The only way out is through.
~Robert Frost
The highest spiritual practice is self-observation without judgement.
~Swami Kripalu
Let’s start by admitting that I am so happy to be back in Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, after staying away for so long due to Covid. That being said, I have been crying ever since I arrived. All good. I will explain and also try to write a little about the program highlights. It has been such a rich and cathartic experience. Hopefully my words will encourage you to inquire about these presenters or just plan a visit.
Before I begin, let me relate a little vignette that happened today. We all wear name badges here. I walked into the gift shop to buy some chocolate (just a small amount – I still have cravings) and the young cashier, said, “Hi Franny, that was my grandmother’s name and I loved her so much. I have this tattoo with her name on it and she is always with me.” We had a little conversation about her grandmother that brought tears to my eyes. The tenderness the young woman held in her heart for her grandmother was palpable. I told her about the love I have for my adolescent granddaughter and how I am a support to her. We had a heartfelt conversation instead of just an exchange of a few words. This is Kripalu! A place where bittersweet tears create space to open our hearts and come to know our true selves.
The program I attended this week did just that and so much more.
The title: “Yoga for your Mood: Trauma informed Practices to Restore Your Nervous System”, with the below listed presenters:
Amy Weintraub, MFA, E-RYT 500, YACEP, C-IAYT is the founder of Life Force Yoga which is a comprehensive evidenced-based program that incorporates the many facets of yoga to support people with depression, anxiety, a history of trauma, and anyone on the path of self care and healing. She offers many practices that can relieve suffering so we can be fully present in our lives. Amy is a pioneer in the field of wholistic healing through yoga and now her compassionate, diverse skills are backed by numerous scientific studies.
Joanne Spence, BSW, MA C-IAYT, E-Ry500, YACEP is the author of “Trauma Informed Yoga: A Tool box for Therapists”, and other publications. She presented many practices that can help calm, balance and restore the nervous system.
So let’s get started. I came to Kripalu for all of the above. Almost at the onset I started to cry realizing that I was overdue for spiritual house cleaning. No worries. One of the first things Amy taught us was the following quote from Swami Kripalu:
“Crying is one of the highest devotional songs. One who knows crying knows spiritual practice. If you cry with a pure heart, nothing else compares to such a prayer. Crying includes all the principles of Yoga”.
Amy writes in her book, Yoga for Depression:
“A daily yoga practice will bring your physical body and your emotional body into balance, restoring a sense of well-being and energy.”
Remember that the mind is a time traveler but the body is always in the present.
There are many evidenced-based benefits of Yoga for your mood. They are too numerous to document here but can be found in the references. I have listed a few. These benefits serve to elevate the mood, decrease symptoms of depression, develop self awareness, and most importantly, cultivate equanimity in our lives and in these challenging times. Here are just a very benefits:
- improvement in memory, cognitive functioning, motor skill and visual visual perception
- relaxation of chronic muscle tension and reducing chronic pain
- restores natural diaphragmatic breathing
- calms the sympathetic nervous system ( flight or fight) while activating the parasympathetic system( rest and digest)
- improves oxygen absorption and the elimination of carbon dioxide.
- decreases the stress hormone
I am motivated to restart a daily yoga practice. I now know the best poses to choose to balance my mood. For example when I am anxious, Amy suggests beginning the practice with more dynamic movements, always with breath awareness, extending the exhales and focusing on more forward bending practices. An example is Breath of Joy. Pranayama exercises can include “stair step breath”. Then enjoy a relaxation that includes body awareness such as yoga nidra.
When I am feeling down or depressed, Amy suggests beginning my practice slowly and then increasing to more dynamic practices, keeping the inhales and exhales equal. This practice should focus more on back bends. Perhaps some cat-cow poses.
Pranayama exercises should begin slowly and then invite the breath to deepen, using ”bellows breath”. Again relaxation should include a practice to increase body awareness.
The above is just a very brief introduction. I would suggest visiting Amy’s website (links below) for descriptions of the breathing exercises mentioned and the references.
Admittedly, I rarely have incorporated Sanskrit sounds in my Yoga practice. These sounds or mantras are tones that can calm the central nervous system but also energize specific regions. In the program we practiced pairing various sounds with our asanas (postures). The vibratory sounds create a felt sense in the body and truly calm the chattering mind. There are so many but this one is my favorite and it evokes an image for peace:
Sha-Ma Ya
“Sha”-Shanti, shalom, a soothing sound
“Ma”-Word for mother in many languages , feminine sound
“Ya”- Seed sound for the heart
There are also calming and energizing Mantras for the Chakras. The Bija Mantras below are energizing. They are seed syllables that resonate at the same frequency as their specific chakras. They are one syllable sounds that cause energizing vibrations in the body. Pairing these sounds with the asanas radiated positive energy in my body. These evoked joyful feelings are hard to explain in words because they are sensory changes in the body.
Joanne also demonstrated various ways to help heal the body and unwind the mind in simple practical ways. Her practices can also restore calmness, boost mood, and increase energy levels. Joanne gave an excellent talk on the vagus nerve which demonstrated her knowledge of the brain and of neuro science. She shared simple trauma informed techniques of breath and movement practices. No yoga experience or flexibility needed. The poses are done in a chair so they are readily accessible, and can be done without props or previous experience.
Briefly, the vagus nerve is our 10th cranial nerve and the largest nerve in our body. It is part of the parasympathetic nervous system. It influences the breathing, heart rate, and digestive system. Chronic stress and trauma (response to an event, rather than the event itself) can decrease the tone of the vagus nerve. Increasing vagal tone will activate the parasympathetic nervous system and can allow us to return to a relaxed state after a stressful situation. The healthier our vagal tone, the healthier and more resilient our minds and bodies can be.
Joanne reminded us that even a gentle yoga practice with deep breathing will increase our vagal tone and balance our nervous system. It can improve digestion and even heart health. Meditation, dancing, and singing are some other ways. Plunging your body into cold water is another way which is becoming more popular. Practicing Brahmari (or the Bee Breath) when you feel anxious may support increased vagal tone.
Joanne reminded us to slow down. Less can be more. Our movements should always be pain free. Sensation is different from pain. Link your breath with the movement and allow your breath to be your guide. Make friends with your body through acceptance and love. Mark Twain said, “If we talk to our children the way we talk to ourselves, we would be arrested for child abuse.”
Swami Kripalu said:
My beloved child, break your heart no longer
Each time you judge yourself, you break your own heart.
You stop feeding on the love which is the well spring of your own vitality.
Self judgement has always been an issue for me despite decades of practicing yoga. I am finally learning to notice, pause, and actually practice loving self talk. Remember that self care is not selfish. For example, staying well hydrated and practicing proper sleep hygiene is very important for your well-being. (See my 3-part,”Drink, Sleep, Love” on this web site for comprehensive guidelines regarding hydration, sleep, and self care.)
When you visit Kripalu, attending the noon dance is highly recommended by this writer.
Here are some quotes by Gabrielle Roth:
“If you have a body, you are a dancer.”
Freeing the body invertible leads to freeing the heart”
And my favorite one:
“Between the head and the feet of any given person is a billion miles of unexplained wilderness.”
According to yoga dance teacher Toni Bergins, “True transformation only happens when you bring the lessons into the body.” A Yoga practice will do this as the presenters I paraphrased have taught us. Yoga dance can also soothe the nervous system, releasing stress from past traumas and negative thoughts. For me it was electrifying! I literally felt transformed by the feelings of joy that music and movement evoked in me.
Journey Dance which is now taught at Kripalu is a transformational dance form that combines free style and structural movements. It is a way to get out of your mind and into your body. No dancing experience is needed. You just move. You can move in a chair. There are so many positive things to say about this dance form so please check the references for more details.
Briefly, you flow through your natural intuitive movements. You breathe, sweat and experience yourself as a pure, embodied, enlivened, blissful, open hearted being.
I realize I cannot attend a yoga class or a yoga dance class every day. I can practice at least some asanas daily and do some dancing as well. I already made a Journey Dance playlist of some songs suggested by the Kripalu teachers. I believe that music and movement (in addition to traditional yoga) can unlock my own creative practices so that I can experience myself and others with more honesty, trust, joy and love.
References:
Yoga for Depression: A Comprehensive Guide to Relieve Suffering Through Yoga by Amy Weintraub.
Yoga for your Mood Deck: 52 Ways to Shift Depression and Anxiety by Amy Weintraub.
Trauma Informed Yoga Card Deck: 52 Self-Guided Practices to Calm, Balance and Restore the Nervous System by Joanne Spence.
Chakra sounds image: https://kathleenkarlsen.com/chakra-sounds
This narrative about your experience at Kripalu reminded me of the struggles I face every day, but overlook or refuse to confront. Thank you. And the photos perfectly correlate with the feelings that you expressed!
Thank you for everything you have given of yourself.
Very heartfelt and beautifully written!
The wonderful experience you had returning to Kripalu was made abundantly clear in your beautifully expressed words and, as Andy mentioned, perfectly reflective images. It was also palpably felt by Sue and I when we visited for the day where you quite literally beamed with bliss and gratitude. It was adorable to see how popular you are there when we toured the gift shop (and snack bar for your daily chocolate fix) and several people so sweetly greeted you with smiles and hugs! Choosing to skip a beloved annual summer James Taylor concert at Tanglewood, right across the road no less, so as not to disrupt the zone you were so happily immersed in for those few days of Zen, says a great deal about its relevance. Thank you for your warmth and generously in sharing your whole self through your writing and meaningful friendship.. I can better understand and appreciate the allure and many benefits of Kripalu. Namaste Franny.
Love, Gabrielle
Dear Gabrielle ,
Thank you for those heart felt comments – so happy to share my Kripalu experiences with you and more important so grateful to have a friend like you .