Everyone is welcome
to this website. Its focus is for
people with substance use disorder and how they can benefit
from Yoga, Pranayama, and Meditation without having any
experience.
Addiction often brings with it a great deal of harsh self-judgement.
Through Yoga, we can counter-act this by
creating a safe, positive environment to connect
with our bodies and quiet
the counterproductive
messages that often arise
in our minds.
First, for those of you who
don't know, let me tell you
what Yoga is not - Yoga is
not hard, it doesn't have to hurt, you don't have to "turn
into a pretzel", and there is no experience neccessary
for the kind of yoga I teach. The
kind of Yoga I teach is Sugi Yoga. Sugi Yoga is a blend
of the Feldenkrais Method and Hatha Yoga.
The Feldenkrais Method uses movement and awareness as
the primary vehicle for learning. The lessons contain
processes that allow you, perhaps for the first time,
to feel and experience what is correct for yourself. The
clue that you need for your own guidance, is to find a
way to do what is asked that is easy, comfortable, and
pleasant. In effect, you, yourself, will know through
your increasing sensory ability how you have improved.
The smallest and gentlest of movements will most times
produce the biggest results.
It
is perhaps due to this focus on physical movements that
the Feldenkrais Method is often classified as a complementary
and alternative medicine. The Feldenkrais Method attracts
the attention of those who want to improve their movement,
who want to reduce their pain or limitations in movement,
or who want to use the method as a way to improve their
well-being
and personal development.
Hatha represents opposing energies: hot and cold (fire
and water, following the same concept as the yin-yang),
male and female, positive and negative. Hatha yoga attempts
to balance mind and body via physical exercises, or "asanas",
controlled breathing, and the calming of the mind through
relaxation and meditation. Asanas teach poise, balance
and strength and are practiced to improve the body's physical
health and clear the mind in preparation for meditation
in the pursuit of enlightenment.
To
blend these two practices is to bring a gentleness to
the class that is fun and relaxing for everyone to experience.
The constant theme is to never force anything and always
listen to your body.
To blend gentle Yoga and a 12 Step philosophy helps bring
an
awareness not only to the spiritual, emotional, and mental
part of the body but to the physical part as well. There
is a self-awareness and self-esteem that is developed
and a balance that can be created which helps foster a
happier and healthier person.
