Before I begin, let me be clear, I am not an expert in yoga, mindfulness or mediation. That being said, I am a Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner. This means that according to the International Chiropractic Association, I am an expert in all things that cause stress to the human body, how the body adapts to those stressors and what drives the body away from health and towards disease. With these ideas in mind, I want to talk with you about why I believe having a yoga practice is a must for anyone looking to live a long, injury free life.
Three years ago, myself and two of my neighbors started meeting in a garage at 5:15 AM in order to do some weight lifting and 30 minutes of yoga. We used an app called Yoga Studio which can be purchased through the App Store and acts as your guide. We liked the app because it allowed us to customize our routine in intensity, the types of poses and length of the session. We dubbed this morning workout which we completed on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays as “Groga” (this is not a typo). The reason for this was we were practicing yoga, it was done in a garage and we were always incredibly groggy (haha).
As a life long athlete and someone who played division one college athletics, I have always been extremely tight. I was never able to touch my toes, extend my spine backwards very far or stretch my extremities for fear of cramping up. That being said, although the initial few months of my “Groga” practice was difficult and mainly uncomfortable, I began to notice some enormous changes in the flexibility of my body. I also fell in love with the way my body felt after completing a session.
My favorite part of doing yoga was the time at the end of the session when your body is fatigued, you are completely focused on the movements and you have stopped thinking about your to do list. I loved coming into present time consciousness by completing the session with a guided meditation. Albeit in the beginning I really struggled with clearing my thoughts, and still to this day struggle continue to have challenge with this from time to time, I was able to progressively improve how quickly and deeply I was able to meditate.
The practice of yoga for me eliminated two of the most common stressors that lead to disease as we age. The first is a lack of movement of the whole body. Typically as we age, we become tighter and tighter, making us more and more injury susceptible. The second is a toxic amount of stressful thoughts. By clearing my mind and body at the beginning and end of the work week, I felt mentally so much more equipped to effectively make decisions and deal with the week in and week out challenges associated with my family, practice, etc.
For these reasons I am pleased to announce that on Monday Jun10th at 12:30 pm and on Wednesday, June 12th at 6:30 pm Aligned Life Chiropractic and Wellness will be officially offering a YOGA program! I strongly encourage you to attend one of the first two classes as these will be offered at no charge! The classes will take place in the Aligned Life facility and will be run by our office manager, Dannah Brehm. All classes will be capped at 15 people so please email alignedlifewellness@gmail.com or call (858)312-5066 to confirm your attendance. Drop in classes, 5 pack and 10 pack programs will be available for anyone who would like to continue their yoga practice after their initial trial class. Please keep in mind, ALL experience levels are encouraged to attend including chair yoga. You are in a completely safe space, without ego and without judgement. The only requirement is to be brave enough to come to your first class! Classes will last one hour. If you have your own mat, please bring it with you. If you forget your mat or don’t have one yet, we have you covered. I cannot wait for you to join me and the other Aligned Life staff at the office on the yoga mat! Namaste!
