I promised to write more about strengthening and why I have been using hand weights in my yoga practice. So let’s take a deeper look at using weights, building muscle, and overall health. One of the things I like most about using weight in my yoga practice is how they help me integrate. The use of external load – meaning something other than your body weight – helps connect your body parts to your center and offers an opportunity to ground more fully and lengthen out along the core lines of the body for a full stretch. And because of this external force, your body adapts and grows stronger, more stable, and toned. Since so much of yoga is about awareness, let’s talk about proprioception. Proprioception refers to the body’s ability to sense its position and movement in space. Using hand weights in yoga can help to increase proprioception by […]
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Building Strength
I’m super excited to bring hand weights to my yoga teaching. I have been on a journey to get stronger for over ten years. Once I realized that I was spending too much time stretching and trying to get into some deep yoga postures, I felt like I was always chasing pain around my body. But strength work changed everything. It became clear that my core was weak, which was part of the cause of some repetitive injuries I had been dealing with trying to manage. You may have been in a class with me where we have added external load using a yoga block, bolster, or blanket. However, unless you have worked with me privately or done a specific strength-building course I’ve offered, you may have experienced only some of the benefits hand weights can offer. First, I began focusing on more strength-building postures using my body weight and […]
Continue ReadingYoga, Stress, and the Vagus Nerve
I have a confession to make. When I hear science confirming what yogis have known for a long time, or at least what I know to be true from my experience, I get really happy inside! Fortunately, this happens a lot these days since much more research is being done about the benefits of yoga. And that science shows that yoga practice works in ways other kinds of exercise does not. Things we do in every yoga class such as asana, pranayama, and chanting soothe and tone an important nerve in the body called the Vagus Nerve. Scientists are beginning to understand this fascinating cranial nerve which travels throughout the body and responsible for the relaxation response. When you are in constant stress your sympathetic nervous system never has a chance to switch off. This creates low vagal tone and brings depletion to your body making it feel like life is more difficult to manage. But healthy vagal […]
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