Articles & Resources
Yoga helps us approach our circumstances with compassion and patience. Breathwork, which is something we will focus on during this class, can be a profound source of strength and nourishment for building self-trust. Breathing consciously and deeply supports our physical bodies, calms our minds, and is the link between our body and mind. Engaging in self-healing practices such as yoga, places trust in the human design, to repair itself and thrive, and faith in the human spirit. Our mental state affects how we manage life's difficulties, how we relate to people, and how we experience our work. A calm mind reduces physical tension, conserves energy, increases mental clarity and focus, and nurtures awareness of the heart and spirit. Yoga offers many tools for cultivating a calm mind, including physical postures, breath-work, and meditation, which help us to understand how the mind works and how to control it. A consistent yoga practice helps to train our minds to slow down, to be responsive rather than reactive, to remain focused even when fear and other emotions are present, and most importantly to trust our bodies and mind.
By Grace del Pino
By Grace del Pino
How to go to a yoga class at Branches of Growth when you have anxiety:
Going to a new place, doing something new, being around new people, not knowing what to expect are ALL triggers for our anxiety to feed off of. Here are some tips to help manage this anxiety:
Going to a new place, doing something new, being around new people, not knowing what to expect are ALL triggers for our anxiety to feed off of. Here are some tips to help manage this anxiety:
- Ask yourself, “What is the worst case scenario? How likely is that to happen? If it doesn’t, what is the other option?”
- Do a drive by beforehand. Check out google maps. It will help to know where you are going, what the place looks like and where to park.
- Bring a friend. Having support when doing something for the first time can be really helpful.
- Give us a call! We are more than happy to talk to you about the class before.
- Meet the teacher in advance. Here are Branches of Growth Yoga Studio, we would love to talk to you in advance.
- The practice is all about what you need! If you want to sit, lay down or need to cry all of class, AWESOME! That is doing yoga because you are listening to what you need and that is what the practice is ALL about!
Why Yoga?
Yoga means “to yoke”, which can be defined as uniting the mind, body and spirit. It is comprised of philosophy, postures, breath techniques and meditation practices. It has been around for over 5,000 years and developed by the Indus-Sarasvati civilization in Northern India. Yoga came to the West in late 1800’s and early 1900’s but became increasingly popular between 2012-2016. There is a laundry list of the benefits of yoga. My favorite is how it heals the mind, body and spirit naturally and can be done individually or with a group. Below you will see some benefits to the asana (physical) practice:
www.yogabasics.com/learn/history-of-yoga/ |
Is the thought of going to a yoga class scary? I GET IT!
Sometimes, when I think of yoga, I think of those people on instagram and social media with their bodies contorting like people in the circus, upside down, holding themselves with their pinky.
Do you think of that too?
Well, that’s because of media, marketing and all that jazz, but is that reality? NO WAY!
When I talk to people about yoga, I’m often met with the response, “ I can’t even touch my toes”. My response, “ Sometimes, neither can I and I teach the stuff!”
There’s a saying that says, yoga isn’t about touching your toes. It's about the process of getting there. All the YES’s!
Amazingly enough, in yoga, asanas (poses) are only 1 of 8 parts of yoga. Yoga has eight limbs!
Yoga is all about focusing on you. That may be scary, but you are not in this alone.
The teacher is there to guide and support you in your practice.
Since asana (poses) are only one part of the yoga practice, it can also be practiced off the mat.
We can do this by being kind, honest, self aware, self-accepting, practicing self- compassion, restraint and self-study.
How do you practice your yoga?
(https://schimiggy.com/learn-the-8-limbs-of-yoga-cheatsheet/)
Please see our Branches of Growth, North Syracuse location Yoga Class Schedule schedule here.
We offer both classes and workshops.
We offer both classes and workshops.