my experience… my love

I am obsessed with the Vagus Nerve and the whole nervous system and how it relates to our movement, our health, our life.

I’m putting to practice regulating my nervous system to reduce chronic pain and stress, which creeps into my life, now and then. I’ll let you know how it’s going.

In my yoga teacher training and ongoing studies, I’ve learned a little about the vagus nerve, also known as the Wandering Nerve or the Vagabond Nerve. Its function affects our breath, our heart, eating and speaking, to list just a few of its responsibilities.

Like this nerve that wanders from the brain stem down and around our abdomen, I wandered over the years, coming and going to yoga many times. Like many people, yoga called to me in a time of stress in my early 50s. That’s when I started my regular practice.

I wanted to learn more about yoga and immerse myself in this amazing practice of balancing the body, mind, and spirit, so I signed up for teacher training. 

The Kripalu Yoga Teacher Certification training was outstanding. After 6 months of intense yoga training, I knew I had somehow, even with gentle movement, pushed my body past its limitations to the point of increasing aches, and pains from old injuries. I wanted to delve a little deeper into the anatomy of yoga.

The work of Susi Hately’s Functional Synergy, in Calgary, started the process of helping me unwind my body, and to learn to pay attention to the subtle physical whispers within it. I earned a Functional Synergy Certification in Therapeutic Yoga.

I learned how to move within my body’s range of movement, to bring more awareness to my natural way of breathing, and to come from a place of more stillness so that my pain was eliminated. I’ve taken Susi’s work and woven the principles into my teaching so that my students can access these wonderful benefits.

When I started teaching, I worked on creating a business that resonates with my values and beliefs with the help of Source Movement Yoga. I completed Marie Forleo’s B School for Marketing and was reminded again why knowing your values and purpose is key to loving what you do.

In 2017, after following Katy Bowman for a few years, I completed her 2-year Nutritious Movement Certification program to become a Restorative Exercise Specialist (RES). The big takeaway from Katy was to find ways to move more of you and more often throughout your day, in your everyday activities. I completed an additional 200 hours of training (2019) to re-certify as a RES. I did not re-certify in 2021. I’m opening up time for new opportunities for learning, creating, playing… Somatic Experiencing!

Over these last few years during Covid, I’ve included breathing practices and Insight Meditation before and after my classes.

 

Other interests that play into my yoga teaching…

I’m particularly interested in Lifestyle Interventions for Treating Persistent Pain – an approach to chronic pain that addresses the whole person – a bio-psycho-social approach. I see my personal practice and teaching evolving, including this natural way of living and healing.

I’m loving the Functional Medicine approach to whole-body health and letting it infuse my approach to teaching. We are a whole-body fix. Individual muscles are important to know about however I’m intrigued by Tom Myers’s fascial work and theory. As I approach 😉 my older years, nutrition becomes a main focus to feed my body, my muscles, my brain, my energy.

I’m a curious person and love delving deep into my yoga self-study practice which includes learning from meditation masters, other Restorative Exercise Specialists, neurobiomechanists, biomechanists, Somatic Experiencing, scientifically informed yoga teachers, and some not-so-scientifically based yoga teachers…

on & off the mat

my personal yoga experience

I’m helping myself, I think I can help you to0

we start with movement

when i’m not practicing yoga,

I like to…