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How do we Sustain Resilience & Teach Yoga through a Pandemic?

April 27, 2020 Leave a Comment

During the early phase of our community response to the​ ​COVID ​pandemic and the start of the​ ​”shelter in place​”​, ​the Yoga center closed down and ​I began teaching ​remotely through a tele-seminar platform and audio Yoga ​class ​series.

In the beginning, I felt drawn to the theme,​ ​Finding ​Refuge through ​Yoga and taught ​these classes with a variety of sub themes and well rounded practices​ focused on the benefits of slowing down and going inward​. As time went on​, I shift​ed focus towards what ​potential growth opportunities w​ere arising​ through this pause ​period, as ​well as the renewed ​signs of spring​. I ​then ​felt drawn to teach the theme,​​ ​Awaken to ​Life through ​Yoga and have continued ​through ​the last few weeks again offering a well rounded sequence of yoga postures and breathing techniques to express ​how yoga supports ​this wonderful theme. Now as May approaches (6 weeks later) ​and for an uncertain amount of time, ​I am shifting again to the theme,​ ​Cultivating ​Resilience​ through Yoga​. It feels appropriate at this moment to ​support our staying power, ​maintain a healthy and discerning perspective a​nd continue to ​rally-up and ​re​-​emerge from ​any adverse affects ​of ​the​ pandemic​.​

​My Considerations for Yoga, Resilience​ & Teaching ~​
Resilience is a​ dialog between endurance, vitality and immunity and expresses itself in our health on all levels- body, mind, and heart. Physical resilience as well as support for immunity is sustained through ​wise ​lifestyle choices and healthy habits, including an ongoing Sadhana – ​the Sanskrit word referring to ​our yoga and meditation practices. Mental resilience and immunity comes through our mental perceptions and mental discernment.

​The ​Yogic principle​ and Sanskrit word Pratipaksha Bhavana is ​discussed ​in the 2nd chapter of Patanjali’s ​Yoga ​Sutras. The main thrust of this principle is to cultivate the opposite; replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. When we have adverse thoughts or perceptions,​ instead of focusing on the negative​ we cultivate positive, kind and compassionate thoughts, thereby opening our view to see what is good, growth-full or beneficial​.

In Ayurveda there is ​the guiding principle and term Ojas– our vital essence, our natural immunity and natural radiance. Resilience. It also refers to mental and emotional wellness. All th​e energy that we take in and put out as well as our lifestyle choices ​either ​nourishes this vital essence or can be detrimental to it.

Yoga can Support us in Feeling ~
Balanced
Present
Centered
Alive
Energized
Calm
Clear
Connected
Integrated
Compassionate
Strong
Open​
And…​

How does Yoga ​Foster ​Resilience?
Working from the inside out cultivates embodied integration within structures & systems
Supports Physiological function
Supports musculoskeletal function & endurance
Pranayama expands respiration capacity
All yoga practices- postures, breathing & meditation- develop physical/physiological endurance & mental calm to better manage challenges
Increase recovery rate & injury prevention
Fosters mind-body connection & embodied presence to consciously meet each moment
Fosters healthy parasympathetic response of NS for good rest & digest to counter balance life stress
Helps us embrace the unknown & uncertainty & cultivate trust
Easier mental & emotional recovery
Brain health through positive thinking- ​(​see above-pratipaksha bhavana)
“Neurons that fire together wire together “ -Rick Hanson
​And…​

Best to you,
Amy


P.S. Webster’s Dictionary​,​ definition of Resilience​: “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change”

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