Live Zoom Classes

The new era is coming into focus. No longer are we going to the gyms, eating out in restaurants, or gathering in shared air or public spaces with people who don’t live in our house. To accommodate this new normal AVY is offering Live Zoom classes multiple times a week. Classes are designed for relaxation, stretching, and slowing down.

Click here to learn more.

The Vagus Nerve

What is the vagus nerve? Vagus means “wandering” in Latin. It’s a nerve that drops right out of the base of your brain and wanders to all your viscera. It is the nerve that controls the parasympathetic nervous system and relaxation response. And you can consciously activate your vagus nerve. Yup, you have direct control over how relaxed you feel. Below are several articles I’ve come across over the years that were interesting. I hope you do too. Read on to find out more about your vagus nerve.

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FROM PSYCHOLOGY TODAY:

“Visceral feelings and gut instincts are literally emotional intuitions transferred up to your brain via the vagus nerve. In previous studies, signals from the vagus nerve traveling from the gut to the brain have been linked to modulating mood and distinctive types of fear and anxiety.

As with any mind-body feedback loop, messages also travel “downstream” from your conscious mind through the vagus nerve (via efferent nerves) signaling your organs to create an inner-calm so you can “rest-and-digest” during times of safety, or to prepare your body for “fight-or-flight” in dangerous situations.”

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201405/how-does-the-vagus-nerve-convey-gut-instincts-the-brain

“Healthy vagal tone is indicated by a slight increase of heart rate when you inhale, and a decrease of heart rate when you exhale. Deep diaphragmatic breathing—with a long, slow exhale—is key to stimulating the vagus nerve and slowing heart rate and blood pressure, especially in times of performance anxiety. A higher vagal tone index is linked to physical and psychological well-being. A low vagal tone index is linked to inflammation, negative moods, loneliness, and heart attacks.”

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201302/the-neurobiology-grace-under-pressure

FROM ÉIRIU EOLAS (Irish Gaelic for “Growth of Knowledge”):

“One of the best means of inducing a relaxation response is through diaphragmatic breathing: inhaling deeply through the chest and virtually into the stomach. Engaging the diaphragm may be the key to inducing a relaxation response through deep breathing because the diaphragm’s close proximity to the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is a cranial nerve which supplies approximately 75 percent of all parasympathetic fibers to the rest of the body, and may be stimulated through diaphragmatic movement. Conversely, thoracic breathing that is limited to the chest cavity is associated with the sympathetic branch stress response.”

http://eiriu-eolas.org/tag/vagus-nerve/

“Well, by activating the vagus nerve, you can control your immune cells, reduce inflammation, and even prevent disease and aging!”

http://eiriu-eolas.org/2013/06/15/activating-the-vagus-nerve/

 

FROM THE HEALTH MATRIX:

“The vagus nerve is the heart of the parasympathetic nervous system, the anti-stress system. The vagus nerve is your calming and relaxing nerve which goes from your brain and down to your abdomen, dividing itself into multiple branches that reach your throat, your heart, and all your viscera.”

http://health-matrix.net/2013/08/06/heart-attacks-cfs-herpes-virus-infection-and-the-vagus-nerve/

FROM IEEE SPECTRUM:

Here’s a very interesting article on Vagus Nerve stimulation to treat epilepsy, heart failure, stroke, arthritis, and a half dozen other ailments:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/devices/the-vagus-nerve-a-back-door-for-brain-hacking

Relax at Home

 

SLS

SIDE LYING SAVASANA: On the Couch

This pose is always done on the left side (to support the lymphatic, digestive & circulatory systems of the body). Push your back into the couch so you’re snuggled in tight & make sure your left shoulder is in front of you rather than under you (so you’re lying on the shoulder blade rather than shoulder head). Put pillows between the legs, under the head and in front (so you have the option to hug something). Cover yourself up. And cook for at least 20 minutes. Yum.

RELAXATION TECHNIQUES

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Below are incredible resources about relaxation to help you better understand what is happening to the body and mind during my classes. I will be adding to this list, so if you have favorites email me @ ambervoilesyoga@gmail.com.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/stress-management/in-depth/relaxation-technique/art-20045368

http://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/relaxation-techniques-breath-control-helps-quell-errant-stress-response

http://www.relaxationresponse.org/FightOrFlight.htm

Therapeutic Effects of Yoga

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“Therapeutic yoga is defined as the application of yoga postures and practice to the treatment of health conditions and involves instruction in yogic practices and teachings to prevent reduce or alleviate structural, physiological, emotional and spiritual pain, suffering or limitations. Results from this study show that yogic practices enhance muscular strength and body flexibility, promote and improve respiratory and cardiovascular function, promote recovery from and treatment of addiction, reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain, improve sleep patterns, and enhance overall well-being and quality of life.”

READ THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA ARTICLE HERE

Learn To RELAX Just About Anywhere

 

 PRACTICE BEING STILL

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Relaxation is a skill. Like any skill you must practice to get better. The more you practice the deeper the relaxation experience becomes. And there is no depth – you don’t ever reach the place where you can’t relax any more. The idea is that you come to my restorative classes to practice being still so that you can take it into your everyday life.

THE PRACTICE

When you’re standing on line or find yourself stuck in traffic check in with yourself and soften the tight muscles. Next, notice your surroundings (what information are the sense taking in?) – the sights, the smells, the sounds, the feelings and observe your breath. Can you start to accept the moment for what it is without trying to change it? Can you accept the moment as if you yourself had chosen it? Change what you can (softening tight muscles) and then accept everything else (allow for the moment to simply be, without trying to control it). Accept all the moment has to offer – especially the imperfections.

 

What is AVY?

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AVY (Amber Voiles Yoga) has been practicing yoga for 20 years and comes from an extensive movement and healing arts background, including Alexander Technique, Laban, Feldenkrais, LeCoq, Skinner Releasing Technique, Qigong, Integrated Respiratory Therapy and 15 years of massage therapy. Her restorative and gentle classes are a perfect complement to a vigorous lifestyle and yoga practice. They are designed to slow down the body and mind so that you can relax deeply, allowing your natural rhythms to balance and restore. She is currently completing her National Ayurvedic Medical Association approved Ayurvedic Counselor training. Find her on facebook here.

Be. Still.

Find a Teacher

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Judith Lasater, who was a student of B.K.S. Iyengar’s, was the pioneer of restorative yoga. Her teacher directory can be found here. Jillian Pransky heads up the almighty Yoga Works restorative division and her teacher directory can be found here. I have studied with both and find their work to be profound.