In this blog I’ll tell you a little about how I work with yoga, in a class setting but also in an individual yoga therapeutic setting.
By my mere existence (big, curvaceous, loud, humorous) the clients that have a lot of issues that they normally would go and see a physic therapist or a doctor for, come to me. People who have difficulty moving because of a bad, lower back (disc prolapse), bad knees (maybe operated), elderly people (they don’t move well and don’t always have the confidence to do so) and people who carry a substantial weight on their bodies. People who have never done yoga, or never felt good in a class setting, and thereby they’re what I call “yoga virgins”. A typical conversation could be;
“Hi, I’m Fleur and I’m your teacher today. I know - I’m not what you expected…. Fleur, just the name gives the impression of a small, beautiful and very bendy french girl…. and you get a true Viking, big-boned, stout and loud who can’t do a handstand if my life depended on it! But here we are! I want to know a little about your history, your body and any construction areas you have in your body, so I know how to make this class fit for everyone!”
“Yes…… hi, I’m sorry - I’ve never really done yoga……” *blinking scared as a deer in head lights*
“AH! JUHU! You’re my kind of people! I love yoga virgins!!”, I say and talk a little more with them to find out how they move, how they think they move, and what their issues are. Then I try to tailor the entire class around the attending people so we all get something out of it. The perfect number of people in my class is between 8-12, then I can oversee everything and make sure they all pay attention to their issues.
Class settings
My perception is that we often have the same issues; lower back, chest, shoulders, neck, stress head ache - so I ask if they’ve got problems with wrists and if they can stand on their knees - this will make the class different as we maybe have to avoid table top positions and down ward dog. If only one person have issues I can still make the table top exercises, and then help her/him with doing these adjusted asanas with a chair or standing at the wall.
I always give people the option of more difficult asanas, and tell the people they don’t need to do everything with the focus that it has to hurt……. and then I often stay in the lesser challenging asana myself, so they feel as if they have to do them. A gentle nudge into the notion “You can also get something out of working at 70%!”
At the end of the asana practice we go into Savasana - Dead Man’s Pose - for no less than 20 minutes so they really have the time to feel how the physical practice has made an impact, but also to give them time to find calm before they “resurrect” from the relaxation, maybe with an insight or two to accompany them in a stressful life.
I am not using any music in my classes. I use my voice to gently accompany them, to help them finding into the pose that’s best for them, and during the Savasana and the meditation I end the class with vibration, I sing a mantra or a song or a hymn, anything I find suitable for the time we have just spent together.
I find that the time we spend with nothing is very valuable as we fill our heads and ears with sound and music and TV and podcasts and Netflix all day….. we need the opposite as well, and in my class you have space….. well, for you!
Individual settings
As an individual doing a
yoga therapy session by me always starts with a conversation. You tell me how you are, how you feel, how your body reacts and what you would like to achieve. Already here I start doing an anamnese - a body scan . I hear how you speak of your problem, your pain and your issues, and that does tell a lot about your own approach towards your body and your pain - often a chronic one.
Because you’re affected by the way the society see your pain, your problem. You’re affected by how the doctors, the physios, the therapists, your work, your friends talk about it and react when you tell them. Added to this you’ve probably told your story thousands of times and feel a bit embarrassed about the fact that you “always seem to tak about your illness!” Just by the way you talk about yourself your illness or pain is an information to me of your being, how you interact with yourself in your life.
When you’ve finished talking and i’ve asked the relevant questions I make a physical anamnese, looking at your body, measuring the differences in your feet, hips, knees and shoulders to see if - and where - your body has taken control to “find balance”, to protect the affected area.
See, that’s how your body is magic! It thinks “Oh! That’s how were playing now….. I have a pain in my left knee, better make up some protective movements to secure that I’m not in a constant pain!!”…. and soon you have found a way around moving so you feel as little pain as possible, and the effect on your body is that your entire post has changed.
This change in your posture and your entire muscle chain I’ll try to correct by using Nadi point therapy. This therapy is like acupuncture, just without needles, and it sets the Prana - Life Force - free, and it’s intended for your body to find back into its original posture, back into balance. When the Prana is flowing freely in your body the possibility to reset….. just like rebooting your phone or computer, you’ll come back in your original form (hopefully) and feel better.
I always begin from your feet - activation from sole of your foot, ankle, calf, around knee, upper thigh, buttocks, hips, stomach, diaphragm, chest, shoulders and head - so the energy is reminded where to flow. The energy flows better, your body is easier to regulate - and I start my work.
When the Nadi therapy is done I give you a few, simple yoga-inspired exercises to do at home to build strength, or movement or power exactly where you need it.
At the end I do a meditation - could be a dream meditation, if needed. I’m very aware and take my responsibility very seriously as it’s a near-hypnotic condition, this meditation. The more you work with me, the more trust is built these meditations become more and more essential and deep, almost like a therapy session where many issues can arise - because of the space created in your body and mind.
So my question is.... do you want a work-out? Then you're better offing to the local fitness centre, be my guest. But, do you long for something deeper - a work-in - then come to me and I promise you that you'll have more insights than what you thought was possible.