The Best Yoga Techniques to Progress Your Practice
As many of you know, I was in Greece the month of June getting my 300 hour yoga teacher training. Greece was beautiful and the training was incredibly challenging but wow did I learn so much and I'm excited to share some of that info with you.
I'm now a certified 500 hour yoga teacher and I learned some amazing practices that can help you reduce pain and bring stress relief. Here are my top 3 favorite new techniques I learned.
1. Box Breathing
Yoga originated in the Indus Valley several thousand years ago and ancient images show that is was all about breathing. Yoga is first and foremost about using breath to regulate the nervous system and control our monkey minds. My favorite type of breath work is very effective at calming the mind and body when we are experiencing stress or anxiety. The simplicity is part of what I love about it. You breath in for a count of 4 (or 6 or 8 depending on what feels best for you), hold the breath for a count of 4 (or 6 or 8), exhale for 4 (or 6 or 8) and hold again for a count of 4 (or 6 or 8). Keeping the same count for each part is key and make sure the count you use is easy and not strenuous in any way. We want to relieve tension so we don't want to strain our breathing. Doing this for 60 seconds will begin to move you towards a parasympathetic state. It's my go to stress management technique these days and I've had wonderful results. Try it and tell me if you see any benefits!
Need help with breathing exercises or just want to learn more? Comment with any of your questions!
2. Blocks, Straps, Bolsters and Chairs are your best yoga friends.
I was already convinced by my first yoga teacher training in 2019 that props were my best friends when it came to doing yoga but my training this year instilled my understanding even deeper. I have been practicing yoga for 16 years and I didn't have many teachers that taught me the importance of props until I finally went to teacher training. I now know that was a big loss for me and I am now trying to undo years of yoga that I was doing unsafe ways. If you don't have blocks or a yoga strap I highly recommend you purchase them. They are not expensive and they are worth every penny, especially because they will last you decades. They make a HUGE difference in how you can access poses, help you do things you never thought your body could do but most importantly they help you align your body and make yoga a LOT safer. When you use props you are less likely to become injured through bad yoga habits. Alignment looks really different in every body and we did tons of alignment assessment during my training and just by simply adding a block to the pose it completely changed how a person felt the pose in their body and protected them from harm. It was really amazing to see the differences a simple addition could make.
If you are interested in a free 30 minute alignment and prop consultation contact us via email to set up a time!
3. Meditation can clear tension and emotions from the body.
Most people think yoga and they think asana. Asana are the poses we do and that have become the mainstay of western yoga practice. However, in the east, yoga is a many branched tree that is holistic and cares for the body, mind and soul. Meditation, like breath work, is yoga. It is as integral, if not more so, than any of the asanas. During our training we were doing 4 hours a day of yoga and meditation and the results were astounding. Meditation had a profound effect on pain I had had for years in my shoulder. It disappeared one day after doing a specific meditation where we focused on colors, sounds and images in a specific order. In 20 minutes the pain that no one had been able to help me with for years, was gone. I was so relieved and I was not the only one who had an experience such as this. Some folks had emotional releases and then felt pain in areas of their bodies also dissipate. Such a short amount of time for such a huge relief of chronic pain. It was a magical moment for me and what really astounded me is when the pain came back, I did the meditation again and again it got rid of it. I did this 4 times during the 4 weeks I was at training and the pain has not come back since. If it does, I now know I have a tool to dissipate it and bring myself relief. It's incredibly empowering when we find something we can do for ourselves and stop our own suffering.