Body Movement and Integration
Now get to know your body from the inside out. Any age, any body type, any gender can investigate the movement and meditative processes of a yoga practice. The various combinations, styles and durations offer so many options for each individuals journey. There is no "one right way". The practice of yoga is truly a dynamic and flexible path.
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Dedication, diligence and practicing the practice that will enhance your physical, mental and emotional rhythms.
If you are breathing, you can do yoga. By just getting to your mat, you are doing yoga. Yoga is more than just the physical, there are many layers to it. ( Article: Get to Know the 8 Limbs of Yoga )
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Below you I will introduce you to the practices that have helped offer balance and bring clarity into my life.
And as I can only offer from what I know, my teachings are based around these styles and practices to you.
The physical yoga asana practice prepares your mind and body for meditation
The what, how and why yoga is an essential practice for you
The Human body is like a vehicle or temple which houses the mind and spirit. The ancient Seers and Rishis of Yoga realized through their expanded awareness, inner vision and intuition which was developed through the awakening of the Kundalini (energy at centered at the root chakra) that the human body contained many interesting mysteries.
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Some yogis who were undergoing an inner awakening “ either in their Central Nervous System or the Pranic system, or both” unconsciously developed bodily movements known as Kriyas and assumed classical Yoga postures. Also some even began breathing in peculiar and not previously known ways. Yogic Adepts like Paramahamsa Satyananda Saraswati and others believe that these Kriyas that are a phenomena are initiated as a result of natural evolution “biological, Psychic, Spiritual” and heralds the last evolutionary step as a homosapien human being.
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Ancient Yogis also had a close affinity with nature and the environment around them, including the earth, space, stars and the sun to name just a few. They also started to study animals with great depth, and the subsequent naming of many asanas after animals is a fitting tribute to the ancient Yogis great affinity with nature. This was probably the starting point which was later expanded on through SELF experimentation over centuries and millennia to encompass all of the Classical asanas (yoga postures) and pranayamas (breathing techniques) that we know today.
"Yoga happens beyond the mat.
Anything you do with attention to how you feel is doing yoga."
Integral Dynamic Movement – Tensegrity
Created by Gioia Irwin
The IDM Series* describes a finely tuned and stabilizing set of Tensegrity movements* expressed with integrity of connection and ease flowing through the connective fascial webbing within the entire body. Hydrating, sustaining and strengthening from the smallest particles to the largest structures, these movements can also help to create a meditative state for the mind as the body is in motion.
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Use of stabilizing blocks, dowels and massage balls help to create and inform the body of its own ability to heal, maintain and strengthen. Steady and effortless focusing on right tonality in a range of movements integrating The Anatomy Trains** to maintain the health of the whole body.
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* Based on the Tensegrity and Repair Series, created by Gioia Irwin,
in combination with addition of other integral movements.
** Thomas W. Myers - www.anatomytrains.com
What is Tensegrity
Tom Myers, Author of Anatomy Trains, explains how fascia, soft tissue, joints and bones are organized around the principle of tensegrity. The human body is not a compression structure like a building, it is far more dynamic.
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Tensegrity, tensional integrity or floating compression, is a structural principle based on the use of isolated components in compression inside a net of continuous tension, in such a way that the compressed members (usually bars or struts) do not touch each other and the prestressed tensioned members (usually cables or tendons) delineate the system spatially.
The term tensegrity was coined by Buckminster Fuller in the 1960s as a portmanteau of "tensional integrity".
The other denomination of tensegrity, floating compression, was used mainly by Kenneth Snelson.
We Are
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The Earth that we live on, that sustains us, that allows us to thrive on, in the midst of a most hostile and chaotic environment ...space... is a part of us, and we, a part of Her. I call The Earth a Her, only in so far as that gender specific pronoun denotes a female quality of being. Of nurturing, caring for, loving and compassionate along with deep rooted teachings that we, Her children, need to learn from Her and share these aspects in a time that we are currently experiencing.
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A name that She also is known by is Gaia. It is a Greek name meaning Earth. In Greek mythology Gaia was the mother goddess that presided over the earth. In the the 1970's a Dr. James Lovelock developed the Gaia Hypothesis, or Gaia Principle. [1]
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The Gaia hypothesis, also known as the Gaia theory or Gaia principle has proposed that "living organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on Earth to form a synergistic and self-regulating, complex system that helps to maintain and perpetuate the conditions for life on the planet." In 2006, the Geological Society of London awarded Lovelock the Wollaston Medal in part for his work on the Gaia hypothesis. [1]
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As we are a living organism interacting with other living organisms among inorganic surroundings, and we are self-regulating, and very complex in our actions and our creation and design, and through our interactions with everything around us. We are Bio-Mechanical organisms in synergistic movement with each other and the Earth.
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we are biological
An assembly of molecules functioning as a more or less stable whole that exhibits the properties of life.
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we are mechanical
A mechanical device has parts that move when it is working, often using power from an engine or from electricity. — Mechanical means relating to machines and engines and the way they work.
we are mechanism
A mechanical part or group of parts having a particular function. A process or system that is used to produce a particular result. A way of acting, thinking, or behaving that helps or protects a person in a specified way.
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we are integral
Something that is an integral part of something is an essential part of that thing.
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we are dynamic
As an adjective, process or system characterized by constant change, activity, or progress. As a noun, force that stimulates change or progress within a system or process.
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we are movement
The act or process of moving is the change of place or position or posture.
Our life is sustained and maintained by our mechanisms and the interaction within us and from outside of us and this is where Bio-Tensegrity (Biological Tension with Integrity) and Integral Dynamic Movement originates and comes together.
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We move, we are dynamic, we are integral parts of this bio-diverse ecosystem of Earth, of Gaia, and we need to continue to be integral parts of "the whole", this synergistic existence we call Life.
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[1] (sited by Wikipedia)
( definitions by Merriam-Webster and the Collins Dictionaries )
Tim Cyr
Grace and Embodiment of Tensegral Movement
To carry our bodies with such ease, with grace, with motion. Our movements stem from the strength and integrity of our core, of ever part of our body that comes together to stretch, to gather, to unwind and unravel. This video shares, visually, the way our body can move when we do so with awareness and connection. Every part of our body connected with layers of connective tissues that aid in even the simplest of movement. When these are all woven together... such beauty,
even in walking and breathing, emerges.
"Yoga is not just repetition of few postures, it is about the exploration and discovery of the subtle energies of life."
Amit Ray
Restorative Yoga
Healing through stillness
Restorative yoga is the focus of refreshing and restoring vital energy that is lost from the body when we are experiencing stress or trauma in the the body. We enable the release of tension in the muscles, fascia and organs through longer-held and fully supported positions of the body. To achieve these moments of release and refresh a variety of props such as blankets, blocks, bolsters, sandbags, and eye pillows.
Restorative yoga allows us to relearn the art of relaxation while developing and encouraging our body's innate abilities to self-regulate. Enhances our healing capacity through helping us regulate the stress response and re-balance the nervous system from stressful or traumatic moments in our lives.
Regulating Your Nervous System
Restorative yoga is incredibly supportive for our nervous system and overall stress levels. The practice helps us strengthen our connection with the Parasympathetic Nervous System. The Parasympathetic Nervous System is a branch of our Autonomic Nervous System, the system that controls involuntary functions in the body like our heart rate, breathing, tissue recovery and so much more. When we are in states of stress, or what is often termed “fight or flight,” we are in an elevated Sympathetic state. In contrast, during periods of rest and recovery, we are moving into an elevated Parasympathetic state.
It is important that we can access both of these states. A certain level of stress can be healthy and can accompany incredibly generative tasks like applying for a new job, asking someone on a date, or talking in front of a large audience. However, when stress becomes chronic we start to experience imbalance in our body that can adversely affect our overall health with a range of problems like poor digestion, hormonal imbalances, fertility dysfunction, and even disrupted sleep patterns.
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Restorative yoga can help us reconnect with our Parasympathetic Nervous System and strengthen our ability to move between states of stress and rest with more ease. By helping us learn to relax, restorative yoga can also reduce the production of stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline), improve the function of our immune system, reduce muscle tension, help with insomnia, and so many other vital benefits.
"Yoga practice can make us more and more sensitive to subtler and subtler sensations in the body. Pay attention to and stay with finer and finer sensations within the body. This is one of the surest ways to steady the
wandering mind."
Ravi Ravindra
Hatha ( Hatta ) Yoga
Ha – (Ham) – vital life force
Tha – (Tham or Ksham) – mental force
Yoga – union
The meaning of Hatha Yoga may be interpreted as Yoga through the union of Prana (life force energy) and mind.me anywhere you like on your page. I’m a great place for you to tell a story and let your users know a little more about you.
Mind and Prana in yogic terminology can be understood as Ida (left side energy channel - feminine, cooling, moon) and Pingala (right side energy channel - masculine, fire, sun) Nadis (energy channels). Their purification and balance results in an awakening which when sustained perfectly for long periods of time leads to an awakening of Ajna Chakra (third eye chakra), which triggers an awakening of Mooladhara Chakra (root chakra). At this time, the Sushumna (Kundalini energy, most powerful energy in the body in the formation thought of as a snake) Nadi opens and Kundalini makes her ascent through all the major Chakras illumining them fully, as she passes along inside the Brahma (main life energy channel) Nadi of Sushumna (the spinal cord). This Shakti force conquers the mind at Ajna Chakra.
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Copyright © - Satyam Yoga Centre - August 2000
http://satyamyoga.com
"Meditation can help us embrace our worries, our fear, our anger; and that is very healing. We let our own natural capacity of healing do the work."
Thich Nhat Hanh
Yoga Nidra
Yogic Sleep
Yoga Nidra, known as yogic sleep, is a guided meditation and relaxation practice that is intended to induce physical, mental, and emotional relaxation and aid in the subconscious healing aspects of the mind. One hour of Yoga Nidra can be as restorative as four hours of regular sleep.
Aside from being relaxing, restorative and restful, Yoga Nidra can also ease insomnia, decrease anxiety, alleviate stress, heighten awareness and focus, and create feelings of peace, calm and clarity.
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There are many different ways of teaching and practicing Yoga Nidra. Most practices include guiding the participant through different stages of: intention, body awareness, breath awareness, emotional awareness, visualization and re-integration to relax the body, mind and emotions.
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Each step is intended to take you deeper into an altered state of conscious and subconscious mind, the state between consciousness and deep sleep. This is where your mind is absorbing and hearing the words and voice of the teacher, even though you might feel like you are drifting off into sleep.
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This process allows your brain to shift into deeper levels of relaxation and healing. Through study of the different brainwave patterns with Yoga Nidra, we can visually see at what levels the brain is shifting through as we practice this type of meditation.