In my personal journey with mind obstacles, yoga was the first thing to help me in a huge way. After practicing at home with DVD’s for awhile, I took my first studio class and immediately after it, decided to become a 500 hour trauma informed teacher. In the process of teaching, I founded The Strange is Beautiful to make alternative healing options accessible.
I finished filming a beginning yoga for anxiety video on Friday, June 19 at YogaWorks Pasadena! The video is one in a series of four yoga for anxiety and depression videos for my mental health blog The Strange is Beautiful (thestrangeisbeautiful.com) and for my 300 hour yoga teacher training project. I’m so grateful to have such talented, helpful and loving friends – Christian Soriano, Corey Strong and Nadia Adella – who gave their time to make this video possible and a brilliant yoga mentor, Ashley Rideaux, to help me design the yoga sequence. A huge thanks to YogaWorks Pasadena, to the manager Ken, for letting me use the studio to film and for moppping/turning the air on so the room wasn’t a sauna for the shoot! :)
Your pose for today is: Savasana! Savasana (or corpse pose) can be practiced many different ways. Practicing Savasana will help you keep calm throughout the day, be able to positively respond to stress, and teach your body to relax in preparation for a deep sleep. This article will not only teach you how to practice Savasana for the times when you cannot lie still, but the different variations of Savasana and how to add elements such music, breath, and visualization!!
Your pose for today is: Tree Pose! Tree Pose is a balancing pose that helps your mind focus and find clarity (instead of being trapped in an unending cycle of negative thoughts). Yogi’s often say that balancing poses such as “Tree Pose,” will help you “ground or center” your energy.
Twists encourage the digestive system to work properly – which often helps the stomach to properly function, especially, when you feel like knives are piercing your tummy during a panic attack or through an unwavering depression – adds moisture to your spine, helps your posture, and elminates toxins in the spine.