What is Ayurveda?
- Sister science of yoga
- Based on ancient texts
- The body’s energetic, physical, and spiritual responses
- Breathwork, nutrition, meditation
Ayurveda is one of the world’s oldest holistic (“whole-body”) healing systems. It was developed more than 3,000 years ago in India. The term Ayurveda is derived from the Sanskrit words ayur (life) and veda (science).
It’s based on the belief that health and wellness depend on a delicate balance between the mind, body, and spirit. Its main goal is to promote good health and not fight disease. Occasionally, the focus may be geared toward specific health problems.
If your mind, body, and spirit are in harmony with the universe, you have good health. When something disrupts this balance, you get sick. Among the things that can upset this balance are genetics, injuries, climate and seasonal changes, age, and your emotions.
Ayurveda believes every person is made of five basic elements found in the universe: space, air, fire, water, and earth
Ayurveda Diet and Lifestyle: What to Expect
This is a personalized diet and lifestyle change for individual dosha.
These sessions include customized yoga flow, short and long-term support around Ayurveda philosophy with the goal of improving one or more imbalanced doshas. This is a basic and simple Ayurveda approach that you can add on your own to walk towards better self-care while practicing yoga. The spiritual aspect needed to bring balance to the mind, and body will be explored.
Ayurveda program is a collaborative process between the client and practitioner. This is a fun and interactive way to engage clients to pause and mindfully explore the WHY behind the habits and symptoms associated with the imbalance, lack of function, or presence of pain.
This option may be attractive to you if you are curious about your dosha and would like to learn the basics of Ayurveda. If you are looking for Ayurveda more as a medical practice and disease treatment plan, then I will be glad to refer you to find the best program to suit your needs.
We will explore:
- 5 Elements in Ayurveda
- 3 Doshas
- What’s Your Dosha?
- Lifestyle for Each Dosha
- Nutrition for Each Dosha
- Yoga for Each Dosha
- Creating Ayurvedic Plan for Well-Being
Tradition and modern life challenges will blend into these discussions.
Whenever we have food, body movement, and other natural interventions, it is advised that clients double-check with their primary physician/s if there are any additional considerations they need to pay attention to before starting a new program and please obtain clearance to participate if you have one or more chronic health challenges.
Yin Yoga
Traditional Chinese Medicine influences Yin Yoga.
The benefits of Yin Yoga go to fascia release, lubricating joints, and tendons by stimulating the body to naturally produce hyaluronic acid. When practicing Yin Yoga, we can also work on our meridian lines that support the organ that holds specific emotion. A yin practice is about allowing whatever is coming to be there without changing or running from it. Yin yoga has always been around, although it is relatively new to the Western world.
Restorative Yoga
If the body is stiff or mental tension is felt, Restorative Yoga is one way to get the best initial results. A flexible and calm body is desired, in addition to feeling safe when moving, interacting with others, and boosting our own ability to heal.
I often combine Breath and Meditation or Visualization during restorative class, which comes as a bonus. If we have more than a 50-hour workload per week, we need Restorative Yoga. If we have a fast-paced job, family, and overly filled weekends, we may need to teach our bodies how to relax and shift from Sympathetic NS to Parasympathetic NS.
I offer customized Restorative Yoga with Yin Yoga when the body is quite stiff, when pure posture is observed, or fascia needs attention. My clients enjoy added soft-tissue releasing techniques to reduce pain and improve flexibility further in their yin-restorative combo class.
Lastly, Restorative Yoga is a great start for clients after recent surgery or pregnancy. I prioritize safe and supervised movements with clear instruction and modifications for the most common pitfalls when moving a less flexible body. Even though there will be fewer movements in these classes, being at the edge of flexibility will take effort and patience. Breath, essential oils, and calming music assist in the relaxation and restoration of the body.
Prenatal and Postnatal Yoga
This program teaches the importance and benefits of prenatal and postnatal yoga. Common conditions and precautiousness are taught in pregnancy with anatomy, asanas, and pranayama.
In addition, this program covers Ayurveda nutrition, Ayurvedic oils, and self-massage during pregnancy for mother and baby. Vata deficit during pregnancy is common and will be mentioned. Meditation in prenatal yoga with affirmations, gratitude, inner peace, and self-compassion will be discussed. Relaxing, seated, kneeling, side lying, and standing asanas support pregnancy by improving posture, boosting energy, and fighting fatigue. Postures and drills for diastasis recti and pelvic floor strengthening in the postnatal period and afterward are included.
My prenatal and postnatal yoga training is done with the Online Yoga School as a Registered Prenatal Yoga School (RPYS), and the training is registered with Yoga Alliance as RPYT.
Children’s Yoga
What to say here? It is safe, fun, and so needed for our kids. Children often like yoga and quickly learn all animal names for certain poses, like tiger, pigeon, dolphin, camel, frog, lizard or seal. Believe it or not, according to PhD Cristal Collier, therapist, researcher, and educator (The University of St. Thomas, Houston, Texas), children as young as 8 years old are diagnosed with anxiety and depression. Teaching kids to breathe and relax to combat stress and tension in the body is relevant for their health and wellbeing.
Chair Yoga
Chair Yoga can be fun! It can be done almost anywhere, and this type of yoga style is for almost everyone. It’s the perfect solution if you find yourself in a seated chair for a prolonged period. It is great for office workers, students, the elderly, kids, business owners, commuters, and at-home workers. Be creative if you are watching TV. Chair yoga is a great alternative to traditional yoga if you are struggling with balance issues, limited range of motion, or just need the support of a chair to reach an asana that you feel has been challenging for you. It’s all OK. ” The chair can be your friend; surrender and let it be one with you!”
Please remember you are still getting the same benefits with Chair Yoga as you are with traditional yoga. It decreases stress, pain, and helps alleviate fatigue. Chair Yoga is great for joint lubrication, balance, strength, and mobility issues observed with arthritis (only if you have clearance from your doctor to start gentle exercises).
Most of my yoga training has been done with Steph Ball-Mitchell at Yoga and Ayurveda Center. Online Yoga School is Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga School (RYS) and Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider (YACEP). I warmly recommend this school as high-quality education for all yoga-related trainings.
My yoga journey started in 1998 when I took my first restorative yoga class and purchased my first yoga book. After that, my long-time love for yoga and great personal results with back pain led me to obtain these certifications.
- Certified Yoga Teacher 250 (Hatha, Vinyasa, and Yoga Nidra)
- Certified Ayurveda Specialist with the Yoga and Ayurveda Center
- Certified Restorative and Chair Yoga Teacher
- Certified Yin and Advanced Yin Yoga Teacher
- Certified Prenatal and Postnatal Yoga Teacher
- Certified Children’s Yoga Teacher
- Meditation, Breath, and Mindfulness
