A Tired Mama’s Yoga – Part II

  By

In the previous blog,  A tired mama’s yoga – Part I , I talked about the difficulties of practicing yoga while being the mother of a small child. In today’s blog, I d like to give an example of one of the multitasking practices of yoga and mommyhood. It’s this specific practice, I think, that has kept me the most in tune with yoga.

Photo by Fern

Photo by Fern

After not managing to practice yoga in the traditional way, I found I have to use whatever time I have to practice. Half a year ago I realized that sometimes I would spend over an hour putting the baby to bed at night. First I’d sing her lullabies, and then I would just stay there by her side making a wo wo wo sound for her to fall asleep. One day I thought, why not change this sound to my beloved Om and use this time to meditate? At the beginning of the meditation, I felt too tired to even sit up straight. Slowly the Om got more powerful, and my back started to straighten on the chair. At the end I was very surprised to feel so incredibly energized again – something had been able to break through to the new parent tiredness.

I started practicing every night again. I started liking the bed time ritual even more. Is it an uninterrupted practice? By no means. Sometimes I have to help the baby lie down again, or hold her because she is having a hard time… sometimes I have to sway her back and forth and continue with the Om standing up. Sometimes I finish the meditation and I realize that she is still awake, has been holding on to her sheet, and has been listening to her mama s om in absolute serenity for the past 20 minutes. Whichever way the meditation goes… I always feel I’ve benefited at the end of it.

I realize now, that we’ve created a mutual dependency. The baby needs the Om to fall asleep and I need the obligatory sit down time to meditate. If my internal mama duties didn’t oblige me to be by her side at bedtime, I would probably just lay down on the couch feeling too tired to do anything else that day. Fortunately she still needs me to fall asleep, and I benefit massively from this fact. Have I created a sleeping crutch for my child? Maybe. Lots of people say it s much better for children to learn to fall asleep alone. But, then again, what kind of a sleeping crutch is it? I’ve thought a lot about this. Is it such a bad thing to get her used to the Om before falling asleep? There are hundreds of documented benefits of meditation and the vibe that meditations creates for the people surrounding the medidators. I believe she is benefiting from this. Maybe through this practice I m even teaching her how to meditate before she falls asleep. That s a falling asleep habit that I am very happy to give her for her life. A habit that will strengthen her throughout.

 

A Tired Mama’s Yoga – Part I

  By
Yoga Mom

Yoga Mom

Since I became a mom last year, the ability to do yoga in a concentrated grounded way dissipated. You could say it’s the lack of space. The baby’s play area is where I previously would practice and now is covered with cute toys that make noise during my sun salutations. Or maybe it’s the absolute lack of time. Yes, I imagined how little time I’d have. But somehow, I always thought I would find that one hour for yoga. I was mistaken. Or maybe space and time are not nearly as important as fighting through the tiredness of those sleepless nights and lack of alone time. As soon as I would start on the relaxation, I’d fall asleep. Yes, there are many obstacles to yoga as a mom.

So how can yoga and mommyhood coexist?

Well yoga, for me, has had to transform. It’s traditional disciplined form that requires alone time and quietness is totally incompatible with my present life. It has had to become a playful, in-between tasks, light type of yoga. My new yoga practice includes things like observing myself wash plates in a non-judgmental way, meditating while putting the baby to sleep, teaching the body parts to my toddler while doing a sun salutation, learning the animal kingdom through asanas, and calming the mind down by pretending to be a bee.

Does this yoga give the same benefits to that of the grounded focused yoga? Probably not. The only way of getting that focused space now, is to physically remove myself from my home and attend a class. My yoga teacher used to say “an ounce of practice is worth more than tons of theory”. This light transformed yoga is the one that’s available to me now. This is my ounce of practice. If we all were to wait for the circumstances to be absolutely right in order to practice yoga, then we’d probably never get started!

Yoga is a life companion. As our lives change it’s practical application will also change with us. But yoga’s essence will remain stable, present, and loving – guiding us through the changes of our lives like a loving parent.

Pinelopi teaches Hatha yoga classes in English at our collective studio in Berlin, Kreuzberg. Our teachers are injury conscious and will be happy to assist you before and throughout the class with tailored variations for your yoga poses. We believe that the increased awareness that we cultivate in our yoga classes together with the suggested variations for your unique body, make a difference both to practicing yoga in daily life and to the yoga benefits you take with you after class.

Tips on Preventing Yoga Injuries (part 2)

  By

On the second part of our series about preventing yoga injuries, we give some tips for teachers, and on how to deal with common injury points.

7. For yoga teachers – pay attention to your own needs when demonstrating poses.
Believe it or not, most yoga injuries occur to teachers rather than students. As teachers, we often demonstrate a pose with our necks craned to the side to see what the students are doing, or we move out too quickly to assist a student. It’s a job that takes multi-tasking skills. While also being aware of what the students are doing, the teacher also has to be aware of their own movements and postures.
Some tips: Ground yourself before beginning the class. Warm up.  Prepare the class ahead of time, with ample time built into the plan to demonstrate exercises while also going around to assist the students. Don’t teach options for a pose that you yourself have not practiced many times, and use caution when demonstrating new or challenging poses.

2reflections

Practical Tips for common injury points:
In any pose where the body is being supported against gravity (i.e. standing), activating as many muscles in the body as possible makes the pose easier, and causes less stress on the body parts that are doing the main supporting. So, for example, even when standing, if you activate the thigh muscles (by pulling up the kneecaps), and activate the abdominal muscles (pull the navel up and back), then standing becomes easier and less stress occurs on the ankles and feet.

Wrists:
When the body’s weight is on the hands, such as in downward dog or plank, the shoulder blades should be flat to the back (this hooks the weight onto the upper back which is stronger than the wrists), the fingers spread wide, and the palms flat (this distributes the weight). Lifting a little at the wrist, and pulling the triceps up into the armpits also helps to alleviate pressure on the wrists. If you have an existing wrist injury, you can also roll up a towel, blanket or mat, and place it under the wrists, rolling the weight forward onto the fingers and taking a little more pressure off. Pressing the heels back and down sends more weight to the back of the body, and activating the abdominal muscles helps to keep the body supported in the centre.

Knees:
Whenever the knees are bent, such as in warrior 1 or 2, or chair pose, keep them directly above the ankles as much as possible, and bending in the direction of the feet. When the knees are bent too severely, or wing out to the side, stress is put on the knee. An already-aggravated knee will get worse in this situation. And if holding the pose is too difficult, then shorten your stance – bring the back foot closer and take less of a bend in the knee. Whenever the legs are straight, pull the kneecaps up and enact the thigh muscles, this takes weight off the underside of the knees and helps build muscle around them. It also avoids hyperextension if you are double-jointed. When sitting on the heels, take a blanket between the feet or a block on top of the heels to sit up a little higher. When kneeling, take a blanket or pillow under the knees. When moving into lotus or other sitting poses that require twisting the legs up, then move only into a position you can hold comfortably. If you it’s too difficult to get close, ask for a modification.

Lower back:
If you have an already existing injury in the lower back, it’s advisable that you make sure with a doctor that doing yoga is appropriate for you. Some injuries could get worse by practicing posture-based yoga.  If you are clear to go, then pay particular attention to what the rest of your body is doing as well as taking care of your back. Abdominal muscles are key to strengthening the lower back against further injury. If your back rounds as you lower down into a forward bend, then bends the knees until your back is straight (heart forward, shoulders back, bending from the hip sockets), and pull the belly in as you bend. If your back hurts too much to do back bends (bow, bridge, camel), then don’t do them. If you can, then move into the pose slowly, keep the legs active, pressing the pelvis and hips forward and tailbone towards the knees. Turning the toes and knees out a little bit can help alleviate some pressure in the lower back as well. Also follow back bends with gentle twists and/or a wide-kneed child’s pose, and avoid deep forward bends until the lower back has had some time to lengthen again.

Neck:
If you see the neck as an extension of the spine and it moves with it, then that helps to avoid most neck injuries. The problem is our necks get a major workout as we look this way and that, drop the head if it feels too heavy, etc. But dropping the head is exactly what can cause those injuries to begin with! Keeping the neck long helps make poses like push-up easier. In cobra or upward facing dog, lengthen rather than compress the back of the neck. You should feel no folds in the back of the neck, and the chin tucks slightly in towards the throat. In poses like camel, where the shoulder blades come together, you can let your head fall back only if it has somewhere to rest. And if the head is back, don’t yank the head up again when you come back out of the pose, keep it back until you are upright and can lift your head without straining the neck. In inverted poses (headstand, handstand, shoulderstand), keeping strong shoulders pulled up and away from the ears actually help to protect the neck, rather than the instinct to pull the shoulders close.  When your neck is already injured, avoid headstands and shoulderstands.

Throat:
Particular attention should be paid in bridge and shoulder stand to avoid harming the throat. As almost the whole body weight is being supported by this one area. The throat gets compressed and if the rest of the body is not compensating, damage to the vocal chords can occur. Squeezing the shoulder blades together and pressing them flat to the ground causes the spine to lift and gives the back of the neck more space to lay on the ground, allowing the front to be more open. And move slowly into a fully vertical shoulder stand, being aware of your neck and throat as you move.

We offer yoga in Berlin, Kreuzberg. Our teachers are injury conscious and will be happy to assist you before and throughout the class with tailored variations for your yoga poses. We believe that the increased awareness that we cultivate in our yoga classes together with the suggested variations for your unique body, make a difference both to practicing yoga in daily life and to the yoga benefits you take with you after class.

Flow into Spring – Bring a friend for free yoga to our new Hatha Yoga Flow class

  By

Spring offer for free yogaThroughout the month of April, English Yoga Berlin offers you the chance to bring someone new for free to our new Hatha-Flow yoga class, Fridays at 5:30pm.

What is Hatha-Flow?

Built on the principles of Hatha Yoga – learning to become aware of your body and its sensations through movement, breath, and relaxation – the Hatha-Flow class includes more dynamic movement / breath integration than the standard Hatha Yoga classes. It can also be a suitable step in beginner yoga for those who would like to move on later to the Vinyasa Yoga classes.

We offer English yoga in Berlin Kreuzberg. Our teachers are injury conscious and will be happy to assist you before and through-out the class with tailored variations for your yoga poses. We believe that the increased awareness that we cultivate in our yoga classes together with the suggested variations for your unique body, make a difference both to practicing yoga in daily life and to the yoga benefits you take with you after class.

Free Yoga Class to Welcome Back Pedro!

  By

Pedro teaches Classical Yoga at English Yoga in BerlinEnglish Yoga Berlin’s Classical yoga teacher, Pedro, has returned from his sabbatical and will give a free yoga class in welcome.

Please join us!

When: Sunday March 29 at 6pm (18h-19:45h)
Where: English Yoga Berlin’s Kreuzberg Yoga Studio

6 Tips on Preventing Yoga Injuries for Students

  By

You know the post-yoga class bliss. The body feels limber, longer, and more relaxed. The chatter in the mind has either dissipated or become more focussed and clearer.  It’s a beautiful feeling.  Unfortunately, though, injuries can sometimes arise during or after a class. Why does this happen and how can we avoid it?

Photo by Fern

Photo by Fern

1. Be ready for the class.  Arrive early enough so that you can settle in, get warm if it’s cold outside, catch your breath if you’ve been rushing, and take the time to observe how you’re feeling.

2. Inform the teacher.  If you notice something bothering you before the class begins, or you have a recurring injury or pain, let the yoga teacher know, so they can provide safer options for you throughout the class.

3. Pay attention to the teacher’s cues.  The instructions the teacher gives are not about achieving “perfect posture.” The breathing exercises and alignment cues the teacher describes are designed to help you move with awareness and prevent injury. The order of poses may also be important. For example; it’s best to do some gentle twists after back bends, but not before finishing all the back bend poses.

4. Move at your own pace.   If the class is going too quickly for you to follow along safely, then slow down. Don’t push yourself into the next pose until you are ready to move. A good  yoga teacher will observe and either slow down or wait for you until they proceed.

5. Take the poses in stages.  Your teacher may provide stages or variations for the class. Move through each of them with awareness, and only if it feels easy move to the next. If you feel pain, lose balance, or your breath becomes difficult, then reverse back to the last option. If the teacher doesn’t provide options, just ask, or take one that you have already learned.

  6. Take breaks when you need to.   If your energy levels start to drain or you start to lose focus, take a break in child’s pose or downward facing dog or corpse pose. If you’ve ever noticed how much more clumsy you get when tired or distracted, then you can also see how you can do yourself harm if you continue to push yourself through the class with low energy or lack of focus.

  7. Ask questions.  Yes, this is a hard one because you don’t want to interrupt the class. But if you’re struggling with a pose and can’t figure out how to make it more safe for yourself: stop! Get out of the pose and motion the teacher over so you can ask quietly.

We give yoga in Berlin, Kreuzberg. Our teachers are injury conscious and will be happy to assist you before and through-out the class with tailored variations for your yoga poses. We believe that the increased awareness that we cultivate in our yoga classes together with the suggested variations for your unique body, make a difference both to practicing yoga in daily life and to the yoga benefits you take with you after class.

Happy New Year from English Yoga Berlin!

  By

“Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations.”
-Faith Baldwin

2015 is now well under way and we hope your year has started off well. As we bid farewell to our dear long time colleague and friend Meg, and welcome Pedro back from his sabbatical, we offer some changes and additions to our weekly class schedule.

Hatha Yoga teacher Meg and her cat

Adieu Meg!

In March, Meg will be spreading her wings and flying off back across the Atlantic to pursue further education in non-profit organizational management. We wish her all the best with her studies and future career, though we are sad to see her go!

Hatha Yoga with Pinelopi

Hatha Yoga with Pinelopi

 

 

Hatha Yoga with Pinelopi

As of the beginning of March, Pinelopi will be teaching Hatha yoga on Tuesday evenings at 6pm and Thursday evenings, 6pm and 8pm.

 

 

Hatha-Flow yoga

Hatha-Flow Yoga

 

New Hatha-Flow Yoga

Juli introduces a new class on Friday evenings at 5:30pm, which goes slower and deeper than the Vinyasa Flow classes, but maintains the flow. It is suitable as a yoga for beginners class.

 

 

 

Classical Yoga

Classical Yoga

With Pedro‘s return, Classical yoga makes a comeback at EYB. The classes begin with a “Free Welcome Back try-out class” on Sunday March 29th from 6-7:45pm, and continue every Sunday from the beginning of April.

 

 

Friday Community Class

 

Due to overwhelming demand for another community yoga class, we are happy to offer a new rotating teacher class on Friday evenings at 7:30pm! Keep posted on our website Schedule and our Facebook page for the weekly rotation.

 

Why Offer Yoga In Your Business or Organisation?

  By

 

yoga in the workplace

office yoga photo by enfad

It is very rare in today’s globalized, interconnected world that work gets accomplished alone, slowly or in a linear fashion. Contemporary employees are expected to cooperate and collaborate intensively with each other, cope with a fast pace of change, deal with the pressure of deadlines, juggle multiple responsibilities and get used to rapidly changing technologies. The multitasking, creativity and hyperawareness that today’s employees develop in order to thrive in the modern workplace can make them incredibly valuable assets to their organizations—but it also leaves them highly vulnerable to the risks of burnout, exhaustion, carpal tunnel syndrome, illness and depression.

When a person burns out, it takes a huge toll on the individual and on the people around them: their family, friends, community and coworkers. Managers need to stay alert to these risks, and put structures in place to help their staff cope. It’s estimated that burn out and mental health stress costs the european economy billions of euros per year. Any business that wants to remain effective, cohesive and innovative needs to invest in the physical and psychological wellness of its staff: happy, balanced employees make for a creative, capable team and an effective, flexible organisation.

In-company Yoga is one of the most efficient and effective ways of reducing stress, calming anxiety and soothing the body. A regular yoga practice helps people to develop skills in clearing and focusing the mind, becoming more aware of their sensations and learning to release them – through techniques of movement, breath, visualization and relaxation. Studies have shown that an hour of yoga benefits practitioners in multiple tangible and sustainable ways: lower blood pressure, more oxygen in the bloodstream, reduced stress and anxiety, increased energy, less tiredness, better sleep, better posture, team building, employee morale, etc. Practicing yoga as a group helps to build empathy, solidarity and communication amongst participants. It allows each person to relax individually, to look at their colleagues in a different light, to learn something new and to nourish themselves amidst their busy work day. Participants report going back to their desks feeling refreshed, energized and positive.

A weekly in-company yoga class is something that employees can look forward to every week. It’s an opportunity for each individual to relax and rejuvenate their body and mind, and for the group to build trust, relationship and communication with each other. Office yoga classes offer a healthy injection of positivity and wellness into your workplace culture.

Click here to see our English yoga offers for companies in Berlin and here to book a try-out class or to inquire about availability/rates or anything else.

Workshop Series: ”Exploring Your Sexual Self: Past, Present and Future”

  By ,

photo by FernWe’re excited to announce that Kitty Stokes and EYB yoga teacher Meg Saxby will be offering a second round of their 3-part workshop series ”Exploring Your Sexual Self: Past, Present and Future” in January and February 2015 at the EYB studio. This engaging workshop series will give participants tools and space to explore their sexual selves and define their own vision of erotic empowerment.

Meg and Kitty–with their backgrounds in feminist sexual health education, peer counselling, bodywork/movement, creativity and group praxis–have designed this innovative workshop series to help participants uncover and develop their knowledge of their personal erotic self. Because sexuality is composed of so many different elements, the workshops are similarly designed to work at different levels: the body, mind, spirit and collective/community existence.

Using movement, bodywork, meditation/visualization, discussion and creative tools for reflection, participants will explore ideas about and experiences of desire, pleasure, fulfilment, the body and more. Over the course of 3 sessions, we will connect with our sexual selves as they are today; remember who they were in the past; imagine our brightest erotic futures – and consider the most luscious, fun and self-loving ways of getting there!

Each participant will choose an area of focus, creating a personal path within a collaborative learning process. There will be opportunities to share with one another, but no obligation to disclose more than is comfortable.

Some participant feedback from the 2014 round…

  • “the workshop series had a really well balanced structure and a great flow”
  • “I loved the mix of bodywork, writing, crafting, personal reflection and sharing.”
  • “there isn’t pressure to share too much and I felt ownership over my own journey”
  • “the facilitation was really seamless. Meg and Kitty are badass together, bringing different skills and strengths”
  • “a really refreshing space […] that is very physically grounding and that supports taking an appropriate pace that fits you”
  • “very thoughtful and a warm and open space”
  • “the workshop is really worth it!”
  • “a very freeing experience”

The series is open to FLTI* (female, lesbian, trans*, intersex) people only.

When: Sundays January 25th, February 1st and February 8th, 11:00-15:00

Where: at the English Yoga Berlin studio, Gorlitzer Straße 39, 10997 Berlin

Cost: Because we want this series to be both accessible for participants and sustainable for us as workers, the price is based on participants’ take-home monthly income and an hourly rate for our work. The fee for the series is:

60€ if your monthly income is less than 700€
100€ if your monthly income is 700-1000€
150€ if your monthly income is 1000-1500€
10-15% of your monthly income if you earn over 1500€
 

The deadline for registration and deposit payment is Monday, January 19th.

For More Information, please contact Kitty at

contactkittymay@gmail.com

English Yoga Berlin is a collective of teachers offering yoga in English from our yoga Berlin Kreuzberg studio. We offer hatha yoga, vinyasa yoga, restorative yoga, classical yoga and yoga nidra. We specialize in community yoga and offer yoga for beginners through advanced. We look forward to practicing with you!

Happy Holidays from English Yoga Berlin!!

  By
English Yoga in Berlin

English Yoga Berlin

Everyone needs a break once in awhile, even yogis.

As the turn of the year in the Gregorian calendar comes near (and in a couple weeks the Julian), some of us celebrate traditional holidays with family or close friends. This time of year can often be filled with happy gatherings, but also stressful times as conflicts arise or old conflicts are reignited, sad memories of lost loved ones re-emerge or the sadness of being alone at this time.

There are no easy answers, only the advice to remember that this time will pass and a new year with a new beginning will come. And when times get too stressful take a moment to take care of yourself. Take a walk, take some deep breaths, close your eyes and remember your resolve.

English Yoga Berlin will be back after the break and before the New Year on Tuesday December 30th, with a Hatha yoga class at 6pm (18h) and a Vinyasa flow community yoga (sliding scale donation-based) class at 8pm (20h).

We’re closed on New Year’s Day, but back again in the new year with our full schedule!

Happy Holidays! And have a good slide into the New Year!!!