A modification of down and up dog, this exercise provides a nice stretch for the entire body, focus for the mind, enhances strength and an opening of the heart. Be mindful to coordinate your breaths with the movement. This is another exercise we use with the wounded warriors at Fort Bragg.
Hot yoga is a challenging workout of 26 poses completed in 90 minutes in a room cranked up to 105 degrees with a 40% humidity. It was taught in the Bikram style, and first became popular in the early ’70’s. Thirtysomething years later, hot yoga studios started a subtle takeover in suburbs and cities around the country.
Sweltering Hot and I Can’t Breathe: is this yoga right for me?
I first tried hot yoga about ten years ago at a small studio in New York. I remember feeling thankful I made it through the class without passing out. I’ve always been sensitive to heat, ever since I was a child. A warm yoga studio, I can tolerate. Heat can help loosen tight muscles, so a warm yoga room is better than a chilly one to support flexibility and prevent injuries. But 105 degree heat will send me into the unwell zone fast.
Love Your Body: just say no to yoga that doesn’t help you feel well
The next time I remember trying hot yoga was in my yoga teacher training. We were being exposed to different styles of yoga we could teach. The room got so hot, the air so thick, and there were so many people packed in, I started feeling like I couldn’t breathe. I felt very lightheaded. Then sick to my stomach. A layer of sweat made it challenging to maintain my balance on the mat as I slipped and slid. I began to feel shaky and weak. I was the only student who physically left the room, but my body left me no choice. I loved my body too much, and had been through too much with health challenges in the past, to allow myself to feel so unwell. Yoga, even when detoxing me, had never felt so sickening. I was all for a yoga challenge, I wanted to explore the different styles to validate which one was my calling. But hot yoga -- definitely wasn’t it. I can still feel the cool Spring breeze hitting my steaming body as I left the room. The teacher checked on me to make sure I was okay, and I told him my body couldn’t tolerate hot yoga. There are so many different styles of yoga, hot yoga is far from the only one that works effectively and productively for your personal goals.
Yoga for Healing
My goal has always been to learn how I could lower cortisol levels since chronic stress had affected my nervous and endocrine systems. I already knew I could use yoga for strength training and flexibility. I had been practicing Hatha for many years and was proven it could give you flat abs and a tighter butt and help you touch your head to your knees. I wanted to know yoga on deeper levels. I was curious about it’s healing ability. How could yoga help me decrease stress hormones? How could it help me manage stress better in practical ways for mind, body and spirit? Aerobic exercises like hot yoga and Ashtanga could actually raise cortisol levels and increase stress levels in an already stressed body. I found what I was looking for in the works of Desikachar. His father, Krishnamacharya, is my yogi hero. He was a healer, teacher and scholar who began teaching yoga in the 1920’s. His holistic yoga philosophy stressed restoring health and well-being. He emphasized the use of breath with movements. His teaching style was to “teach what is appropriate for the individual.” He viewed every student as “absolutely unique” who are best “taught according to his or her individual capacity at any given time.”
Developing Your Yoga Practice Through The Years
Krishnamacharya’s story demonstrates how different kinds of yoga can be used at different stages of our life. When he was a kid, he practiced Ashtanga, a very vigorous, athletic kind of yoga. As he grew older (he lived to 100), his interest in yoga shifted to it’s healing aspects. This is the beauty of yoga: it grows with us. Yoga will present a different challenge to us when we’re eighteen as it will when we’re eighty. A wise yogi listens to their body, mind and spirit and explores which yoga is best for them at any given time.
I created the satirical video below to bring some laughter to the yoga community when it comes to it’s differing opinions on which is the “best yoga.” Hot yoga missionaries have tried to convert me over the years, trying to convince me it’s the best kind of yoga for my body. But only I know what is truly best for my body. The beauty of life, as Krishnamacharya taught, is that we’re all different and so no one yoga will fit all.
From the wounded warrior series. These are an example of some of the therapeutic yoga exercises we practice with the soldiers at Fort Bragg. This video provides gentle and mindful exercises to provide strengthening, healing and support for the lower back. Begin with a restorative spinal twist, then ease into a modified bridge pose. Complete this set with core strengthening. Don’t forget to allow your breath to guide the movements, and movements are slow and controlled. Bring your attention to releasing as much tension as possible in your body, and allowing the mind to rest to the flow of your breath. Support for the back also provides internal support for stress management, especially related to emotional and financial support. Use these exercises to instill trust, confidence and inner strength.
Lauralyn is a yoga therapist specializing in holistic healing. She is currently providing healing yoga instruction to the wounded warriors at Fort Bragg.
Yoga props are essential to a healing and relaxation practice. Yoga props provide relief to injured soldiers in our therapeutic yoga class at Fort Bragg not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally. Props help to relieve physical pain and pressure, allow you to modify poses to your individual need, can hit pressure points, support a calm nervous system and reduction of stress hormones. The props also work deeper, emotionally, to regain trust and calm for the inner self, as well as the outer world. The props allow you to receive unconditional support. Receiving this kind of gentle, yet strong support can be very profound in body, mind and spirit during stressful times or when healing from trauma.
But yoga props aren’t only for times of stress. Using props regularly in your relaxation practice provides on-going support in your daily life. A soldier in my class remarked that he couldn’t comfortably get into a spinal twist without the support of a blanket. I said to him, “who doesn’t need a little support now and then?”
Really, who can’t use a little extra support along with feelings of peace and comfort? Try yoga props for deeper relaxation and healing. It’s a worthwhile investment for your self-care. I love my yoga props and look forward to using them routinely.
This video tells the story of Oh, The Places You’ll Go! Dr. Seuss’ last book is a gift of comfort for life’s ups and downs. It was filmed last year at Burning Man.
This one-minute meditation was inspired by a brave and courageous veteran of the war in Afghanistan who is in our therapeutic yoga class at Fort Bragg. The young soldier said he hoped he had brought some light to the darkness when he was deployed. We then tried this meditation together. It helps focus the mind on the present moment, which is a useful tool in healing PTSD. Starting with just one-minute a day as your practice, you can increase the time as you feel comfortable.
