Welcome to Friday Round-up – a weekly class follow up e-mail that breaks down and explores in a more detail some of the concepts / alignment principles that we employ in class and on the mat.
I've shifted to teaching a 90 minute long classes several years ago - it seemed that we were forever running out of time in 75 minute classes. Friday Round Ups are a continuation of that process: the idea here is to catch the spill over of concepts, ideas and conversations - things we can't fully cover in the class environment.
I also
wanted to create another yoga touch point for you - I find it is so much easier to adhere to the practice if we have some well-spaced reminders and encouragers (I just made up a new word!) between on-the-mat classes. I hope you find them useful, too.
This is also a great place to ask questions and express concerns - please don't ever hesitate to get in touch with me for
any and all things yoga. All your feedback and ideas are extremely valuable as they help me to refine how the classes are structured so that they can serve you in the best way.
And while we are on the subject of questions, I have one for you: would it be useful to also have a closed FB group for this session participants?
The
idea is really the same: to create as many touch points as possible to help you integrate yoga tools into your off-the-mat world, and, at the same time to foster connection and community (the real reason behind my session-only approach).
FB group can be a great place to ask questions and share experiences and ideas.
Please let me know what you think of that idea.
Starting next week Friday Follow Up e-mails will be differentiated: students in the Core REstore and Pain Care Yoga classes will receive separate sets of e-mail with content created specifically for those classes. I am currently in the process of refining the hybrid delivery (class + e-mail) for all Satori
classes - ideally, these weekly e-mails help to build and expand our on-the-mat practices.
And now, without further ado, here is today's topic:
PACING YOUR YOGA JOURNEY:
First week of classes can often feel scrambled and overwhelming, especially if you are just starting with yoga classes.
Here is the very foundation of our practice - how to PACE YOUR YOGA JOURNEY - so you can feel safe while continuing to move forward.
This concept of
pacing is especially important if you are attending one of the therapeutic yoga classes.
Understanding these basic concepts of pacing is extremely important - they are useful both on and off the mat. Learning how to pace appropriately can help us to choose the right amount of daily activity and navigate complex terrain of recovery.
Here are a few PACING IDEAS that will,
hopefully, shed light on the situation.
1. Find your baseline. A baseline is that amount of activity that you can do and know that the pain won't flare up. For some people flare up happens the next day or even later.
2. Find your progression. Be gentle on yourself and plan to increase the amount of activity very slightly, but consistently.
3. Don't flare up, but don't freak out if you do! Because the nervous system alarms are so sensitive it is nearly impossible to completely avoid flare ups. When you flare
up, it can be tempting to give up and seek some radical quick fix treatment. Don't give up - be persistent.
I know this might sound overly simplistic.
The truth is, this process is doing some pretty complex things to your brain and nervous system. It has been proven again and again that if you stick with these simple principles you will gradually be able to overcome the pain and expand your mobility.
