You’ve practiced with them on YogaGlo. You’ve followed them on Facebook. You might even take their classes in person once in awhile if they travel to or live in your city. But how well do you know our YogaGlo teachers? Ask a Yogi is back so you can learn more about our teachers by asking questions you’ve always wanted to ask.
From favorite poses and tips for beginners to deeper questions about how their practice has changed their worldview, our teachers will collectively answer a new question each week. If you have a question you’d like to “Ask a Yogi” let us know in the comments and we’ll add your questions to the list.
How and why does yoga calm you down?
Alex van Frank: Yoga helps me slow down enough pay attention to breath, body and mind and enter into what I call ‘yogi time’ where time seems suspended. I find that I can better come into a state of flow and ease after a practice so, I try to integrate practice into life and vice versa. Yoga has been a tool that has allowed me greater ease in life.
Amy Ippoliti: Without yoga it’s much easier for me to misdirect anger. Irritations roll of me like water off a duck’s back if when I am practicing a lot. It’s always been a bit of a mystery as to why that is. Of course there are all sorts of theories about the parasympathetic nervous system, brain waves, etc. but the simple truth is that when you do something caring for yourself, and you pay attention to your body, mind, and spirit, it’s like filling up your tank. When we are fulfilled and our needs are met, it’s calming – we no longer need to strive or be in flight or fight mode.
Carole Westerman: Yoga helps calm me down by creating space. Space in my physical body. Space in my emotional body. Space in my mental body. That combination of space helps me to remember to “pause” and slow down. And when I have the opportunity to pause, it helps me bring things into perspective. And the big things don’t seem so “big” anymore…
Chris Chapple: Day by day, everyday, Yoga allows the mind to focus and ascend.
Darren Rhodes: Hatha means to strike or to force. Yoga forces me to slow down. Holding pose after pose for 30 seconds is a much slower pace than most aspects of our fast pace lives. Focusing on alignment is a way to stop thought. Becoming conscious of my breath gives it room to breath. Each of the poses I practice are designed to stretch away stress.
Elena Brower: I’m actively studying Yin, Restoratives and Savasana now. I’m sleeping VERY well…
Giselle Mari: Yin yoga is my go when I need to down regulate. Due to the passive application of both the postures and breath. This creates a calming effect that is visceral as well as it is intellectual.
Kathryn Budig: Yoga calms me down because I know I’m making a conscious request to feel better. A huge part of discomfort for me is sitting in it —refusing to take the steps to take better. Yoga (and meditation) are amazing tools, but only when utilized regularly.
Noah Maze: In asana practice, as with most physical exercise, as the body heats up (you start sweating) the mind calms down. Yoga poses and practices can effectively calm the sympathetic nervous system and stimulates the para-sympathetic nervous system. Calming the sympathetic nervous system decreases adrenaline and the fight-flight-freeze responses that often are associated with stress. Meditative and mindfulness practices can be very effective to facilitate further calming.
Steven Espinosa: We live in a very fast paced, stressed out society. As a result, we are in a constant state of “fight or flight” mode and will have a tendency to get harder both physically and emotionally in order to protect ourselves. The process of practicing yoga allows us to soften around those hard edges and to reconnect with our deeper source of inner strength and well being.
Tara Judelle: Yoga brings my entire body online and moves the energy of thinking mind into the energy of body-mind. By motorizing thoughts, thought-sphere becomes fuel for movement. You can’t get rid of energy, you can only transmute it, and the alchemy of yoga is the thing that since the first class I stepped into over 20 years ago has inspired me to continue.
Taylor Harkness: Growing up, I had horses and I loved the feeling of snuggling my face into their thick coats in the winter time. With my little arms wrapped around my horse’s belly, ear pressed to her chest, the feeling of these huge animals taking a full, deep breath was always comforting and calming. I think some part of loves the sensation of a big sigh; then combine that with movement that makes sense and feels good and you have a pathway to equanimity.
Tias Little: When the fascia stretches the tiny nerve receptors open. This induces feeling of well being. Also blood infuses the tissues supporting greater ease. Central to yoga, the central nervous system in and around the spinal column expands.
Tiffany Cruikshank: We’re still learning more and more about this and many other ways yoga affects us, but the simple and obvious answer is the parasympathetic nervous system. We see this really clearly with pranayama and its capacity to induce a pretty immediate relaxation effect by focusing more on the exhalation and its connection to the parasympathetic nervous system(for more info see this article). I like to begin &/or end my yoga & meditation practices with a short pranayama practice for this reason. Calming the body prior to practice helps reduce muscle tension and compensation to move more efficiently and more clearly see what’s happening in the body. When we grip and push through we use the larger muscle groups to compensate and cover up any inefficiencies that might exist in the smaller, deeper stabilizing muscles. When used at the end of a practice this pranayama practice of lengthening the exhalation calms the nervous system to prepare us for a busy day ahead. To try it out for yourself just lie supine in a comfortable position and add a minute or 2 of pranayama with a 5 count inhale and an 8 count exhale just prior to or at the end of your practice.
source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2017/01/how-and-why-does-yoga-calm-you-down/
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