what is yoga therapy

What is Yoga Therapy and who does it benefit?

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What is Yoga Therapy?

Empowering you with the self-knowledge and the “tools and techniques” to heal yourself, yoga therapy is fast-emerging as a leading therapeutic process that bridges the gap between complementary natural health-care and modern western medicine. Treating the mind, body, energetic body and spirit, it is both an art and a science that gives you the keys to your own self-healing.  Utilising ancient yogic models combined with an in-depth anatomical and physiological assessment, grounded in medical knowledge, the therapist invites the client to experientially create inspiring personalised home-practice programs that treat both the immediate pain/presenting symptoms and through this, enable a profound and insightful self-exploration that raises awareness of the links between the mental, physical and energetic symptoms and the root causes embedded in emotional blockages and lifestyle patterns in a liberating journey of self-discovery.

Incorporating therapeutic asana (postures), pranayama (breathwork), meditations and guided visualisations) and other yogic tools to deeply relax over-stimulated minds and nervous systems such as yoga nidra (yogic sleep) and restorative yoga,  the, the 1:1 sessions are grounded firmly in a clinically standardised, yet compassionate process which is goal-oriented and tailored to each individual’s lifestyle needs. So if 10 minutes in the morning is what works for you – your therapist will give you a written practice for you to do at your optimum time each day.  

Imagine that your yoga therapist is your own private taxi driver, yet you have the keys and can dictate how fast or slow you want to go. New generations of highly trained yoga therapists are graduating annually to raise the caliber of professional care. They are dedicated to accompanying you along YOUR preferred path of self-discovery, at every level of body, mind, spirit and heart:

On a physical level (in yogic terms: the Anamaya Kosha)

Your therapist aims to empower you to build confidence through conscious breath-led movements so that you feel safe and grounded in your body, and able to incrementally physical strength, enhance your flexibility, invite more spaciousness as needed.  As you develop trust in your own resources, you are able to dive deeper to the emotional issues and hidden causes that lie beneath the physical pain…. yet only when you are mentally ready to do so.  

On a mental level (in yogic terms: the Manomaya Kosha)

Your Yoga Therapist invites you to lead inner-exploration so that traumas can be revealed and delicate emotional matters can be gently explored only when you feel ready.  They seek to create a safe, non-judgmental space for you to observe the thought patterns and belief systems running through your mind and dictating your habitual actions and behaviours which can contribute to postural problems and/or energetic blockages.  Proven techniques, such as mindfulness meditation and guided visualisations, mantras and affirmations enable you to centre and calm.

On an energetic level (in yogic terms: the Pranamaya Kosha)

By connecting you to your breath, on which rides the “prana” (life force energy) you connect more deeply to your body and can create spaciousness, release muscular tension, which in turn frees the mental tension whilst optimizing the energetic pathways through asana (postures) and vinyasa (breath-synergised movement) sequences.

On an intuitive level (in yogic terms: the Vijnyanamaya Kosha)

Through body, mind, breath awareness, and awareness arise as you begin to connect to your “inner-compass”, intuition, or inner-guidance system resides.

All so you can feel good…. Naturally! In yogic terms: the Anandamaya Kosha is the bliss key that is turned on when you feel turned by experiences that uplift and inspire you, physically, emotionally or energetically.   Yoga therapy invites you to recognise what genuinely enables you to feel GOOD in life, to make the life choices, from work, to how you sit when you are driving, that optimize your health, happiness and holistic wellbeing.

Beginning with an in-depth health questionnaire, the first session begins with assessing postural issues (such as stiff necks and frozen shoulders from too much time at the lap-top or on the mobile phone), continues with reviewing breathing patterns that reveal energetic and emotional blockages.  All whilst encouraging you, as the client, to self-observe so that you can become aware of “links” between mental, physical and emotional issues, and to feedback, throughout your journey together, on what triggers pain and discomfort, both on the mat and in daily life so that you can make healing choices that enable you to experience more positive states of rest, rejuvenation and release.

Yoga Therapy is good for you if you:

Are anxious, highly stressed, suffer from panic attacks, are depressed or overwhelmed and are seeking holistic solutions to create more balance, calm and a lasting sense of control in your life.

Have a functional illness such as fibromyalgia, auto-immune related conditions, IBS, Fertility concerns, and have been to many different specialists without being able to diagnose or find proper treatment for your condition

Have asthma or breathing difficulties

Are in recovery from Cancer or other long-term illnesses

Want to replace “props” such as caffeine, painkillers, sugar, alcohol with proven body-mind relaxation and energy rejuvenation techniques

Have been experiencing recurring pain in your body ie: lower-back or sciatica, without being able to find the right treatment.

Feel regularly exhausted and lack the energy to embrace exercise or have physical ailments, chronic conditions or injuries that prevent you from joining group / yoga classes.

Wish to create a carefully facilitated bridge from dependency on prescription drugs ie: anti-depressants

Are ready to commit to a program of self-led practice, designed to suit your lifestyle, and can embrace your innate ability to heal yourself

 Yoga therapy is goal oriented, working with your short and long term Sankalpa (intentions) and goals, which are reviewed at each session to focus on the present needs. 1 session offers a powerful springboard into new levels of self-awareness, yet with 3 – 5 weekly / bi-weekly sessions to shape and sculpt your practice to complement and enhance your life-style and bring you the benefits you seek.

stimulant sober

Thinking about going ‘Stimulant Sober?’

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Join me on my Seven Day Challenge…

By Susie Howell, Co-Director of Ibiza Retreats

On the first day of the year, I made the decision to go ‘Alcohol Sober’ for January, to honour the end of what had unexpectedly turned out to be a really tough year for me. I decided that what I needed was to embrace the New Year and the new decade with clarity and focus!  And I must admit, throughout the long month of January, this decision has helped me to feel clear, calm and newly positive; so much so, that I am considering extending my abstinence as long as it continues to feel good for me.

Of course, exercise, healthy diet and plenty of sleep are factors that are also contributing to my Feel Good factor, as part of my self-care routine and holistic wellbeing, but this month of abstinence has given me food for thought.

It’s not that I felt I was drinking too much necessarily,  although having an active toddler combined with all the availability of the Christmas indulgences, it felt more like I was finding myself reaching for, let’s call it, “a something” on a more regular basis.

During my January month of alcohol abstinence, I’ve now noticed that “the something” I reach for has switched to the odd coffee or a black tea. And whilst caffeine is not an alcoholic drink, or nicotine or drugs, it is still a stimulant or “a fix” of sorts that I am using to change something in this moment.

It feels like something to reward, distract, divert or suppress a feeling or emotion and which offers that sense of instant gratification. Life ‘stuff’ happens, it ebbs and it flows and there are the inevitable ups and downs along the road, but I wanted to explore this pattern a little more closely.

For me, it’s less about the stimulant itself, but more about the intention behind it.

And here’s the science bit. Dopamine is known as the feel-good neuro-transmitter. This is the chemical which the brain releases when we eat food we crave and have sex. It is even released when we receive positive messages or social media feedback or undertake in any generally pleasurable activities. It gives us feelings of satisfaction and it’s linked to indulgent and addictive behaviours and patterns. Just so dopamine doesn’t get a bad press – it’s very necessary in us as it’s responsible for motivation, mood, attention and it also helps regulate movement, learning and even emotional responses.

So these “somethings” or stimulants literally take you out of your body and into your head.

Dopamine is active in the frontal cortex of the brain as well as the limbic (or reptilian) brain which in turn, sets off our fight, flight or freeze response. It stimulates the sympathetic side of our autonomic nervous system. Once the fight, flight or freeze response if activated = less patience = reactivity = anxiety = for example, lack of trust. In every day life this translates as living our lives in a state of constant reactivity and flux. That’s not the goal we really want in our day to day life – and it’s ultimately very draining living in this constantly ‘hocked up’ state!

So I would like to offer you to take part in the Seven Day Challenge with me.

First up in the challenge is the removal of caffeine! I’d love to know how you get on and what you notice during the week. Any positive affects or any observations…? Let’s talk about it!

So what can you do instead? How can we increase our Dopamine levels naturally?

  • Your diet! Eat foods rich in Tyrosine. In order to make dopamine, your body needs tyrosine which can be found in almonds, bananas, avocados, eggs and beans for example
  • Exercise – only 30 mins a day can boost your mood exponentially. This doesn’t mean an expensive gym membership – just get outside! Walk, cycle, hike in nature, take a yoga or pilates class – just bring daily movement into your life!
  • Undertake a meditation practice. Meditation improves dopamine. Fact. Check out our Ibiza Retreats Soundcloud page for Guided Meditations by our very own Larah Davis, or check our my favourite app Insight Timer, which has the best content of all the online meditation apps.
  • Prioritise sleep. This is the time when our body can rest, repair, regulate and regenerate and those all-important neuro pathways are repaired and renewed.
  • Listen to calming music. It’s a cliché, but it works! You can try this in conjunction with a deeply restorative yoga pose;  Viparita Karani  – or to put it simply, it’s just legs up the wall as the direct translation! This is a favourite of ours at Ibiza Retreats – and it really works! Lie down on the floor, facing a wall, on your back with your bum as close to the skirting board  / floor to ceiling join as possible. Shuffle your bottom up against the wall until it is as close to the wall as possible, with your legs up against the wall. And breathe…slowly, deeply, keeping your legs vertical, resting against the wall. This is a game-changing pose – it’s my ‘Go To’ restorative asana.
  • Add nutrients and supplements into your self-care routine. For example the nutrients  iron, niacin, folate, the B vitamin family and magnesium and the supplements Ashwaganda , curcuma, oregano extract and (caffeine free!) green tea have all been linked to increased dopamine production. You can have a blood test to determine if you are deficient in any of these. Add a high quality pro-biotic to keep the gut (the second brain) in tip-top health.

If you’d like to learn more about topics like this and how to make those big life changes, that will optimise your physical and emotional wellbeing join us in 2020 for one of our carefully curated yoga and holistic wellbeing retreats.

Here is a link to our full calendar … and we are offering 10% off for retreats booked before February 14th – which we are taking the liberty to re-frame as the day of…

LOVE AND SELF-LOVE!

You can email info@ibizaretreats.com for more information, or call us if you want to chat to a friendly human voice for all the details on 0034 663 093 499.

Help! I’m having a Yogic Block!

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By Sarah Oliver – Ibiza Retreats Manager

It’s that time of year when it can feel way more challenging than usual to carve out time for your practice – even when you know that you really should and that your body will feel so much better if you do…

What is a ‘Yogic Block’?

Well, it can take many forms… and it can happen when you least expect it. Rubbish weather, feeling sluggish or tired and lacking motivation, a Yogic block looks like this;

“I just can’t seem to find the time for my practice – I haven’t done yoga for days…(or weeks!)”

 

“I book myself in for classes but something always crops up and I don’t get there…”

 

“I set aside time for some breathing exercises and meditation or for reading complimentary studies to advance my practice, but I just end up watching Netflix….”

 

This is something I feel will resonate with many of you!

It’s February, and even though the long weeks of January are behind us, for many of us in the Western hemisphere the weather is still veering from cold and windy to absolutely blisteringly freezing. The hours of daylight still feel too short and in no time at all, after work, kids, general stuff that I like to call ‘Life Admin’, the evening has drawn in and it’s all too tempting to get on the sofa and call it a day.

Even here in Ibiza, where we’ve been lucky enough to still have some very welcome afternoons of sunshine, the hours of daylight are much shorter and the evenings have been very cold and windy. Also, Ibiza has quite a transient community, where many people head off to sunnier climes in the Winter months – it honestly feels like half of Ibiza (or at least those who don’t have kids of school age) are in India, Sri Lanka or Mexico right now!

I’ve definitely been fighting off my own Yogic Block in the past couple of weeks. My partner is away in the UK on business, so my routine is very different from normal. I foolishly thought I’d have lots of extra time for practice, for study and for trying out new classes and teachers.

The reality has been a daily battle to organise and motivate myself to fit in my practice around work, the school run and pick-up for my daughter, ensuring she and all the household animals are fed plus a multitude of extra household tasks, that are normally shared between us, to keep the cogs of the family wheel turning.
Also, in Ibiza it is fairly rare to have central heating. Good heavens! I had no idea how much time I would have to devote per day to cleaning out the fireplace, bringing wood in, building the fire – only for it to quickly go out again if its not continually tended to. (I’m beginning to compare my essential evening fire to a needy child or demanding boss – it takes up that much physical energy and attention!)

So I thought I’d share some tips that have helped me – pretty much – keep my practice on track.

1. Plan your week’s practice. Are you planning some classes or will your practice all be at home? Check out the days and times of classes you would like to attend and put them in your diary. Let the teacher know you are going to attend – this is a really good nudge to get you there, as we all know how rude it is if you tell a teacher to save you and space and that you will definitely be there, only to not show up – possibly taking a space for someone else. Yes, I’m suggesting you guilt yourself into going!

2. If you are planning on attending a morning class, get all your stuff ready the night before. Get your gear together, lay your yoga pants out, fill your water bottle, make sure your car-keys are where you expect them to be and if necessary make sure you have the cash for the class. If you have to stop at the petrol station or a cash point in the morning, you’re giving yourself a ‘get-out’ clause. Basically, prepare all the things that could potentially stop you going!

3. If you are planning to go to a class later in the day, or on the way home from work, prepare all the above and have it in your car. Then, get a piece of paper or a nice bright post-it note, write the following on it and stick it on your dashboard;

“No one ever said “Oh I wish I’d skipped Yoga today..’”

(If you feel that might not be motivational enough, you can play around with the words. I find ‘JUST GO TO YOGA, YOU STIFF, ACHEY LOSER!” also works when I’m being particularly lazy.)

4. If you are planning on practising at home, keep your mat somewhere where you can see it. Don’t put it in a cupboard or leave it in the boot of your car. Keep it somewhere where it can’t be ignored. If possible, roll it out ready for action. It doesn’t matter if your cats or dogs spend more time lying on it than you do – as long as you get onto it at some point.

5. Home practice requires a bit of its own discipline, so plan your practice beforehand. It can be quite demoralising if you get to your mat, with all your gear on and your blocks and strap ready for action, then you realise you don’t really have a practice planned. When you are actually having some sofa time, maybe the night before, have a browse through the gazillions of websites that have online practices you can follow. Save a variety of practice types – energising morning flow / soft, grounding yin – depending on what time of day you’ve booked yourself in for time with your mat. I love gaia.com or DoYouYoga.com. Some sites have small monthly subscriptions, but if you’re going to be committed (which of course you are!) they work out as great value, and most have plenty of free sequences to follow.

6. Another great investment I have made for my home practice has been Yoga Cards by WorkoutLabs. You can buy them online and they are basically decks of cards with over 100 asanas, with detailed instructions, tips and prompts so you can build your own sequences. They also have pre-formatted guided sequences of different types that you can lay out next to your mat and follow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Make your mat feel inviting! Light a candle and some incense. Choose a soundtrack for your practice. There are some brilliant Yoga playlists on Spotify, or you are welcome to use my playlist I put together that has a lovely flow to see you from gently awakening of the spine, through a flowing vinyasa practice and finishing with some delicious mantras for Sivasana. Arrange some crystals around your area and make the space feel sacred and inspiring; this is where you are coming to honour yourself and your practice, so give the space the respect it deserves and that you deserve.

I hope some of these tips will help you to keep to your practice during the dark Winter months. Remember – just showing up to your mat every day is enough! Even if all you manage is Child’s pose, some Cat / Cows, then a lengthy Sivasana, from a simple start, this regular habit will grow and the more you show up, the easier it becomes to make this regular practice your very own daily sanctuary.

What does ‘vulnerability’ mean to you?

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By Larah Davis, Founder and Co-Director of Ibiza Retreats.

In one of our retreats I asked this question of our beautiful group of sensitive and courageous women;
What does vulnerability mean to you?
The words that came back were swift and clear:
“Frightening”
“Weakness”
“Fear”
And we all nodded.  Because all of us, all thirteen of us sitting in the circle, could understand and relate to these feelings.  We collectively remembered times in our lives when we had desperately wanted to be able to express our pain, our deepest worries and insecurities, but we feared we would be exposed, ridiculed and perhaps even shamed.
Yet we were also there, together as warriors on this retreat; warriors who so deeply needed to put down our swords, release the tension in our shoulders from holding up our shields, to rest and stop fighting to ‘keep everything together.’
Whether we were keeping up an act of being strong, “sorted” and successful, or we were pretending to be happy in relationships or career paths that no longer served us, we all agreed that this was completely exhausting. So much tension, stress and pain is generated through being constantly ‘on’ in warrior mode, which leads to emotional and energetic depletion.
And so, as I asked them about how resting the warrior would feel……  we explored the state of “ahhhhhhhhhhh”.  We smiled as we shared the deep sense of release this would bring.
And when we release, when we dare to let go, to crumble, fall or “fail” we stop trying so hard to live up to the expectations of others. We start to put ourselves, our physical and emotional health first, rather than leaving it an after-thought that we hope to attend to some day.
And when we stop, we all agreed, we can step back from the stress of pushing ourselves to survive and succeed in ways that we thought we should do.
Instead, we can rest.  And when we can rest, our inner-wise woman can speak.  As she speaks, when we are still and quiet enough, we can hear her.
And here, in this apparently vulnerable place of stillness and rest, we can tap in to our deepest source of power: our intuition.  We can listen to our inner-guidance system and await the information to direct our lives in a way that truly serves our highest good. A highest good that can and will enable happiness, health and unveil the magic of life in all of its true colours.
Sitting in circle, breathing together, moving together, intending together, sharing together, revealing our vulnerabilities in a safe, secure space, we remembered how it should feel to be at one with ourselves.
Our vulnerability – when we can allow ourselves to sit with it – can ultimately be our hidden source of power.
So come together, cry together, share together – find others who you connect to and who feel, hear and see you and ensure you regularly, as a priority, create time to be TRUE to you.  To allow your deeper vulnerabilities to show in ways that you never knew you could,  and with people that you will intrinsically know you can trust.
And through this…. you can unlock the doorway to a life path that you are the director of – a life that empowers and inspires you.

Sensual Sacred Island Spots

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