifting higher, the trunk extending upwards. Keep the arms straight, extend forwards from the hips towards the feet. If you can reach the feet easily, catch the outsides of the feet with the hands or use a belt to catch the feet. Keep the arms straight, head lifted up and chest extending upwards.



4. If you can go further, bend the elbows out to the side and move the trunk further forwards, finally releasing the head down last.  Once you have adjusted your pose and reach your final extension, try to stay quietly without fidgeting.  Relax your belly, your jaw and gently draw the shoulders away from the neck. Stay for between 1 and 5 minutes.
5. If you are stiffer, have back ache or are heavily pregnant, stay sitting up with the belt around the feet, arms straight and practice the leg extension and the trunk lifting up. This preparation work will progress you towards the final pose but don’t rush or force yourself to bend forwards – it will come in time.

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