POLYVAGAL-INFORMED YOGA
" I invite you to think of your yoga space as a sacred ground...
and each time you return is a pilgrimage to your body, mind, heart, and soul."
- Dr. Arielle Schwartz
Polyvagal-informed Yoga is rooted in the Polyvagal Theory by Dr. Stephen Porges.
It weaves the traditional teachings of yoga with neuroscience. It incorporates practices that focus on toning the vagus nerve, cultivating neuroception.
This practice is rooted in understanding how the vagus nerve plays a key role in regulating our sense of safety and connection with ourselves and the world.
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Polyvagal Informed Yoga focuses on awareness of the nervous system while blending traditional yogic philosophy for cultivating balance, self-awareness, inner power and breaking through stagnant energy. These may include practices such as conscious breathing, vagal nerve toning, mindful movement and meditation practices that help in rewiring the nervous system.
Science looks at the research about why and how breath, movement, and awareness practices work. A key player in the mind-body relationship is your vagus . This 10th cranial nerve functions as a superhighway of communication that connects your brain to your gut, heart, lungs, as well as the small key muscles within and around your throat, face, eyes, and ears. In short, your vagus nerve helps your body do its job, helping you respond to stress and return to restful states of ease.
Soma (Body) invites you to deepen your relationship to your felt experience. You learn to turn toward your experience of tension. These places of contraction, when held wisely, can become the foundation for your deepest healing and growth. If this is new, you might feel the urge to push away the discomfort. You also learn to turn toward sensations of ease or pleasure. Overtime, as you learn to stay present with your body, you will begin to access your inner guidance system, your inner compass
Soul invites you to listen deeply to the voice of your intuition, your wisest self, that is always accessible when you turn your attention inward with curiosity and compassion. Soul can be thought of as the deepest center of our identity that houses our sense of meaning and purpose.
"Yin Yoga is the gentle path to self-discovery, healing, and inner peace."
- Paul Grilley
WHAT IS YIN YOGA?
It’s believed that Yin Yoga originated in China, but the practice is in fact deeply rooted in the tradition of Classical Hatha Yoga. Originally, Hatha Yoga involved long holds (up to 10 mins) and was used by monks to keep their bodies healthy and as a a practise of self discipline .
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However, when famous yogis like Swami Sivananda introduced it to oridinary people, the duration of the holds was adjusted to 1-3 minutes in order to make it more accessible.
Yin Yoga focuses on passive (yin) postures which reduce muscle activity and stretch the connective tissues.
Yin invites you to settle into a pose, often supported by props such as cushions and bolsters. The Yin postures are similar to Hatha Yoga asanas, however they have been renamed to make a distinction. Paul Grilley, who developed this practise, did so for his students who were practising active forms of yoga such as Vinyasa.
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The concept of Yin and Yang is rooted in the Taoist philosophy where yin and yang represent the opposite and complementary principles in nature. In Hatha Yoga, we talk about Ida (Yin) and Pingala (Yang) to describe the same principle.
Yin is stable, soft, passive, cold. Associated with hidden aspect of things, moon, femininity, heavy and night.
Yang is changing, hard, active, hot. Associated with the revealing aspect of things, masculine, light and day.
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In our body, the relatively stiff connective tissues (tendons, ligaments, fascia) are considered yin, while the more mobile muscles and blood are considered yang.
In Yin Yoga we work on the yin tissues – the connective tissues, which respond best to a slow, steady load.
The long holds in yin yoga stress the connective tissue and make the body respond by making it stronger and longer. Holding the poses for a long period reduces muscle activity and stretches the connective tissues.
One of the tissues we work with in Yin Yoga is fascia. Fascia is a a web of connective tissue that integrates in the entire body, it surrounds other tissues and organs protecting them and reducing friction.
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In our busy and stressful world, our fascia can become tight causing pain and decreased range of motion. Fascia is said to be holding any emotional stress and tensions. Yin yoga provides space to release that tension and constriction in the fascia supporting our emotional wellbeing as well.
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Polyvagal Informed Yoga Workshops