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Stay Awake and Adapt: Yoga Highlands
Written By: Ashby Underwood - Yoga Highlands | Issue: 2021/01 – Winter
Understanding the complex relationship between Mind, Body, and Spirit can boost our mental health and our physical well-being.
Ashby Underwood-Garner, Rolf Practitioner | Yoga Highlands
Nature gives us clues to healing and through practicing yoga I have learned to investigate.
Watching the sunrise while writing this piece, I am inspired by the frozen winter landscape.
The sun cresting the ridge, I know that the warmth will soon touch the landscape melting the hard surface.
Likewise, emotions such as fear can cause us to “freeze,” creating shock responses in the body’s muscles, connective tissues, endocrine and nervous systems. Heightened emotional states of the pandemic, with its undulations of closures, openings, and surprising mandates has been a thrill.
As we cross the threshold into the new year, how can we practice adaptability?
“If you have to live in a stable world, then you better quit Rolfing.” Dr. Ida Rolf helped a generation of people who were beginning to understand in the 60’s and 70’s that the body holds clues to patterns of thinking and feeling. By freeing the breathing space with her hands, she could greatly improve the overall adaptability of the person.
Therapeutic touch is scientifically proven to melt tensions and pain in the body that cause chronic stress and restore ease and health. Improving oxygen flow into the body is one of the best chemical ways to reduce stress.
When Dr. Rolf looked at the body, she looked for “tensegrity,” or balanced architecture. She looked at this physically, how the body would distribute the stress of an injury around the whole body. She also knew the emotional, mental, spiritual and physical were connected. If a person moves with a fluid body that shares stress easily, this helps the mind and emotions perform in the same way.
With good cuing, everyone can experience their own resilience. People who have received bodywork are benefiting during this pandemic.
And, it’s exciting to see these body-mind teachings go to work!
From a better resourced place, we can posture a perspective that’s aware and flexible. People are taking better care of themselves.
Please tell your children that they are well and strong, and not sick.
The adaptable person will emerge restored and free.