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Tears on the Yoga Mat

Tears on the Yoga Mat

By Amy Weintraub, author of Yoga for Depression and Yoga Skills for Therapists

Amy will be teaching at All That Matters Oct 11-13

When I begin a workshop, I often ask how many people have cried on their yoga mat.  Just about everyone raises their hand!  Crying is a natural release, and often makes us feel better.  This happens, according to Michael Trimble, author of Why Humans Like to Cry, because we stimulate the cranial nerves when we cry, which soothes the emotional limbic brain, in particular, that poor hyper-aroused amygdale.  The amygdale actually grows, from the over-exercising it receives from stress and trauma.  The limbic brain changes that occur from this over-activation include the shrinking of the hippocampus, which is responsible for memory.  The good news is that these brain changes are reversible, and yoga can contribute to a healthier limbic brain.  Believe it or not, crying can too.

When some people who have been shallow breathers for most of their lives begin to breathe deeply, emotion can arise unexpectedly.  If tears come “for no reason” and unexpectedly, there is no reason to be afraid or feel shame, even if you’re in the middle of a yoga class.  “Crying is one of the highest spiritual practices,” said Swami Kripalu.  “One who knows crying, knows yoga.”  When we cry on the yoga mat, there is rarely a story attached.  Think of it as a release.  That’s how the biochemistry of your brain sees it.

 I worked with a client who had once maintained a twice weekly Power Yoga practice at a gym but, because of her husband’s job, she had recently moved from London to Tucson and had not practiced regularly in two years.  Sally felt alone, since her six-year-old was in school for the first time all day and her husband often traveled on business.  They had moved to a neighborhood where she felt she didn’t belong, and she had not yet made friends.  Though she did not have a clinical diagnosis, she said she had gained weight, felt lethargic and except for bouts of irritability, she felt numb. Since her previous yoga experience did not focus on the breath, after setting the safe container during our first session, I suggested that she begin in a supine position, lying on her back.  I supported her with a bolster under her back so that her chest was open and breathing was easier. I also placed a thin folded blanket beneath her head to tuck the chin forward slightly, which supports the mind to relax.  Within a couple of minutes of deep, diaphragmatic breathing, she was sobbing. There was an immediate connection to the loneliness and anger she had felt as a young child, when her father died and her mother, overcome with grief, had not been emotionally available.

I brought her into a sitting position, so that she could breathe and then eventually to her feet, where we could more easily begin to move the emotion that had been triggered through her body.  As she left, her eyes were shining and her face was serene, and she had a referral to two psychotherapists in our community.

There are three important lessons for yoga and mental health professionals here.  First, the importance of establishing the safe container, which not only gives the client or student permission to “put on the brakes,” as clinical social worker Babette Rothchild says in The Body Remembers (Rothchild, 2003), but also includes a normalization of the tears that can arise.  

The second lesson is about staying present with your client throughout the practices you lead, and that means your own eyes are opened and you are monitoring her experience at all times.

The third lesson is how complementary yoga and psychotherapy actually are.  When Sally began working with her body and her breath, she opened to a deeper sadness.  She was finally ready to seek out talk therapy along with her return to the yoga mat, something that before our yoga session together, as miserable as she felt, she had not been motivated to do.

To read about clinical applications of yoga practice, see Yoga Skills for Therapists: Effective Practices for Mood Management. Amy Weintraub will be leading LifeForce Yoga to Manage Your Mood Oct 11-13 at All That Matters., a program that offers practices for anxiety and depression that are not often taught in regular yoga classes.  This program is accessible to those new to yoga as well as yoga and mental health professionals.   

Excerpted and adapted from Yoga Skills for Therapists: Effective Practices for Mood Management (W.W. Norton, 2012)

Amy Weintraub E-RYT, MFA directs the LifeForce Yoga Healing Institute, which trains yoga and health professionals internationally, and is the author of Yoga for Depression and Yoga Skills for Therapists. The LifeForce Yoga protocol is used by health care providers worldwide. She is involved in ongoing research on the effects of yoga on mood. www.yogafordepression.com

Meet Usha Billotta our newest Yoga Teacher

Meet Usha Bilotta the newest member of the ATM family! She will be teaching the Friday afternoon 4:00 Heated Vinyasa Flow. Her classes focus on linking breath to body, proper alignment, strengthening, and deepening awareness of the Self. Help us welcome Usha!

Usha Bilotta is impassioned by yoga and the ways it connects to life off of the mat. She began practicing in 1999 in the Ashtanga tradition. She was immediately in love with the practice of yoga as it began to transform life on physical and emotional levels. She has studied many styles over the years, learning from various traditions such as Kripalu, Bikram, and the Mysore method, but found her home in the authenticity of the living, breathing, ever-changing flow of Vinyasa. She completed her 200-hour teacher training through Tom Gilette at Eyes of the World in 2008.
Usha's classes focus on linking breath to body, proper alignment, strengthening, and deepening awareness of the Self. Her classes are heartfelt and the pace flows with intention, slow motion, and intensity. She is committed to helping her students cultivate a practice that is authentic and powerful while challenging them to find the lessons that asana presents. She embraces ancient yogic scriptures and teachings and uses these principles to guide through class, allowing for evolution both on and off of the mat. Usha has been working with holistic nutrition and healthy living since 2000. She is a sprout farmer and a thriving breast cancer survivor, committed to wellness for her family.

This Week

Tuesday, August 6

Making Peace with Food and Your Body

with Barbara Holtzman

Wednesday, August 7

Stand Up Paddleboard Yoga Class

with Lauren O’Connell

Meditation for Health

with Dr. David Dwyer

Friday, August 9

Monthly Reiki Support Circle

with Myra Partyka

Saturday, August 10

Stand Up Paddleboard Yoga Class

with Lauren O’Connell

COMING UP…

Satsang: Monthly Community Gatherings

on Monday, August 12

Kripalu 200hr & 500hr Yoga Teacher Training: Free Informational Talk

with Joan Dwyer

on Wednesday, August 14

Monthly Gong Bath

with Stephanie Marisca & Cathy Cesario

on Friday, August 16

Massage Therapist Mairead Hardiman

With her influences rooted in Yogic Philosophy, Mairéad's practice of massage is a mediation in motion; honoring the intrinsic presence of body, mind, and spirit with compassion, through breath, intention and sacred touch. Authentic and deeply nurturing in her approach, she weaves an array of ancient and innovative techniques drawing on elements of Ayurveda, Lomi Lomi, Myofacial Meridian and Crystal therapies.

Mairéad has attended and assisted trainings at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health since 2009. She is a certified Kripalu Massage Therapist (500hr) and Yoga Teacher (200hr). She lives in the woods of Arcadia in Exeter, RI and spends her days immersed in the natural world. A record collector, animal lover, herbalist and gardener, Mairéad finds joy in being a healthy human with an enchanted spirit.

Mairéad's specialities include:

·    Working as deeply or lightly as needed to access your healing energy within.

·     Working with Crystals, Sound, and other vibrational essences to align the subtle bodies of energy (Koshas) and encourages the use of Breath (Prana) as a tool for increasing physical awareness and integration of your whole being.

Mairéad (rhymes with parade) works at All That Matters:

·        Tuesdays. 2:45-7:15pm

·        Thursdays. 9:00am-2:00pm

·        Fridays. 9:00am-2:00pm

This Week

Tuesday, July 30

Yoga 101: Semi-Private Series

with Jenn Thomas

Wednesday, July 31

Stand Up Paddleboard Yoga Class

with Lauren O’Connell

Thursday, August 1

Integrative Restoration (iRest®): Yoga Nidra

with Kendall Sheldon

Friday, August 2

Reiki Second Degree

with Myra Partyka

Saturday, August 3

Yoga and Meditation: Half-Day Retreat

with Jenn Thomas

Stand Up Paddleboard Yoga Class

with Lauren O’Connell

COMING UP…

Making Peace with Food and Your Body

with Barbara Holtzman

on Tuesday, August 6

Meditation for Health

with Dr. David Dwyer

on Wednesday, August 7

Standing Thigh Stretch

Nikki Juen of All That Matters, demonstrates and explains standing thigh stretch. 

What it is:

This standing thigh stretch is a variation of Tadasana, also known as mountain pose.

What it does:

This standing pose opens the quadricep muscle of the leg and the front of the shoulders while deepening the muscular engagement of the whole body as you balance on one leg. If you can't reach your ankle you can also use a belt or strap. Practice near a wall for even more support.

How to do it:

Stand with feet six-inches apart and press down equally into both feet, take a deep breath and allow the weight of the entire body to be centrally located over the feet. Make both legs strong, until you feel the muscles engage on all sides of the legs, all the way up to the hips. 

Inhale and tone the low belly drawing it in towards the spine. Exhale and allow the shoulder blades to move towards the spine and down the back. Take three grounding breaths here with the hands near the thighs while the jaw and facial muscles remain supple.

With the standing leg strong, bend one knee keeping both thighs parallel. Interlace both hands or belt around the ankle pressing the foot AWAY from the hips as you open the front of your body. Keep the bent knee next to the standing knee and facing the floor.

Breathe deeply for five breaths, lengthening the body away from the ground with each inhale. As you exhale the fifth breath, release the bent knee and switch to the other leg.

Nikki Juen,

nikkijuen.com

This Week @ ATM

Monday, July 22

Full Moon Yoga on the Beach

with Coral Brown

Tuesday, July 23

Svaroopa® Yoga: Continuing Series

with Natalie Schiffer

Wednesday, July 24

Stand Up Paddleboard Yoga Class

with Lauren O’Connell

Thursday, July 25

Angelspeake

with Stephanie Marisca

Friday, July 26

Kristi Martel in Concert

Saturday, July 27

Reiki First Degree

with Myra Partyka

Stand Up Paddleboard Yoga Class

with Lauren O’Connell

Sunday, July 28

Guided Zen Meditation

with Nancy Hedgepath

COMING UP…

Yoga 101: Semi-Private Series

with Jenn Thomas

Integrative Restoration (iRest®)

with Kendall Sheldon

3 Harvard Articles on the Benefits of Yoga

For those of us who practice yoga regularly the benefits of yoga are clear. But here are three articles I read this week in Harvard Health Publications on some of the many benefits of yoga.

It’s no stretch — Yoga may benefit heart disease

Yoga, an ancient Indian practice once viewed as only for the very fit and flexible, has become as American an activity as jogging and aerobics. Its newfound popularity could be a boon for people with high blood pressure, heart failure, and other forms of cardiovascular disease.

A small but promising body of research suggests that yoga’s combination of stretching, gentle activity, breathing, and mindfulness may have special benefits for people with cardiovascular disease. For more...

Your Brain on Yoga

by Sat Bir Khalsa with Jodie Gould

Does yoga really reduce stress? Can we feel happier after meditating just 10 minutes a day? How about smarter? Your Brain on Yoga presents the latest, cutting-edge studies that show the physical and psychological benefits of yoga and meditation. Author Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, Ph.D, assistant professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and certified Kundalini Yoga instructor, has conducted clinical research on of yoga and meditation for more than a decade. He offers compelling scientific evidence about how yoga and meditation can change our brains, and our lives, by:

• Reducing stress that makes us look and feel older than our years.
• Making the parts of the brain responsible for memory grow stronger and sharper.
• Elevating our mood and enhancing our spiritual outlook, giving us a sense of peace and calm. For more..

Yoga for Anxiety and Depression

Studies suggest that this practice modulates the stress response.

Since the 1970s, meditation and other stress-reduction techniques have been studied as possible treatments for depression and anxiety. One such practice, yoga, has received less attention in the medical literature, though it has become increasingly popular in recent decades. One national survey estimated, for example, that about 7.5% of U.S. adults had tried yoga at least once, and that nearly 4% practiced yoga in the previous year.

Yoga classes can vary from gentle and accommodating to strenuous and challenging; the choice of style tends to be based on physical ability and personal preference. Hatha yoga, the most common type of yoga practiced in the United States, combines three elements: physical poses, called asanas; controlled breathing practiced in conjunction with asanas; and a short period of deep relaxation or meditation. For more...

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The whole poem reads

I prayed for Change, so I changed my mind.

I prayed for Guidance and learned to trust myself.

I prayed for Happiness and realized I am not my ego.

I prayed for Peace and learned to accept others unconditionally.

I prayed for Abundance and realized my doubt kept it out.

I prayed for Wealth and realized it is my health.

I prayed for a Miracle and realized I AM the Miracle.

I prayed for a Soul mate and realized I am the One.

I prayed for LOVE and realized it’s always knocking, but I have to allow it in...

~Jackson Kiddard

Camatkarasana

Nikki Juen of All That Matters demonstrates and explains Camatkarasana.

What it is:

Camatkarasana is a magnificent heart-opening pose that induces a sense of freedom, joy and levity; for this reason, it is also known as Wild Thing.

What it does:

Wild Thing and poses that prepare the body for back-bending are often accompanied by an ecstatic, playful feeling as the heart remembers it’s essential nature. As a hand-balancing pose it builds healthy shoulders and wrists which form the stable base. It also opens the front of the legs, hips and torso and is known to lift fatigue and mild depression.

How to do it:

To begin, sit comfortably and quietly and listen to your breath; remember that you already embody the principals of strength, stability, joy and freedom. Allow the breath to bring to you back to the remembrance of these qualities.

Come onto all fours with the intention of keeping a stable base. Claw the fingers into the floor and with muscle tone extending from fingertips to shoulders, take Adho Mukha Savasana [downward facing dog]. Inhale and lengthen your side-body from shoulder to hip and lift the armpits towards the sky. Exhale and press back through the upper thighs, opening the hamstrings. Take two breaths here connecting to the earth with with each exhale.

From Adho Mukha Savasana, bring your weight into your right hand and the outside of your right foot like Vasisthasana [side plank]. Exhale, press into the floor and buoyantly lift the hips. Inhale, keep hands and feet strong and grounded and bring both shoulder blades onto the back of the heart, creating a stack of support from the floor to left shoulder.

Exhale, bring the left foot back and place toes on the floor keeping the knee bent. Inhale and curl back through the upper back as you keep the right hand strong. With each exhale press down through the feet and hands lifting the hips. Extend your left arm from your heart overhead toward the ground or alternately place the palm over the heart offering each breath to the pulse between stability and freedom; in your full expression of the pose breathe playfully for five to ten rounds.

Exhale and return to downward facing dog and repeat on the other side. 

Nikki Juen, 

nikkijuen.com

Good for You! Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

In the last month we have posted a few good cookie recipes...thought we would just keep it going....


Good for You! Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees

Mix together:
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or white)
1teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups dry oatmeal

Mix together:
2 eggs
½ cup fresh maple syrup (honey can be substituted)
½ cup corn oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix well wet and dry ingredients above and add:
1 cup of chopped walnuts
½ package or 1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Drop heaping tablespoons full of batter onto lightly oiled baking try. Press cookies down to flatten and bake 20 minutes till lightly browned.

Upcoming at All That Matters

Monday, July 8

Satsang: Monthly  Community Gatherings

with Joan Dwyer

Tuesday, July 9

Yoga, Mindfulness, and Self Inquiry

with Jenn Thomas

Introduction to Mindfulness

with Annie Geissinger

Wednesday, July 10

Stand Up Paddleboard Yoga Class

with Lauren O’Connell

What is the Shamanic Journey: Free Talk

with Isa Gucciardi

Understanding Integrated Energy Medicine: Free Talk

with Isa Gucciardi

Thursday, July 11

Healing Techniques in Shamanism: Free Talk

with Isa Gucciardi

Introduction to the Shamanic Journey

with Isa Gucciardi

Integrative Restoration (iRest®): Yoga Nidra

with Kendall Sheldon

Friday, July 12

Integrated Energy Medicine

with Isa Gucciardi

Staff Highlight John Lopez, MT

What is your job at ATM and how long have you been here?

I am a massage therapist and have been here for the last 10 years.

Favorite Thing to do in the Summer?

Bicycling and running. 

Favorite Food?

I love the Italian and Mexican cuisine.

Favorite Class/Workshop at ATM?

Reiki with Myra. 

As a Child You Wanted to be a…

Teacher. 

Tips to Stay Active and Healthy?

To me, the key is move. Keep moving and you can achieve great results.

Favorite Product in the Store?

The snacks, especially the Kind bars. 

Any Pets?

A Black Lab mix. His name is Buddy, he is a pound dog, and he is so loyal and grateful. 

Favorite Book?

Anything that is written by Gabriel Garcia Marquz or Don Brown.

For John's full bio- click here.

Partnered Shoulder Stretch

Nikki Juen of All That Matters demonstrate and explains  partnered shoulder stretch.

What it is:

Partnered shoulder stretch is a counter-weighted yoga pose created between two people that strengthens legs and upper back muscles. 

What it does:

This pose brings each practitioner into relationship with their body, into building trusting with a partner and into finding the center between ballast and balance. As a twisting pose it also restores the health of the spine, cleanses organs and stimulates circulation.

How to do it:

Each partner starts in mountain pose [Tadasana] standing about three feet apart. Offer your right wrist to your partner taking a firm grip clear of any bracelets or watches. Extend your index finger along the inside of your partner's wrist. This is your safety indicator and a light tap from the finger of either partner means that both of you immediately straighten your legs and come to standing. 

With your own feet about six-inches apart, make your legs strong on a deep inhale. As you exhale, connect your gaze with your parter and come into your understanding of partnership and trust. Maintaining eye-contact, exhale and sit back as if in a chair until you each discover balance. Keeping the legs strong, bring the torso vertical [standing and adjusting the feet if necessary]. This pose will be most effective if you sit back and trust the connection with your partner. Take two deep breaths here acclimating to the amount of effort and surrender you encounter necessary to maintain the pose. 

[This pose can be done even if both partners are not of equal height or weight because it relies on leg strength for support. Alternately, it can be done sitting in chairs for a prop-supported twist.]

Inhale deeply lengthening the torso from the hips up to the shoulders, raising the left arms to parallel with the floor and filling the body with breath. As you begin to exhale, twist away from the bound arms opening the front of the chest with each breath. On an exhale, draw both shoulder blades towards your spine and down towards the waist engaging the muscles of the back. You may bring your gaze over your left shoulder; keeping the low belly toned and take five to eight breaths here. 

With a light tap of your index finger to signal to your partner that you are ready to stand, press into the floor, coming to a standing position. Before you switch sides, pause and close the eyes for a few breaths noticing the difference[s] in your internal awareness and sensations in your body, silently thanking your partner and muscles for all the support you experienced. When you're ready, take the other side.

Nikki Juen, nikkijuen.com

Stand-Up Paddle Board Yoga Begins this Week

It is kind of a no brainer- we live on the
gorgeous coast and love yoga. 

Paddling Boarding is a delightful way to explore both.

Every Wednesday at 5:45pm and Saturday at 8:30am Lauren will be taking groups out in Galilee. 

No experience needed- these boards are specifically designed  for yoga and make balancing easy breezy!

Find your own inner balance on the water and in life! Stand Up Paddleboard yoga (SUP yoga) brings asana (poses) and philosophy off the mat and out into nature. Inhale and exhale with the rise and fall of the sound of the ocean and find calm, peace, and space. Practicing yoga on a floating surface allows you to challenge your strength, balance, and awareness which builds muscle memory, stamina, and flexibility. 

Use paddleboards specifically designed for yoga in this workshop that offers:
• On-shore introduction and instruction for doing yoga on paddleboards 
• Warm up of “paddleboarding” muscles
• Stand-up silent meditation on the water
• Hour-long SUP yoga practice which includes pranayama (breathing exercises), asana, seated meditation, and a long floating svasana
• Short grounding practice on the beach to complete the practice.

Experience SUP yoga and learn how to balance the ebb and flow of life on and off the water.

Open to all levels, no paddleboard or yoga experience necessary.

Maximum 10 students per class so register early.

Click here for more info or to join us.

Doris Duke and Spiritual Practices

One of Doris Duke’s associations with Eastern spiritual practices was her support and interest in the Self Realization Fellowship (SRF) in Los Angeles, which was founded in 1920 by Paramahansa Yogananda, who is seen as the Father of Yoga in the Western World. She became involved with the SRF as early as 1955 when she received a number of meditations and enrolled in home study lessons.  Miss Duke left $500,000 to SRF in her will.

In addition to SRF, Doris Duke gave funds- both personally and through her foundation- to organizations and individuals who were studying alternative medicines, as well as Eastern based philosophies.

Perhaps the most lasting evidence of Doris Duke’s interest in Eastern philosophies can be seen by her use of the Guanyin as a decorative element in her homes. One of the most popular Buddhist symbols, she is the goddess of compassion and mercy. Doris Duke had several Guanyins in her homes, seen here at Rough Point in the Morning Room.  At Duke Farms (New Jersey), there was a large Guanyin sculpture in the main house.  Staff recounted that Miss Duke would often sit in front of it while she meditated and wrote prayer notes that she would slip under the base of the statue.

On June 12, 2013 All That Matters worked with the Newport Art Museum to create a wonderful evening of talks at the Doris Duke House in honor of her interest in Eastern Healing Arts.