A beautiful link between Yoga and Mindfulness!
"Daniel Sernicola shares five practices to
help your students get grounded and cultivate mindfulness.
One of yoga’s primary aims is to bring us
squarely into the present moment, which is especially important and especially
difficult for trauma survivors. Present-moment experiences offer trauma
survivors a chance to live “without feeling or behaving according to irrelevant
demands belonging to the past,” according to Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., author
of The Body Keeps the Score. But it’s also more challenging for traumatized
people than non-traumatized people to be present, says David Emerson, author of
Overcoming Trauma Through Yoga. The good news? We can all get better at it with
practice. Here, a few key strategies for helping trauma survivors—and everyone
else—in your yoga classes get grounded and present.
1.
Anchor the mind.
“All practices that strengthen
concentration or mindfulness use an anchor,” Willard says. He recommends
inviting students to rest their attention on something—the body, the breath,
movement, the senses, an image, numbers, a word or phrase—to anchor them to the
present moment.
2.
Cultivate mindfulness from the ground up.
“Start with simple things that can help
students feel grounded and centered,” says yoga teacher Marcia Miller. She
likes to start class by rolling the feet over massage balls to create
heightened sensations in the feet that make it easier to feel grounded. “Then,
I might ask questions like these throughout the class, ‘Can you feel how your
feet are touching the floor? Can you feel the weight of your hips on the chair?
Can you feel the texture of the fabric on your arms? What are the sensations
you are feeling right now because of the pose we just did? Where exactly are
they? Do you enjoy these sensations?’”
3.
Be sure to include breath practice.
We are seldom taught how to breathe and
yet, a number of studies “cite evidence that yogic breathwork may be
efficacious for the treatment of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress
disorder and for victims of mass disasters,” says Amy Weintraub, author of Yoga
Skills for Therapists: Effective Practices for Mood Management. She suggests
using three-part breath and breath retention among other techniques, adding
that “control of the breath not only enables language but gives us a measure of
control over our mood.” Ancient yogis knew that breath regulation could help
manage and regulate feelings and moods. Studies have shown that breathwork may
be helpful in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress
disorder, and for victims of mass disasters. “Finding and experimenting with
new ways of breathing may be a way for folks to feel better in their bodies,”
Emerson says. Breath practice is an effective tool all students can take home
and use to help with anxiety outside of class. Try the 7-11 Breath, as taught
by Christopher Willard, PSYD. He suggests breathing in for a count of 7 and
breathing out for a count of 11, suggesting that this practice can reset the
breath to “regulate, shift, and stabilize energy and mood.”
4.
Give a nurturing Savasana.
For some, Savasana is the most welcomed
pose of a yoga class. For others, it can be a difficult and uncomfortable
experience. Offer choices for resting by providing suggestions on how to set up
for Savasana or encouraging students to do what feels comfortable for them: sit
up, lie down, use a bolster under their legs, a folded blanket under their
head, a folded blanket over their belly, or a blanket to cover up with.
Encourage students to close their eyes or soften their gaze, knowing some may
only feel comfortable keeping their eyes wide open. Remind students that
Savasana will only last a few minutes and that they can come out whenever they
like.
5.
Take it to the next level with Yoga Nidra.
Yoga Nidra is “a sequence of meditation
practices that help you feel connected to yourself, with others, and to the
world around you,” according to Richard Miller, PhD. Miller has adapted this
practice, calling it Integrated Restoration, or iRest. He describes it as a
guided progressive scan of the body incorporating the tools of intention,
body-sensing, breath-sensing, awareness, and more. Miller has had great success
treating populations suffering from trauma and PTSD with his research-based
method. He says these self-care tools help students “experience self-mastery,
resilience, and well-being.” Don’t be surprised if your students fall asleep,
as their mind is able to release and relax in this deeply grounding
practice. "
By: Daniel Sernicola
Source: http://www.yogajournal.com/teach/5-ways-make-every-yoga-class-restorative-therapeutic/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=story7_image&utm_campaign=myyj_12132016
www.soyoga.com.sg
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