What is pain science - informed yoga exactly?

 

Let me start by saying that it is a completely different animal all together.

Comparing pain-aware yoga to a general yoga class - or even to any other movement practice -  is like comparing peaches to beets. The taste isn't the same, and neither is the texture.

 

Pain science - informed yoga is this odd marriage of ancient movement tradition and modern evidence-based science. It is built upon our current understanding of how the human nervous system deals with pain and trauma, and how stress changes our very biology, right down to the cellular level. 

 

Pain - aware yoga is also sprinkled with a generous dash of mindfulness and western psychology, because both yoga and pain science agree that human minds and human bodies function together, as a single unity.

 

This unlikely blending of the new and the old has some potent magic when it comes down to helping human bodies, human minds, and human souls.

 

This yoga doesn't turn anyone away. 

It doesn't ever say "there's nothing we can do", "you will have to wait for more tests", or "you just have to learn with this".

 

This yoga welcomes everyone with open arms.

Whether you are surviving a brutal fibromyalgia attack, coping with an ugly divorce, living in a wheelchair, or recovering from a fall or an injury, there's always - ALWAYS - something we can do to ease the suffering and improve function.

 

And yes, I still occasionally see Tori for physio, Joy for massage, and Carmel for acupuncture - as I have for years -  whenever my body gets into funk that I can't quite figure out on my own. It just takes a whole lot more to push my nervous system over the edge these days.

 

I have never been a particularly brave person. 

I would even say I'm risk-averse.

I was - just like almost everyone with chronic pain - terrified of moving and hurting myself more. And I was - just like most folk with pain - dependant on once-a-week physio adjustments, massages, needling and so forth.

 

It was Tori's gentle yet persistent encouragement combined with my new-found passion for pain science that got me started moving in the right direction. That got me started MOVING.

 

From there my movement practice - yoga - kept me moving, while pain science did its quiet magic in the background, giving me the strength and courage to continue when all I wanted to do was stop, take it easy, and sometimes cry. This special blend of science and yoga that I have stumbled upon has been the biggest catalyst for lasting change.

 

Over time, my body got stronger and able to handle more and more challenges. With physical strength came mental stability and a better - kinder - relationship with my body.

 

Curiously, while I was figuring this all out mostly on my own, smart people  - doctors, scientists, neurologists, PhD's and what not - were conducting experiments not unlike my very own. And their data is all pointing in the very same direction: our bodies need movement, good movement, and a lot of it, for optimal physical, mental and emotional health.

Moving is not optional.

 

Today is the last day to save on all fall yoga classes. 

If you are hurting, struggling to start moving, or unsure how to get moving more, I can help you. If you are afraid to move, I can help you too. And if you have an old injury that keeps nagging at you, resurfacing at odd times of the night and robbing you of your sleep, I can help as well. You just have to take the first - and hardest - step. 

 

 

 

register for one or both sessions

 

Session 1 - September 12 - October 27
Session 2 - October 31 - December 8

 

 

Day: Tuesdays

 

Time: 6:00 - 7:15 pm, 75 minutes.

 

Place: TBA

Cost: One session 231$ / 216$ + GST if before September 1st, 

Two sessions 393$ + GST (that's 196$ per session!)
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IN - Breath. OUT - Breath. HERE WE GO!