Honor the Body during your Yoga Practice

Like most of us, I often find myself pushing it too far, trying to achieve the perfect yoga pose.  During moments like this I come back to the breath and bring awareness to the expansion and contraction of the body.  This helps me remember that yoga is a personal practice, not a competitive sport.  We all want a strong, beautiful yoga body however we must honor the body through the process.

In class this week for Karma Yoga Victoria Brunacci from Synergy referred to the body as your baby, a 10 day old infant to nurture as a way of reminding us to honor the body, listen to it, and follow the healing breathe.  Victoria is a beautiful, sincere teacher both inside and out.  She reminds us that patience and dedication will take you through your yoga journey.

Yoga is not another mindless exercise routine to finish up and check off your list of things to do.  Instead, yoga is a lifelong practice of health and wellness that will heal injury and disease if you allow it.  It is recommended to include self practice and restorative yoga into your regular routine.  It may not be the most popular class, however every time you practice a long meditative yoga sequence you will feel renewed.  The body needs time to recover, especially if you are practicing a lot of Vinyasa, Ashtanga or Power Yoga.  A restorative, gentle yoga class could be the perfect complement to your practice.

I recently had the opportunity of taking Soft Dempsey's restorative class at The Standard Hotel in Miami Beach.  This was an amazing, healing class.  The sequence includes only 6 carefully selected yoga postures held with props for long periods of time.  We started with supported Supta Baddha Konasana using bolsters, props and straps and held it for 11 minutes.  Wow, you can really feel a release breathing into your hips for a long period of time!  Next we did a modified version of Balasana, or child's pose, resting into a large bolster while following the breath.  This was another amazing meditative hip opener.  Our final postures included supported fish pose, supported bridge, legs in the air while resting on a bolster, followed by supported Savasana.  During each transition Sofy helps to reposition the props and provide instruction for the next pose.  Her soothing voice compliments each restorative pose.  She also allows for enough space between her words so that you can experience the meditative stillness.  I left class feeling blissfully refreshed.  You will quickly experience a calm, clear mind during a long meditation when honoring and restoring the body.  Sofy is a beautiful teacher and strong yogi.  As a dancer and yoga instructor, Sofy has deep understanding of the body and awareness that is evident in both her yoga practice and teaching.  If you haven't already taken her class I encourage you to try her Restorative Yoga Class at The Standard Hotel in Miami Beach on Sunday nights at 6:30pm.  Sofy also teaches as Peaceful Rock Yoga in West Kendal and Acqualina Resort and Spa in Sunny Isles Beach, among other places.  You can view her beautiful yoga photographs on her website at: www.yogidaya.com. Thank you, Sofy for guiding me through a beautiful practice. ~Namaste

[caption id="attachment_508" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Sofy Dempsey "][/caption]