Gentle Yoga can help Back Pain!

I was thrilled to see a recent article on the NPR website about a study showing yoga can help with back pain. Most people who are new to yoga have heard that it's good for your back. However, the danger is that if it's not the right kind of yoga for your body, it can actually do more harm than good.

We see many students at the studio where I teach, A Gentle Way Yoga (www.agentleway.com), walk in with numerous things going on with their body. Some examples are arthritis, injuries such as herniated discs, spinal fusions, people healing from knee and hip replacements, etc. Not to mention just basic wear and tear that we all experience with age. We also see students who have taken yoga classes in the past and gotten injured.

It's very important to find the right type of yoga class when a student is experiencing challenges or recovering from an injury or surgery. A class that is too fast or strenuous will not be beneficial to someone with back pain, and may cause further damage. It's so important to learn to listen to your body, to breathe and to slow down.

I love how the NPR article talks about gentle yoga being as effective as Physical Therapy. Maybe one day yoga will be covered in our health insurance??

Namaste!




http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/06/20/533505211/study-finds-yoga-can-help-back-pain-but-keep-it-gentle-with-these-poses

The Problem with New Year's Resolutions (and the solution!)

The problem with New Year's Resolutions (and the solution!)

Happy 2017! I realize I am a little late with this blog about New Year's Resolutions, but that's okay!

I am not a big resolution person - I don't like the pressure of committing to making big changes for an entire year. Not to mention, that I know resolutions almost never work. I do like to think about my wishes and hopes for the new year, and the idea of a fresh start is exciting. One thing I love about the new year is buying a new planner, looking through it and filling it up with appointments and plans. There's something exciting about looking to the year ahead!

Given my aversion to resolutions, however, there are things in my life I would like to improve upon. As a yoga teacher, one of my goals is a daily yoga and meditation practice (right now, it's almost every day). I would like to eat more vegetables too and just take more time for myself. As a working mom, I don't put myself at the top of my list as much as I should.

I stumbled upon an article (posted below) about why resolutions don't work and how to fix them, and it really aligns with my own philosophy. The article talks about 'being' the person that makes good choices. Rather than saying, "I want to eat better" or "I want to be more organized" change your identity into the person who eats better or is more organized. How do you change your identify? It starts with visualizing yourself as that person. The change needs to come from the inside out. See yourself doing it and then do it! Here's a quote from the article:

"Your current behaviors are simply a reflection of your current identity. What you do now is a mirror image of the type of person you believe that you are (either consciously or subconsciously).

To change your behavior for good, you need to start believing new things about yourself."

https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/how-to-fix-new-years-resolutions/

This makes me think of one of my favorite quotes from Mahatma Gandhi, "Be the change you want to see in the world." Don't make resolutions - resolve to be the person you want to be!