If you've read the last couple of blogs on Somatic Yoga Therapy, you may be wondering what the process is in re-educating your mind and muscle connection so habitual movements that create pain can begin to dissolve. One way would be through a workshop.
In a workshop setting, say in a workshop designed to reverse the stiffness, aches and pains we associate with aging (The Myth of Aging) here are some ways in which the student would learn to make the changes to their movement, habitual patterns, etc.
First, each individual would lay on the floor and assess how their body feels to them. This is the somatic awareness that we need to rekindle. While this may sound simple, if we are no longer aware of an area of the body, we might just skip over the area, thinking it feels normal. I would ask the students to compare right and left sides of the body – say how each shoulder blade feels. How is it touching the floor? Does it feel the same on both sides? And so on.
When the movement starts, we start from the center of the body. Everything radiates from the center of the body, or the core. I’m not just talking about the “core” that is so highly focused on in many programs, but the entire core – those large, central muscles. Everything radiates out from there.
We would address chronic contractions in the extensor muscles – the muscles along the backside of the entire body. Then the flexor muscles, these are the muscles on the front of the body. We wake up lateral movers (side to side) and rotational muscles. Yes, I did say “wake up” because many of these muscles we are no longer aware of. We think we rotate, but most people leverage into a twist, or they twist their shoulders, neck and head and the oblique (waist) muscles just passively move along.
Once these muscles are awakened and we become more aware of them, we look to the shoulders and neck and the pelvis area. Remember, we radiate out from the center.
In a workshop such as Youthful Posture, we would start out in a similar fashion, waking up certain muscles, however the focus would be in gently releasing the front of the body. Imagine a tight front body – depressed chest, pubic bone pulled up, as I described earlier.
None of this is accomplished through stretching. In fact, we do a lot of contracting. The contracting brings awareness and then we slowly, slowly release out of the contraction, paying close attention to the feelings/sensations in our body. We become aware again that we can move these parts. It feels very, very good.
If you are interested in learning more about this form of yoga therapy, or to express your interest in a workshop, please email namaste@focusyogastudio.com.
This blog series, The Myth of Aging and Somatic Yoga Therapy, is contributed by Nancy Nesyto-Freske, RYT.
Nancy is a Certified Yoga Instructor and Certified Yoga Therapist and a
member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. She earned
her 200 hour certification with Moksha Yoga in Chicago, and was
certified as a Yoga Therapist through Functional Synergy, Calgary, AB,
Canada, by Susi Hately, in 2012. She is currently studying with Steven
Aronstein at the Somatics Systems Institute in Northampton, MA.
Nancy became passionate about helping people continue to enjoy the vitality they experienced when they were younger, so they could enjoy their active lifestyle, now and long into their retirement. She feels there is no reason we have to settle for less!
In a workshop setting, say in a workshop designed to reverse the stiffness, aches and pains we associate with aging (The Myth of Aging) here are some ways in which the student would learn to make the changes to their movement, habitual patterns, etc.
First, each individual would lay on the floor and assess how their body feels to them. This is the somatic awareness that we need to rekindle. While this may sound simple, if we are no longer aware of an area of the body, we might just skip over the area, thinking it feels normal. I would ask the students to compare right and left sides of the body – say how each shoulder blade feels. How is it touching the floor? Does it feel the same on both sides? And so on.
When the movement starts, we start from the center of the body. Everything radiates from the center of the body, or the core. I’m not just talking about the “core” that is so highly focused on in many programs, but the entire core – those large, central muscles. Everything radiates out from there.
We would address chronic contractions in the extensor muscles – the muscles along the backside of the entire body. Then the flexor muscles, these are the muscles on the front of the body. We wake up lateral movers (side to side) and rotational muscles. Yes, I did say “wake up” because many of these muscles we are no longer aware of. We think we rotate, but most people leverage into a twist, or they twist their shoulders, neck and head and the oblique (waist) muscles just passively move along.
Once these muscles are awakened and we become more aware of them, we look to the shoulders and neck and the pelvis area. Remember, we radiate out from the center.
In a workshop such as Youthful Posture, we would start out in a similar fashion, waking up certain muscles, however the focus would be in gently releasing the front of the body. Imagine a tight front body – depressed chest, pubic bone pulled up, as I described earlier.
None of this is accomplished through stretching. In fact, we do a lot of contracting. The contracting brings awareness and then we slowly, slowly release out of the contraction, paying close attention to the feelings/sensations in our body. We become aware again that we can move these parts. It feels very, very good.
If you are interested in learning more about this form of yoga therapy, or to express your interest in a workshop, please email namaste@focusyogastudio.com.
Nancy became passionate about helping people continue to enjoy the vitality they experienced when they were younger, so they could enjoy their active lifestyle, now and long into their retirement. She feels there is no reason we have to settle for less!
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