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Restorative #Yoga and #PTSD #MpowerDLife

5/25/2017

If yoga can help a veteran with PTSD, could it help you?
Come try one of our yoga classes and see for yourself!

More people are practicing yoga than ever before. It’s known to reduce depression, weight and blood pressure; promote sleep; soothe stress; and increase memory and focus.

There’s been a huge increase in veterans and seniors doing it, with 39 percent of yoga participants age 50-plus.

And now veterans are using it for mental and physical rehabilitation.

“You could start with a gentle class called ‘restorative yoga,’ where it moves slowly, you have lots of props. I often hear people tell me, ‘I can’t do yoga, I’m not flexible.’ And my answer to that is, ‘That’s the point of doing yoga. You’ll become more flexible, and you will learn to do it in small stages. And it’s not a competition.’

Jeff Sargent spent two decades in the U.S. Army, fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. He now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

A friend mentioned doing yoga, but Sargent was skeptical. But after taking a class, it all changed.
“It’s hard to get people to understand how effective it can be until they’ve tried it. It’s kind-of one of those things where you have to experience it. It’s not just one you can read about,” Sargent said.

The retired Army Major veteran is not only treating his PTSD with yoga, but is also an instructor sharing its benefits with fellow service-members.

“I plan to work as much as I can with veterans because it’s a way that I can still get back to that community who sacrifices so much for all of us,” Sargent said.

Sargent says yoga’s physical, mental and spiritual benefits are endless. He’s been able to push away past memories and focus on the present. He says yoga saved his life and he hopes it can help others like him.

Theresa Jones is a soldier suffering from PTSD who practices yoga.

“It’s kept me focused, it’s kept me centered. It has allowed me to do breathing techniques on my own whenever I’m anxious or frustrated,” Jones said. “It has just given me a sense of peace in my life.”

Sargent graduates with a master’s degree in yoga therapy this July.

from: MyFoxZone.com

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Time Out: The Rise of Sensory Deprivation Tanks #Floattherapy #MpowerDLife #WednesdayWisdom

5/24/2017

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Have you had a Float Therapy session yet?
Check out the below article and then schedule your appointment!

Schedule Your Appointment

It's an environment entirely stripped of stimuli. Even gravity feels nonexistent, inside a tank filled with nearly a foot of water and just about 800 pounds of Epsom salt. Like the Dead Sea. You climb inside and lie floating in the darkness.

To experience complete sensory deprivation is, ideally, to delve into one's psyche. It forces contemplation of facets of life, that -- similar to less "heavy" types of meditation -- is meant to leave us healthier and happier. The theory is that removing yourself from all external stimulation allows your mind to suddenly dial down the RPMs, resulting in heightened in-the-moment awareness, creativity, and clarity.

Comedian and Fear Factor host Joe Rogan has been effusive in his praise of the tank. "I think it's one of the most incredible pieces of equipment for self-help and introspective thought that you could ever find," he told me. "It's been one of the most important tools for me in personal growth for understanding myself, how I am, and what effect I do have on other people."

Rogan got into sensory deprivation in hopes of achieving psychedelic experiences without taking actual drugs. He's attained that, and, in the process, gained innumerable reasons to keep floating. "People don't realize how much everything is a distraction," he says.

The experience in the tank, though, can be "brutal and unflinching in its portrayal of you and your reality," said Rogan. "That's a terrifying thing to a lot of people -- the fact that you're alone with your unconscious thoughts, with everything that's truly troubling you. It's the only time that you are untethered from your body."

He's not alone in describing that untethered feeling as a potentially intense emotional experience. Your mind begins to run rampant. With nowhere else for thoughts to go, whatever problems, worries, or guilt sits in the back of your brain has to be confronted. As it's been put before, inside that tank, you have to face yourself.

"It can be uncomfortable in the sense that you really can't run away from any of the things that are subconsciously troubling you, but I love that," Rogan said. "I'm not a big fan of running away from reality. I like handling all of the issues that bother me in order to go through life truly happy. There's a lot of people out there with ghosts, a lot of demons haunting their mind. In my opinion, this is your chance to face it head on and try to come up with a better path."

But a fear of facing oneself shouldn't be a deterrent to any type of therapy. Sensory deprivation has become a popular exercise throughout the world, with validated positive results that extend into everyday life. Namely stress and anxiety reduction, but also as an adjunct for chronic physical pain.

Dr. Darren Weissman, a holistic physician who has floated weekly since 1986, explains, "I really feel that it's a result of floating and getting myself out of the way that I saw how all these multiple disciplines that activate the healing potentials of the body actually work together."

Floating isn't just about facing the negative aspects of life. It's also about being more aware of, and appreciating the good. Letting the little, good moments simmer -- instead of just moving to the next thing -- helps them feel (and actually become) more real.

As Dr. Weissman says, it "allows us to recognize our body's potentials. It opens us to a whole different level of awareness and of who we are. We start to notice things. It awakens consciousness."

Matt Frederickson, an avid user of floatation tanks, says, "Since I started doing it, I've become more calm, especially in my work life." A long-time sufferer of chronic neck, head, and back pain, Frederickson took his first float after hearing Joe Rogan's praise of the physical benefits of the isolation tank on Marc Maron's WTF podcast. "I thought it sounded interesting because I personally suffer from a lot of chronic pain, so that's what initially drew me to it."

Frederickson tried therapies for his chronic pain, a lot of which worked a little, but he's found that no other practice produces results as consistently effective as the isolation tank. But, like Rogan, he gets more out of it than he initially sought. "I still use it mainly for the pain," he says. "It really helps lessen that, but I think the secondary benefit, for me, would be the anxiety that's tied to the pain."

"I think people are very mentally attached to certain things and certain ways of living," Frederickson told me. "I work in the music industry, so I attend a lot of shows. I'm constantly seeing people on their phones or giving into different distractions at these concerts. They don't see there's a way out of that, to be in that present moment."

While generally praised by users, sensory deprivation is met with some mainstream hesitation. Whether that stems from the germ theory -- which Dr. Weissman assured me shouldn't be a worry -- claustrophobia, or even a fear of experiencing thoughts that might make us question ourselves, the floatation tank is a tool that waits patiently for those willing to give it a shot.

Most who've experienced isolation tanks admit that the idea of "letting go" and allowing your mind to relax takes time. Even Rogan admits that floating took some getting used to. "I remember thinking, this is something I'll have to get comfortable with." But with practice comes success.

Ultimately the tank can create an optimal environment, but once inside the onus remains on the person as to where they go.

from: The Atlantic

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It's Monday! #MotivationalMonday #MpowerD #MpowerDLife

5/22/2017

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We are here to help! Happy Monday!

Schedule an appointment

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Class Schedule for May 22 to May 28 at MpowerD #yoga

5/21/2017

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Sign up for this week’s classes!
No matter what your level or ability, each class is customized to the student
AND all classes are limited to 6 to 9 students!

Reserve Your Space

Monday, May 22
9:30 am – Beginners Yoga with Holly
12 noon – Hard 5 Pose Yoga with Holly
1:30 pm – Athletic Restorative Yoga with Holly
4:30 pm - Athletic Recovery with Holly

Tuesday, May 23
12 noon - Beginners Yoga with Holly
1:30 pm – Yoga Nidra with Holly
4:30 pm –Family Yoga with Holly
5:45 pm - Restorative Yoga with Holly

Wednesday, May 24
7:00 am - Athletic Recovery with Holly
9:30 am – Athletic Recovery with Holly
12 noon – Athletic Recovery with Holly
1:30 pm – Beginners Yoga with Holly

Thursday, May 25
12 noon – Beginner’s Yoga with Holly
3:00 pm – Yoga Nidra with Meg
4:30 pm - Athletic Recovery with Holly

Friday, May 26
NO CLASSES SCHEDULED

Saturday, May 27
11:00 am - Athletic Recovery with Holly
12:30 pm – Athletic Restorative Yoga with Holly

Sunday, May 28
12 noon – Athletic Recovery with Holly

Need more information about the above classes?
Click on Class Descriptions below.

Class Descriptions

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Benefits of Cryotherapy in Sports Recovery #MpowerD #MpowerDLife #FridayFreeze

5/19/2017

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Have you tried cryotherapy to help you in your workout recovery?
Contact us and we'll answer any of your questions.

Schedule your appointment

Benefits of cryotherapy in sports recovery

With professional sport such a big business in this day and age, sportspeople and teams are going to greater lengths to ensure that their bodies are as fit as possible. A few years ago, sports recovery would be an occasionally mentioned term; now it is an extremely common one – sport can have a massive effect on the body and athletes look for any way to enable their body to recover. Recently, a recovery technique known as cryotherapy has made headlines as many believe it to be one of the best ways to help your body to recover from its exertions.

Why use cryotherapy in sport?

A very elementary use of cryotherapy can be used to illustrate why cryotherapy can be useful in sports recovery. When one bangs their head, what is the first thing one does? They get an icepack or perhaps a bag of frozen peas and apply this to the area affected by the bang. Crudely put, this is cryotherapy.

Many will know how beneficial it is to apply something cold to a bump can be, and the same applies to the bumps, bruises and muscular issues caused by intense activity in a sporting context.

Welsh rugby team began using cryotherapy in the run-up to the 2011 Rugby World Cup in order to aid their recovery following training sessions. Rather than just applying an icepack to sore areas of their bodies, the Welsh team used whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) – players would enter a cryotherapy chamber and be subjected to temperatures of -166°F (-100 °C) in order to provide them with recovery all over their bodies.

Chambers of this kind that allow for whole body cryotherapy are increasing in popularity – a company called CryoClinics are responsible for installing the first whole body cryotherapy pod in a medical facility.

How does it benefit athletes?

Numerous scientific tests have been carried out to establish the benefits of cryotherapy to athletes. One study focussing on trial runners reported that, “A unique session of whole-body cryotherapy performed immediately after exercise enhanced muscular recovery by restricting the inflammatory process.”

Another test undertaken by the University of Alicante and published in their Journal of Human Sport and Exercise found that, “post-exercise cryotherapy resulted in…greater preservation of isometric strength endurance when compared to the control condition”.

One study looked at recovery between two groups, one that was exposed to cryotherapy during recovery and one that was not. The results found that the group receiving cryotherapy “had significant improvements in all areas compared to the group that did not receive the cold therapy”

Following their initial use of cryotherapy, the Welsh Rugby Union have been using it frequently; even acquiring their own portable cryotherapy chamber in Cardiff. Welsh captain Sam Warburton has indicated that he believes that it allows players to train an extra day per week, which in the world of sport is a whole lot of extra training and the result is a far fitter athlete.

It was notable at the 2011 Rugby World Cup that Wales were significantly fitter than many of the other sides competing and many have put this down to the cryotherapy treatment that allowed them to train harder, for longer and more often.

The WRU also use cryotherapy to specifically target certain injuries – Sam Warburton was able to play in the 2012 Grand Slam game in Cardiff after undergoing extensive cryotherapy treatment in an attempt to recover from medial ligament damage.

The benefits of cryotherapy can be applied across a variety of medical conditions as an adjunct to physiotherapy treatments or in the case of sports performance allowing quicker recovery from training. Which in competitive sports can make a huge difference.

from: Cryoclinics.com

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Restorative #Yoga and #PTSD #MpowerDLife

If yoga can help a veteran with PTSD, could it help you?
Come try one of our yoga classes and see for yourself!

Time Out: The Rise of Sensory Deprivation Tanks #Floattherapy #MpowerDLife #WednesdayWisdom

Have you had a Float Therapy session yet?
Check out the below article and then schedule your appointment!

It's Monday! #MotivationalMonday #MpowerD #MpowerDLife

We are here to help! Happy Monday!

Class Schedule for May 22 to May 28 at MpowerD #yoga

Sign up for this week’s classes!
No matter what your level or ability, each class is customized to the student
AND all classes are limited to 6 to 9 students!

Benefits of Cryotherapy in Sports Recovery #MpowerD #MpowerDLife #FridayFreeze

Have you tried cryotherapy to help you in your workout recovery?
Contact us and we'll answer any of your questions.

Author

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Restorative #Yoga and #PTSD #MpowerDLife

If yoga can help a veteran with PTSD, could it help you?Come try one of our yoga classes and see for yourself!

Time Out: The Rise of Sensory Deprivation Tanks #Floattherapy #MpowerDLife #WednesdayWisdom

Have you had a Float Therapy session yet? Check out the below article and then schedule your appointment!

It's Monday! #MotivationalMonday #MpowerD #MpowerDLife

We are here to help! Happy Monday!

Class Schedule for May 22 to May 28 at MpowerD #yoga

Sign up for this week’s classes!No matter what your level or ability, each class is customized to the student AND all classes are limited to 6 to 9 students!

Benefits of Cryotherapy in Sports Recovery #MpowerD #MpowerDLife #FridayFreeze

Have you tried cryotherapy to help you in your workout recovery? Contact us and we'll answer any of your questions.

Author

Archives

Categories

If yoga can help a veteran with PTSD, could it help you?
Come try one of our yoga classes and see for yourself!

Have you had a Float Therapy session yet?
Check out the below article and then schedule your appointment!

Sign up for this week’s classes!
No matter what your level or ability, each class is customized to the student
AND all classes are limited to 6 to 9 students!

Have you tried cryotherapy to help you in your workout recovery?
Contact us and we'll answer any of your questions.