Yoga

[Anna Copland]

I have tried to add a link to this website. Not to mercilessly advertise but to let people know it exists. This system was used in the
Day Service I worked in in Dundee, Scotland and it seemed like a really
effective and accessible way to introduce Yoga, colours, mobility and
relaxation. Have other people used it and how did they find it?

[Becki Pauls]

A group of us are trying to incporporate Yoga and Breathing into some of daily activities of a few people that we know that talk alot about back pain and chronic soreness. Instead of trying to talk them out of feeling in pain, we just go right into the Yoga. It's fun and seems to be effective in this way.

Along with you, I am very interested in the ways that people use Yoga in their lives and in the work to help others.

[Deb Wisniewski]

Yoga and breathing are also great for people who experience a lot of anxiety. Focusing on your breath and learning to meditate can calm the wild thoughts in a person's head and help you realize that just because they're in your head doesn't mean you need to pay attention to them. Random thoughts are just random thoughts. My whole immediate family uses meditation and focused breathing to help ourselves with this.

If you've never read anything by Jon Kabat-Zinn, I highly recommend him. He developed the mindfulness stress reduction program at the University of Mass and has worked with the world renown researcher, Richie Davidson here at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Richie is also working with the Dalai Llama and his monks, looking at changes in the brain from meditation. It's fascinating research.

[Anna Copland]

Yoga seems to have endless benefits and often the personal resources it provides can change and appear when least expected. I appreciate the book references as I have recently become more interested in how the teachings that accompany yoga can improve mindfulness in practice, so far I seem to have become stuck on trying to do the 'least harm' to oneself and the world we share with others.

I am also interested in using it as a therapy for back pain, my boyfriend had chronic back pain from a herniated disc which my yoga teacher had suffered from. If he can now teach it I think it proves its own worth and perhaps details a possible link between the anxiety/stress factor and chronic pain.

[Deb Wisniewski]

Anna - I used to have chronic back pain, but it's basically gone away. I credit yoga for making it go away (I have deteriorating disks so the condition causing the pain hasn't gone away). Every now & then, I'll do something to to hurt my back, in which case, I highly recommend acupuncture - works like a miracle for acute pain.

[Anna Copland]

Thank you.
The more positive testimony I can gather in this respect the more likely it is I can convince him it is a necessary lifestyle change. Currently we are both experimenting with an inversion contraption, I don't know if it will prove helpful but I can highly recommend them for fun and pretending to be a bat!

[Deb Wisniewski]

I just ran across this class listing in our clinics catalog for Health & Wellness classes. I thought you all would find it interesting.