Yoga and Pranayama - Tools to Balance your energyfield
the benefits of yoga
Yoga is not excercise-. Yoga is meant to release tension from your body and mind and to build up new energy, not to exhaust yourself. Sadly there is a huge misunderstanding of Yoga in the western world as in india itself also nowadays. The whole idea of fitness is questionable, when we look into the ancient ajurvedic and yogic rule, that one should not exhaust himself to more than to 1/3 of the maximum capacity, otherwise the loss of energy damages body and mind. And Yoga is meant as a tool to enhance your energy.
Special bodymovements (Yoga- Asanas) and specific breathing techniques (Pranayama) are tools to keep or get your energyfield in balance. In Indian Tradition you do asanas to prepare the body for the breathing techniques, which again you do, to prepare your mind for Meditation. Then body, mind and spirit are in a balanced state and one is fully connected to the universal energies and in harmony in daily life .
Special bodymovements (Yoga- Asanas) and specific breathing techniques (Pranayama) are tools to keep or get your energyfield in balance. In Indian Tradition you do asanas to prepare the body for the breathing techniques, which again you do, to prepare your mind for Meditation. Then body, mind and spirit are in a balanced state and one is fully connected to the universal energies and in harmony in daily life .
How i work with yoga
If your not practising yoga yet, but have some interest in doing so, i can give you some individual advice on how to start and what may be the best for you. This could be as a part of a healing session or you can also book one to one yoga sessions to get a full introduction and a programm that is tailored specifically to help resolve your health or emotional issues and can be practised at home. For those who already practice yoga, I am happy to reflect on your current yoga practice and to assess if the benenfits it is giving you can be improved upon.
I put a strong emphasis on pranayama, the breathing. In my experience it´s an extremely powerfull tool to balance and strenghten the energysystem
I put a strong emphasis on pranayama, the breathing. In my experience it´s an extremely powerfull tool to balance and strenghten the energysystem
How i came to Yoga
I found yoga, when i was searching for something to support me quitting smoking. I went to the library to get some books about it and started on my own. I didn´t want to go to a yoga-class because i was embarrassed about my stiffnes and my lack of fitness. And i hated to get pushed over my limits. I allways had a lack of energy and felt easily exhausted by excercise of any kind.
I started very slowly and gently, being friendly to myself. Because i stopped Smoking, I did, let´s say, half an hour in the morning, and maybe some more in the evening. It helped a lot and I hardly suffered any withdrawal symptoms though I had been a heavy smoker for most of my life.
I developed a routine of asanas, that was meant to balance all chakras. I followed it nearly every day. During an ayurvedic panchakarma treatment in India I was shown Pranayama, the yogic breathing techniques. I was amazed by the effects of pranayama on body and mind and emotions so I integrated it into my daily Routine.
A case study in working with severe depression
When I was working as a freelance for a mental health charity, one day they sent me to an 82 years old Lady in an emergency. She was extremely depressed and they didn´t know what to do with her, because she had been on Lithium, a heavy psychopharmaceutical drug for more than twenty years and now her kidneys couldn´t cope with that any longer. They just had to stop it. and they couldn´t give her anything else until the Lithium was fully out of the body and her kidneys were able to take other medication. The easter holidays were coming, her husband was helpless and frightened and I was invited to go to her everyday for several hours and to do- anything-whatever with her. Being extremely depressed she rejected everything one would offer her, she just had no energy for nothing and wouldn´t leave the house, other than go to the hospital or to see a doctor.
When I came there she told me she was desperate, she hadn´t slept for weeks, she just wanted to die. This was the first time it tried using yoga and pranayama with clients, simply because I had no other or better idea, what to do with her. I showed her some yoga asanas that you can do sitting on a chair and did some breathing exercises. Very gently, very carefull, because you can easily overdo with such a fragile Person. She was a friendly old Lady who followed my instructions with sincerity. When we finished she said, she was feeling good. Which was an enormous shift to one hour before. The next day she opened the door herself with a friendly smile on her face. She had had dinner in the evening and had gone to bed straight afterwards and had fallen to sleep immediately. She had slept the whole night through....We went on with the yoga and pranayama practice and she was gaining vitality, appetite, and wellbeing day by day. She started going for walks again, seeing friends, all the things you do, living a full live.
So I began using Yoga in my work with mental health clients frequently. With very good results. And I did a Yoga Therapy Teacher Training in India to get more indepth knowledge about yoga as a therapeutic means.
I started very slowly and gently, being friendly to myself. Because i stopped Smoking, I did, let´s say, half an hour in the morning, and maybe some more in the evening. It helped a lot and I hardly suffered any withdrawal symptoms though I had been a heavy smoker for most of my life.
I developed a routine of asanas, that was meant to balance all chakras. I followed it nearly every day. During an ayurvedic panchakarma treatment in India I was shown Pranayama, the yogic breathing techniques. I was amazed by the effects of pranayama on body and mind and emotions so I integrated it into my daily Routine.
A case study in working with severe depression
When I was working as a freelance for a mental health charity, one day they sent me to an 82 years old Lady in an emergency. She was extremely depressed and they didn´t know what to do with her, because she had been on Lithium, a heavy psychopharmaceutical drug for more than twenty years and now her kidneys couldn´t cope with that any longer. They just had to stop it. and they couldn´t give her anything else until the Lithium was fully out of the body and her kidneys were able to take other medication. The easter holidays were coming, her husband was helpless and frightened and I was invited to go to her everyday for several hours and to do- anything-whatever with her. Being extremely depressed she rejected everything one would offer her, she just had no energy for nothing and wouldn´t leave the house, other than go to the hospital or to see a doctor.
When I came there she told me she was desperate, she hadn´t slept for weeks, she just wanted to die. This was the first time it tried using yoga and pranayama with clients, simply because I had no other or better idea, what to do with her. I showed her some yoga asanas that you can do sitting on a chair and did some breathing exercises. Very gently, very carefull, because you can easily overdo with such a fragile Person. She was a friendly old Lady who followed my instructions with sincerity. When we finished she said, she was feeling good. Which was an enormous shift to one hour before. The next day she opened the door herself with a friendly smile on her face. She had had dinner in the evening and had gone to bed straight afterwards and had fallen to sleep immediately. She had slept the whole night through....We went on with the yoga and pranayama practice and she was gaining vitality, appetite, and wellbeing day by day. She started going for walks again, seeing friends, all the things you do, living a full live.
So I began using Yoga in my work with mental health clients frequently. With very good results. And I did a Yoga Therapy Teacher Training in India to get more indepth knowledge about yoga as a therapeutic means.
