It was a great honour to work with the Irish Youth Choir last night in the I C O building in UL . The Choir will preform in St Mary’s Cathedral on Friday 5th July . They had spent 8 hours rehearsing so what could have better than a gentle yoga practice followed by a lengthy Yoga Nidra -profound relaxation technique.
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For past many eternities human being is indulged in a process, the process of reaching towards perfection and of being perfect. Many researchers and technocrats are still inventing things and many had already changed our lifestyles and made this world a comfort place to live in. This mad run invited many unwanted guests, pollution of air/land/water, pollution of society/body/mind, which further leads to many sufferings and stressful life. Developing the ability to lax your body and calm your mind is significant because it helps you to control your activation level and channel your focus, both needed for stability. Yoga, a system of mental and physical training, concerns with postures, breathing exercises, meditations, which claim to give knowledge of reality. In the area of mental relaxation and meditation, shavasana and the sitting postures maintain the balance by their equal input of physical stimuli. Yoga Nidra is a systematic method of inducing complete mental, emotional and physical relaxation. It means psychic sleep, where conscious intellectual mind disappears, subconscious mind becomes active and unconscious mind merges with the subconscious, and there we have no concept of time and space. Yoga Nidra is an effective way to release stress and induce deep physiological rest and relaxation. Rotating the awareness around the different parts of the body in turn, as we do in Yoga Nidra, stimulates the chakras in a fully balanced way. During scientific experiments it has been seen that when you practice Yoga Nidra, α waves change immediately.
Yoga Nidra is one of my Sportsyoga principles and I feel that it is an essential aspect to Sport training. I am pleased that the British Journal of Sports Medicine has recognized the importance of the balance between body and mind in sport.
Paulette Egan ,
The Loft Yoga Studio ,
Clonlara , Co Clare.
0863183646
[pullquote style=”right” quote=”dark”]Understanding your body is the road to recovery[/pullquote]
Fear is a powerful emotion that contributes to how you move,behave and experiences pain. Fear can also be that obstacle that will hold us back from our dreams as we are afraid to take the plunge. Fear can lead you into a cycle of panic and ill-health and sometimes it is hard to break the cycle . We all have visions and goals but how many of us really reach our ultimate destination. A good example of fear is pain and a person will send alarm bells ringing when they are fearful so the pain increases, they become more fearful and the cycle continues. Our bodies need a certain level of anxiety to maintain the urge to move forward, stay focused and dynamic. The problem arises when the feeling becomes persistent and so intimidating that it starts to interfering with our everyday life. Then it becomes an anxiety disorder, a state of excessive uneasiness, worry, or fear of the unknown, which needs to be treated, and this is where therapeutic yoga can help. Fear affects everybody from the elite athletes to the old age pensioner and it can be fueled on by health professionals, family and media . Therapeutic yoga will assist you in facing your fears.Yoga practice ideally includes the complete package of asanas (body postures), pranayamas (breathing techniques), meditation, and the ancient yoga philosophy, all of which has helped several anxiety patients recover and face life with new lifeforce and strength. A perfect example of ” being gripped by fear is Arthritis . Movement is essential , but the person is afraid to move because it causes pain but with gentle continuous movement, the pain will ease and the condition will improve.
At the Loft Yoga Studio ,Clonlara, Co.Clare, I work hand in hand with GP’s and Physiotherapists where my therapeutic yoga program complements modern day medicine. I help people to overcome their fears by informing and encouraging clients to gain an understanding as to how the body and the mind work together and to leave their fears behind forever!
Namaste,
Paulette Egan
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One of the many causes of arthritis is the general wear and tear of the inevitable pounding, grinding, and bumping that the body experiences, which add up to damaged cartilage between the joints cause arthritis. The result is joint pain and instability as well as reduced flexibility. It is a vicious cycle for arthritis sufferers because if the person tries to move his limbs & joints then pain increases but if there is no movement, the situation becomes worse.
Therapeutic yoga for arthritis is slow, controlled physical movement of the joints that can be beneficial to arthritis sufferers. This slow movement in the joints will bring extra synovial fluid to the joint, therefore lubricating the joint thus easing pain. The person will be brought through a range of movement for all joints in the body. It improves the blood circulation in joints, removing unwanted toxins and other waste products.
Therapeutic yoga is a specialised area and is completely different to a regular yoga class. There is a lot of emphasis on correct breathing techniques and a person can also learn how to deal with pain through their breathing patterns.
The class is usually practiced sitting on a chair where the person feels secure and each movement is connected to the breathing pattern of the person therefore creating awareness to each particular area of the body. The class will always conclude with Yoga Nidra – a profound relaxation technique where the person will learn how to get go of tension in the body.
Currently running Therapeutic yoga classes in The Strand Hotel Limerick
Paulette Egan
O863183646
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For many years now athletes and sports people have largely focused on strength training through weight resistance. This approach while highly effective to increase muscle mass also results in athletes lacking muscle flexibility.
At Sportsyoga .ie I encourage athletes to take a therapeutic approach to training where some time less is more.
Muscle Flexibility/Mobility – Sportsyoga stretches vary from very gentle movement to deep stretches working into the connective tissue thus releasing lactic acid that causes pain and stiffness in the muscle and joints. As a person continues with yoga practice, his/her body becomes more relaxed and in addition using deep rhythmic breathing, creates better body flexibility and increases the range of motion and mobility.
Increase Stamina with the use of Pranayama- Pranayama is the name given to the breathing practices utilized in yoga. In Sport, it is vital to use lungs to their full capacity and the yoga breath helps achieve this. The yoga breath circulates and detoxifies the lymph fluid to speed up recovery time, therefore recovery is quicker after training and fatigue reduced. It also increases one’s overall energy (beyond what is derived from caloric intake solely) thus boosting power and determination.
Mental focus– To complete the circle, a person must have clear mental focus on their game and on their goals. Athletes who work on their psychological strength as well as their fitness levels definitely have the edge that makes the difference. Please see separate article on yoga nidra and sport.
Increase Body Awareness– Body awareness is a very important aspect of sportsyoga because yoga is movement and breath combined. When you come into a posture, you use your breath to allow adjustments to take place either to make the posture more comfortable or more challenging. The most important rule in yoga is LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.
Sometimes training in a specific sport can make you physically unbalanced as you work one side of the body more than the other and so body awareness is not achieved. Yoga helps you realize what movements come quite easily to you and what you need to work on.
Rehabilitation- Injuries occur because muscles become rigid; therefore other muscles compensate and can be overused. Again, yoga gives better awareness of this strain quickly and so is the perfect tool to prevent sport injuries.
There are many different styles of yoga and you use these at different times in your sporting endeavors. For example, when an injury occurs, an athlete may rest for a day or two and then start gentle stretching. A skilled yoga practitioner can use the technique of directing the breath to the affected area in order that the muscle heals quicker.
[pullquote style=”right” quote=”dark”]Sportsyoga is the ultimate form of training – It covers all aspects from a strong healthy body to a strong healthy mind.[/pullquote]
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[pullquote style=”right” quote=”dark”] Some would consider Yoga and Sport to be worlds apart but I have brought the two together to add a whole new dimension to your sport training. [/pullquote]
In today’s competitive sports world, it can be difficult to find the edge needed to be the best. I have a keen interest in sport and have watched the hard work that many athletes put into their training for their sport, but still fail to achieve the ultimate performance to be number one.
I have practiced Yoga for 19 years and have a deep understanding of all the benefits Yoga can provide. Yoga is beneficial for all athletes to enhance strength, flexibility and mental focus. Over the years I have qualified in many aspect of yoga. I have diplomas in Hatha yoga, Birth-light Pregnancy Yoga and Therapeutic yoga. I also have qualifications in teaching Yoga Nidra and Pranayama-Breathing control. , I have designed my own Sportsyoga class and different Sportsyoga packages to suit all sports .
Yoga is beneficial for all athletes to enhance strength, flexibility and mental focus
Yoga gives a range of motion in all the joints of the body as each class involves a workout for the whole body.
Every movement in yoga is synchronized with the breath so it builds a holistic understanding of how the body works as one unit. Whatever your sport, you will have some overworked muscles in your body. Swimmers suffer from tight shoulders, hurlers and footballers suffer from tight hamstrings which have shortened, sometimes due to over work at the gym, causing lower back pain. Cyclists and golfers can lack balance from the repetitive twisting of their body.
Yoga is not the latest “fad” to hit the headlines. It is dated back to approx 5,000 years.
Some would consider Yoga and Sport to be worlds apart but I have brought the two together to add a whole new dimension to your sport training. Yoga is not the latest “fad” to hit the headlines. It is dated back to approx 5,000 years. So include yoga in your sport training and improve your balance, flexibility, power and stamina, increase your lung capacity and your mental focus resulting in improved performance, injury reduction and faster recover time.
Regards Paulette
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