Monday, October 5, 2020

Guest Blog from Mona Flynn: The Ancient System of Yoga Therapy Can Optimize Healthy Living

 

(Dr. Chad Note - Two years ago, two among our patient base who were struggling to hold adjustments began to maintain for months on end.  I inquired about habit changes that might have led to the shift in their health and was told about Mona's work.  Monthly adjustments for a half decade were no longer necessary thanks to Mona's help.  These patients recently joined the 1 Year Club, with membership earned by holding a correction for one year or longer.  So, I asked Mona to tell us about what she does.  Enjoy!)

 

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Yoga therapy is one of the oldest mind-body practices, and modern science now shows that it can help optimize your health. Keeping yoga true to its roots, yoga therapy begins as a 1:1 practice. It is different (and simpler) than the bendy, acrobatic image you might have of yoga. A yoga therapist with in-depth training keeps you safe and interacts with your doctor of chiropractic (DC) to help you learn skills to improve your health. In addition, a yoga therapist incorporates more than just the practice of asana, the poses – individualized sequences are created to include asana “preprations,” pranayama (breathing exercises), restoratives, Ayurveda, meditation and more, to accommodate each student on their journey into a yoga practice.  

 

At LifeFit inc, students begin with a private session and can then join an ongoing small group or large group class, attend workshops, special theme class offerings, and retreats. The home studio small group classes provide a yoga wall which creates traction in the spine (space between the vertebrae) and along joint structure and offers support in many other ways such as accommodating limitations, informing the student of internal actions, refining proprioception and more. The state of art pilates equipment refines core strength and spinal support, helps to improve balance as well as muscular strength and flexibility.

 

HOW DOES YOGA THERAPY WORK?

 

What we pay attention to, worry about, and mentally rehearse are all known to directly affect our health. When our minds are jumping from one thing to another, stuck on imagining what might happen, or replaying our most recent argument, we’re like distracted drivers — prone to making poor choices on the road to health. A yoga therapist can serve as your driving instructor. With gentle, small movements and retraining of attention, you begin to become aware of those unhealthy distractions. Through simple postures, breathing exercises and deep relaxation, your nervous system settles down and moves toward relaxed yet alert performance. Sleep improves, muscular tension eases and you make smarter health choices because you are now able to pay attention.

 

This mind-body stability produced by yoga therapy also improves body awareness and creates emotional control, a known factor in improved pain management and interpersonal relationships. You’ll be inclined to hold yourself with better posture, shoulders drop from your ears, the chest becomes more open, and your lower back releases tension. No wonder yoga is becoming a common player in integrative medical practices. The yoga therapist communicates your new skills with your DC, and together they lay out even better roadmaps to health with your more mobile, stable and adaptable body.

 

THE ROAD TO OPTIMIZED HEALTH

 

1. The ability to more quickly sense when your nervous system is moving out of balance gives you time to reset before tension, anxiety, or stress create pain and misalignment.

 

2. Yoga therapy leads to increased postural awareness, which decreases excessive loads on supporting structures and allows for faster healing.

 

3. A benefit of a regular, smart yoga practice is better sleep, which aids pain, weight control and inflammation.

 

4. When you develop the habit of “tuning in”/turning your attention inward with simple, short yoga practices, your body almost runs smoother, and your mind-body interactions are optimized. Your Sympathetic drive is not as prone to be on overdrive and the Parasympathetic system’s beneficial effects arrive.

 

Yoga therapy, coupled with chiropractic care, can help prevent future injury through increased awareness of spinal alignment, more confident balance skills and improved ease of movement—all of which creates a holistic program for vibrant health.

 

Talk to your DC to see if a yoga therapy professional might be a good team member to bring on your road to optimal health. To read more about Mona Flynn, see https://www.lifefityoga.com/

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