My journey led me to Deep Fascial Stretching/Long Hold Stretches/Yin Yoga..
Around 10 years ago I had taken a deep dive into the world of Yoga. Among the many benefits of having a regular yoga practice, it was during this time that I stumbled upon Yin Yoga. I was immediately hooked & my NERVOUS SYSTEM began to reap the benefits of adding 2-3 long hold stretches every day, or a longer practice every 2-3 days depending upon the daily schedule with work family & work & so forth.
At the time I attended this Yin Yoga class I had had a headache for 4-5 months prior. When I had completed this 1 hr long Stretch class I was headache free!! I was so excited about the change & it spurred me to learn more, practice more regularly & to know more about what my body needed.
Previously I had lived with Fibromyalgia since late teens & was very much plagued by CHRONIC PAIN, constant fatigue. At times I experienced the inability to get adequate breath. Often my diaphragm was in spasm which created breath restriction, tight cranial (head) bones, pinching eye tightness, tunnel vision & deep headaches that inhibited my sleep and rest.
The Long Hold Stretching classes that I teach today have a big breath focus. The stretch receptors in the body have a specific roll in stretch which we observe closely. The goal is to assist in the calming the nervous system. The CALMING OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM has been the biggest take away for me from this practice. And thus has influenced the way I teach my Pilates classes too. To be able to approach ones body knowing you have TOOLS TO HELP RELIEVE YOUR OWN DISCOMFORT, to reduce the number of pain/sensory signals that are bombarding the nervous system, sounds like the perfect self help tool to me!
*DEEP FASCIAL STRETCHING combined with re educating the mind/body around pain specifically, allows the body to calm from a physiological stand point*
I am only teaching what my life journey has led me to know. I feel empowered around the ‘mind body’ connection. I AM LEARNING ABOUT HOW TO HELP MYSELF. To me it is natural that I would want to share it with all of you my friends.