Don’t skip out on Savasana !

By: Lisa Doering

In the last moments of your Yoga practise you find yourself restless, thinking about dinner, emails, to do list or your just itching to leave. By doing this you are doing yourself a dis-service. I was at a yoga class recently and overheard two women telling the teacher they have to sneak out before savasana. 



Sure we are all busy but to miss out on the final 10 minutes, which could be the most important 10 minutes of the practice. 

The average person goes through life with a constant need to be alert and busy to some degree. Being in the information society, we all have cell phones, and  computers which are training our minds to constantly being busy. Yoga helps to unlearn these habits and try to quiet our overactive minds. 

Hatha Yoga, the type that I teach, is one method we can use to achieve this quiet mind state. By practising Asanas ( postures) we give our minds a feeling that something is happening in our bodies, we have to focus. So when we do tree pose, we are not thinking about what to make for dinner or taxes, we are thinking about your standing leg that is wobbly, shaky and possibly burning.  Your concentrating on your rooted foot or maybe wondering why everybody looks so serious about standing on one leg and pretending to be a tree. LOL But in Savasana there are no distractions, this is your reward, let it feel good. Taking these few moments to quiet your thoughts and let go, this can work as a de-stessor, helps with anxiety and can alleviate symptoms of illness or injury. 

Savasana the most important pose in any class. I guarantee you – it is the only posture that you will find in every single yoga class you ever take. Savasana is your body’s time to absorb all of those yummy poses you just did. It’s kind of like a reset button so your body doesn’t go into complete shock after all that physical goodness you just bestowed upon it. 

Savasana can feel really good as well. Like too good to be legal good, like 25 celcius-IN-MARCH good – so good that you secretly curse your yoga teacher when she announces that it’s time to roll over. But, it’s exactly that deliciously awesome feeling that adds to the difficulty of it all. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t fallen asleep in Savasana at least once. It’s because it feels that good, and your body/mind responds, “THANK YOU. I’m turning off now.”

So, the trick of Savasana is finding that balance, that space between unconsciousness and consciousness. You have to be aware but not thinking, and relaxed but not asleep. It’s not so easy when you think about it…or don’t think about it…


Lisa Doering is a certified Yoga Instructor that teaches Hatha Yoga at different studios in Hamilton.
L.doering11@gmail.com
http://ldoering11.wix.com/yoga-with-lisa

Yoga & Menopause

By: Lisa Doering

Do you feel moody, cranky, restless, tired? Do you suffer from anxiety, headaches, migraines, Hot flashes?  Yoga can be the answer.

Many women have the image of Yoga as hard postures and twists, chanting and different music. However,  the movement of yoga is so much more. If you practice yoga regularly it can help you by calming your nerves, relaxing your mind, and relieving you of many menopause symptoms. 

How? Well Yoga naturally helps to enhance mental clarity and emotional balance. Yoga will help you see aging not as a loss but as a gain of wisdom, strength, health and intuition. Yoga is for every age and every stage of a women’s life. 

I just started practising yoga at the age of 45. 

                       
I have found that the practise of Yoga has helped me with the many struggles of menopause: emotional balance, inner strength, plus the added benefits of enhanced confidence as well as calming my mind and listening to my inner guidance.

Here are some Yoga tips on a few of the most common symptoms of Menopause:

Hot Flashes: 
This is one of the most common symptoms. These power surges in a women’s body produce heat, which can disappear as quickly as they appear. Ways to calm and cool are some restorative poses.  Any tension in the body can make hot flashes worse, so using props such as bolsters, blankets and blocks to help support the body are a great idea.  So during forward bends you can place your head on a bolster and this will help calm the body and relax the nerves. Supported reclining poses such as Supta Baddha Konasana, help with relaxation and allow the body to soften, and release tightness in the chest and belly.

Also Inverted poses like the bridge pose can help your body to lower blood pressure relax and balance your hormones. Since stress or tension amplifies nearly all menopause symptoms, the Bridge Pose can help you manage stress and potentially reduce hot flashes. Using a bolster helps to relax even more deeply in a Supported Bridge Pose.

Anxiety, Irritability, and Insomnia:
When a person is under stress, the sympathetic nervous system responds by accelerating the heart rate, slowing down the muscles of the digestive tract, and increasing blood circulation to the brain to fight the stressor.

Once the stress dissipates, the parasympathetic nervous system responds by doing just the opposite; slowing the heart rate back to normal, stimulating the smooth muscles of the digestive tract, and bringing the body’s systems back into balance.

When the body is under continual stress, the sympathetic nervous system and the adrenals can get stuck in overdrive and over work in your body.

So, Forward bends, such as Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend) and  Prasaita Padottanasana  (Wide-Legged Standing Forward Bend)—in both cases with the head resting on a bolster or blankets—can help reduce irritability and mental tension, because bending forward and shutting out external distractions can soothe and calm the mind and reduce the effects of stress. The nervous system then receives the signal that all is well, and the adrenals and sympathetic nervous system stop working so hard.  If insomnia is a problem, inversions can sometimes help because they ground the body’s energy and burn off excess anxiety. When followed by restorative postures, they encourage a deep state of rest.

Depression and Mood Swings:
Menopause signals the end of the childbearing years for many women, it can be a time to mourn the end of their youth, however, yoga practitioners have long known that everything you do with your body can affect your thoughts and attitude. Sometimes something as subtle as a shift in posture can lighten a dark mood. If a woman stands tall, with dignity—opening and broadening her chest—and walks with confidence, she announces to the world (and, most importantly, to herself) that she is grounded, happy, and in tune with her surroundings.

Poses create a mental state that positively affect the mind. Back bends, especially if supported, allow a sense of lightness into the body. They stimulate the adrenals and massage them into action. Also, the heart and lungs open and take in more oxygen.  Chest-expanding poses energize the body by improving respiration and circulation, and thus counter feelings of depression. Many yogis have discovered that inversions, such as Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand), can help improve a depressed mood. This is done by turning everything upside down, inversions influence your emotional being in a positive way.

These are just a few of the benefits when it comes to Yoga and menopause. Come out and try a class and see for yourself. 

 References include: www. Yogajournal.com
 http://www.yogaformenopause.com , www. Secondspringhealth.com

Lisa Doering is a certified Yoga Instructor that teaches Hatha Yoga at different studios in Hamilton.
L.doering11@gmail.com
http://ldoering11.wix.com/yoga-with-lisa