Offerings

Once we have given birth, the muscle fibres must now be allowed to heal and readjust, similar to the idea of them being on an extended holiday and now needing to be reclaimed and rediscovered. This is true whether we have had a vaginal birth or an assisted birth. The pelvic floor is connected to our core muscles which allow us to bear weight and load. These abdominal muscles will also have been through a similar process of elongation and softening to accommodate baby and will also have been further ‘separated’ if a C-section was necessary. The healing process requires us to begin initially to simply make that mind body connection to the pelvic floor again. Being able to isolate and locate our pelvic floor is a crucial first step of the reclaiming process. Many people will find this the most challenging part of the process, after birth, as these muscles can feel inaccessible at first. Yoga allows us to begin to build that connection, firstly by bringing gentle mindful awareness and secondly by allowing movement based connection to the area, so not just verbal cues such as “squeeze” familiar with Kegel based movements, but with actual dynamic practical postures that allow us to work with this area and build that connection. Often physical exercise that is not specifically tailored to post natal women can cause issues and create longer healing journeys. Back pain, diastasis recti, pelvic floor weakness may be exacerbated by unsuitable or impatient exercise routines. Post natal rehab yoga is a safe and gentle way to ease you back to reclaiming your body.

As a new Mum you have just been through an amazing feat of birthing a new life into the world, how amazing are you? You’ve had time to begin the process of healing (6 weeks +, 8 weeks + after c-section) and settle into some sort of routine with your baby. You now want to begin to reconnect to your body. Yoga allows us to begin to build that connection, by bringing gentle mindful awareness to the pelvic floor and core, we get to move, stretch and breathe safely. We also begin to connect to other Mums who are sharing the same journey. In this class we include baby, so little one still feels part of the class and has our attention, but when baby allows we focus on Mum and some well needed nourishing movement.

Pregnancy Yoga

Connection- Creating, carrying and birthing a new life is a beautiful sacred experience for many women, despite this it comes with a large amount of responsibility, expectation and anxiety. Hormonal changes during this period will also add to that sense of anxiety with fluctuating moods in an unfamiliar body as women embrace the new sensations pregnancy brings with it. Nausea and fatigue can make the adjustment seem even more difficult. Pregnancy specific yoga offers women a time and place to come and commune with other women who understand this experience. This alone can be validating and when women come together and support each other it is a powerful healing tool. We are also offering them practical tools to use to cope with many of the symptoms of pregnancy, by working with the nervous system through breath awareness giving women a sense of agency when it comes time to birth in labour as she is now familiar with working with the breath and staying centered. Affirmations are also powerful tools to reassure women of their natural innate abilities to bring their baby into the world, again these can be used throughout the pregnancy and in the process of labour and birth, this familiarity can be of immense comfort. The deepening connection to the blossoming baby through visualisation, meditation, and even the careful use of language used throughout a yoga class can again empower each woman to find that ancient wisdom latent in all women of bringing life into the world. Finally yoga physically can create strength and openness in the body in preparation for the birth, this sense of strength can give a woman the confidence to know that the impending time she may be in labour and the actual birth is something she is more practically prepared for.

Strength and ease – As we go through the trimesters our physical body undergoes a number of impressive changes. Our posture alters to accommodate the shifting centre of gravity of the growing abdomen. As the womb expands outward we tend to increase that natural lordotic arch in our back creating a compression of the lumbar spine, this causes extra strain on the joints, muscles, ligaments and even the discs of the spine. Added to this natural shifting of the posture we have the impact of the hormone relaxin on our tissues. Relaxin is an amazing hormone which our body produces during pregnancy and throughout the period of breastfeeding to allow the ligaments and other structures to soften, to create the flexibility and expansiveness in the body required to bring our babies to full term and into the world, the lower back being a common area for many to have issues with even prior to pregnancy. Yoga can help with awareness of this tendency towards a lordotic arch, helping us to counter pose, build strength and flexibility to support the lower back. We can create looseness and freedom around the lower back with the circling of the pelvis action, working out tension and stiffness. We can offer tools and knowledge to help support a woman to make choices in her daily routine to support the lower back such using a medicine ball at her desk, taking breaks to loosen stiff muscles with simple exercises throughout the day and breath awareness to bring a state of calm when anxiety begins to creep in.

Birth preparation- the tools we can offer her throughout the pregnancy yoga class can still be integral to her facing any challenges in the arrival of her baby no matter how baby decides to enter the world. Breath awareness, centering, affirmations, meditations, visualisations, empowered confidence can be vital tools gained from the yoga class.
Yoga does not guarantee a perfect simple or quick birth but it offers us an opportunity to develop tools which will ultimately remind us of the innate wisdom, the instinctual knowing that our bodies and our babies have to enter the world and fortify our abilities to face any challenges that may arise.

Hatha yoga is the practice most aligned or associated with the traditional and classical teachings of yoga. It involves the practice of the asana (postures), pranayama (breathing techniques), and meditational practices such as yoga nidra (guided meditations to induce yogic sleep). These practices cleanse the mind and body, focusing on alignment and improving flexibility and overall can help us to maintain a deeper more profound sense of wellbeing. The body and mind are unified with the breath. Movement becomes a prayer within the body. The mind is soothed with the combination of slow breathing and methodical attention to the sensations shifting through the body. Hatha yoga is best practiced regularly to see all the benefits it has to offer, however even taking to the yoga mat once a week can have immense benefits for those who dedicate themselves to the guidance and the knowledge of the ancient yogi’s. Available as a private class or I am currently offering this beautiful yoga class publicly in The Broken Chair Studio Arklow, Wicklow. To join us go to the book now page. 

Vinyasa is the practice of the same yoga asana (postures) as Hatha yoga however they are approached and combined in a slightly different manner than Hatha. The postures are designed to create a seamless transition between poses rather than simply moving in and out of the posture, creating a sense of flow directly into one another. The sequences are usually practiced at a faster pace than Hatha, although the flow may be fast or slow depending on the desired result. Vinyasa can be excellent at creating heat in the body, cleansing and moving stagnant energy, building resilience, strength, stamina and focus.

Each practice has its unique energy however they all tap into the same ancient knowledge of the body through the postures, breathing and mindful attention. Available as a private yoga option.

Yoga for teens offers young people a dedicated space to come home to themselves and become aware of the grace and intelligence of their own bodies. Our bodies have an innate wisdom but as we come into our teens the body can begin to feel like a foreign place for a while. A large percentage of girls reduce or completely stop sports when they come into their teen years, (as high as 61% and a 6 times higher drop out rate than boys). This can be due to many factors but owing largely to a lack of self confidence, a sense of body shame and self consciousness being high on the list. Yoga can help to give teenagers and pre-teens a greater respect and sense of pride in their bodies amazing abilities. Yoga has numerous benefits to improve mental health by building resilience, inducing a sense of calm when they are faced with life’s twists and turns and offering tools for teens to use, such as breathing exercise and mindfulness, to help with exams, new situations or day to day stresses.

Restorative yoga is a delicious, restful and gentle yoga practice which allows us to let go of tension and holding. We dissolve into the support of whatever props we are using, usually bolsters, blocks, blankets and anything soft and warm we can utilise to simply feel comforted. We do work with some lengthening of the muscles and improving flexibility but it is done in a nourishing supportive manner, realigning gently and with kindness to the body, which sees the body respond by inviting us in and opening up to this patience and the effects of gravity. The deep purposeful relaxed state that is induced in the practice has a hugely positive effect on the nervous system, slowing the heart rate and blood pressure to a comfortable homeostasis. The perks of the practice though, as always with yoga, happens to the mind. Restorative yoga practice smooths the edges of the mind, creating a balanced, calmer, serene version of you and the ever busy chatter is calmed, switching from fight or flight to floating on air.

Yin yoga, is a variant of traditional yoga which utilises many traditional yoga poses, but again with some variations, the focus is tweaked and the poses are long held, really long, allowing us to marinade in the postures for enough time and breaths to feel the fascia release, and our own resistance melt. If you know what fascia is you can skip to the next part. Fascia is basically the webbing that holds our entire system of muscles, bones, ligaments, organs, vessels, nerves together. It is like our imperceivable shell, connected, woven and intertwined through every inch of our body and our nervous system. It gives us our shape. It is connected like a chain, through our entire system. Fascia, like muscle, can become dysfunctional, one link out can have a profound knock on effect further down the chain, referring pain or tension through the body. Fascia can be affected positively through Yin yoga, to release and re-align.
Classes usually only consist of a minimal amount of actual poses, so unlike most modern takes on traditional yoga which sees us flow through a set of sequences with speed, Yin is a much slower pace. Part of the challenge for most of us of a Western mindset is simply allowing ourselves to come to this state of heightened stillness, staying in the pose with full awareness of all the sensations the body throws at us for the duration of the held posture. The poses again may only be held for 90 seconds or up to 5 minutes depending on the pose and your experience, but the effect on your body and mind can be profound.Having explained the idea, I will emphasise that although in theory the practice sounds very similar to say restorative yoga where we hold poses for longer periods, the practice is very different, in restorative we are aiming to rest, restore and enjoy being supported by various props in an almost lazy yoga way. Yin is an altogether different beast. We work on the ligaments, fascia and staying with some uncomfortable bodily sensations and emotional ones too. You may actually feel slightly fragile and delicate for a minute after a long held pose but with an experienced instructor’s guidance and care you will feel an immense release of constriction, tightness and a yielding of the body to the moment. This makes it excellent for the purpose of martial arts or for those who work out and find while they have excellent strength and endurance they may feel flexibility and ease of movement could improve. It also suits those who may enjoy a good meditation practice or a regular yoga routine, the ability to stay with what is happening and not take our attention away from the sensations in the body is a huge aspect of the challenge of Yin, and its benefit of course. It is not for the faint hearted but it is so very worth the effort!

Yin Yoga is simple, but simple does not mean easy.”

Bernie Clarke – book ‘Yinsights’

Chair yoga is a practice that incorporates all the myriad benefits of a regular yoga practice into a seated practice, or supported practice using a chair. The postures are all adapted to the needs of the audience. This allows those with limited mobility, those whom are recovering from accidents or illness or those bound by the constraints of space, such as in an office situation, access to the wonderful benefits of asana (postures) pranayama (breathing exercises) and meditation to refresh, stretch and enjoy whether from their wheelchair, arm chair or office cubicle.

A specialty field of study which educates yoga teachers on the best practices and empathetic responses required to understand, support and facilitate those who have been impacted by trauma. Yoga is a powerful tool for the support of the therapeutic treatment of ptsd and trauma related issues. Often when trauma is experienced the body responds through fight, flight or freeze. This “freeze” response is often a method the body utilises to cope with situations where life is endangered by or there is no option of fight or flight. However, even when the threat has passed these old patterns or coping mechanisms of freeze, dissociation or numbness can still be residual within the body. Yoga is now being widely recognised and utilised, in conjunction with other therapies, to help guide survivors of traumatic events back home to their bodies, allowing them to safely feel and heal.

Breath (prana), awareness/control (yama), is a fundamental element of any yoga practice. We are always conscious of the flow of breath throughout our practice. We also work with specific breathing techniques that have varying effects on the mind, such as balancing, calming, energising etc.
The breath is our constant companion, it is both an unconscious act of survival and at the same time, it can be brought under our fully conscious control, bridging the expanse between the conscious and unconscious. It is well recognised that our quality of breath directly affects or indicates our state of mind and emotions. The breath can switch on or off the sympathetic nervous system, for example breathing fast, shallow breaths creates a sense of tension within the body, indicating stress and danger is present. Our sympathetic nervous system (fight, flight or freeze) is activated and a cascade of hormones are released, adrenalin being one. In contrast, actively slowing the breath, taking mindful deep and long breaths, concentrating on lengthening the exhale, switches us into the parasympathetic system. This tells us all is safe, danger has passed and we can return to homeostasis. When we are in a constant state of fight, flight or freeze and have dysfunctional breathing patterns our physical, emotional and mental state is mirrored.  This state of anxiety, inability to focus, tension, aggravation and high alert, long term this is highly detrimental to health. Simple breathing techniques help us regulate this dysfunctional pattern and return us to a sense of calm. Your breath is the only natural conscious tool that helps to regulate the central nervous system in this way and is a very effective tool when we work with toning it regularly. In all the Well Soul Yoga classes we work with breathing exercises so we can all experience the benefits.

Yoga is a moving meditation in itself. Short meditation and mindfulness practices are included in all of the classes I offer. Yoga nidra is guided meditation or yogic sleep and can also be accessed as a separate offering. Meditation has numerous proven benefits, which we have seen studied and documented extensively now. Benefits range from restoring a sense of balance and calm to improved focus, concentration and problem solving skills.