Friday, June 19, 2020

Friday - Yoga for Sleep Hygiene

Yoga For Better Night Sleep

If you read my previous posts about yoga, you may have read that I have a 7 year old son with autism. I have come to find, in my own experiences that, yoga has really shifted my son's energy once done with a grounding yoga sequence. He usually tells me, "I'm tired now." It has been proven yoga can induce a better night sleep. My son and I rest so well after we do yoga before bed. 

Yoga is gentle, grounding, and restorative way to calm down your energy, preparing you for a good rest. Breathing and visualization is key here though! Take your time, listen to your breath, breath in a warm gentle divine light, and exhale everything which no longer serves you. Breath out the tension, annoyance, and negativity. Give yourself permission to rest and let go. You can breath in peace, relaxation, or anything you with. Anything that you think will help release stress and calm your energy. 

Typically, I like to pair my yoga and meditation with some calming stones such as: rose quartz, blue lace agate, blue calcite, selenite, amethyst, etc. I try to stay away from clear quartz at night because clear quartz is an enhancer of energy. It's ability is that, it amplifies and raises energy. At night, it typically wants to calm your energy. 

Well  hope that you enjoyed this post! Don't forget that my fellow yogis and I are host a GIVEAWAY! In order to eligible to win, you have to head over to Facebook or Instagram and follow @theJenn_barlow @alignwithariel , TAG @melmarieyoga , use HASHTAG #truthaboutyoga and #exposetoinform . The winner will receive a health based EO blend created by The Divine Crown LLC ( @the_divine_crown ) and an intention gemstone bracelet.  


Thursday, June 18, 2020

Thursday - Yoga For Pain Management

Yoga for Pain Management

The title is correct. Yoga can be done to manage pain! So yes, you can do yoga even when you feel pain in your body. It has been proven that yoga can help with fibromyalgia, migraines, arthritis, and many chronic pain conditions. The yoga postures can be modified as needed. "For someone with lower back pain, doing yoga weekly can increase mobility more than standard medical care",  according to a study done by Annals of Internal Medicine

"A meta-analysis of 17 studies that included more than 1,600 participants concluded that yoga can improve daily function among people with fibromyalgia osteoporosis-related curvature of the spine. Practicing yoga also improved mood and psychosocial well-being." - https://www.health.harvard.edu/alternative-and-complementary-medicine/yoga-for-pain-relief


It's proven that by doing yoga, can reduce pain when you combine a yoga sequence, breathing techniques, meditation, and visualizations. Google scholar is a great place where you can find these studies.

Restorative yoga would be best for someone with chronic pain. Using props is recommended and you can use as many props as you want and any kind you like. Anything that is comfortable to you. You also want to focus on your breathing and incorporate visualizations with your inhales and exhales. Restorative poses allow you to rest in a posture for more that like 5 minutes if you like. Allowing you to slowly breath and stretch out the area which is in pain. Adapt to any resistance you feel on the mat and work through it slowly. A restorative sequence can look different to everyone, but for you, here a simple sequence you can try: 1) Nest pose 2)Supported Bound Angel Pose 3) Supported Backbend Pose 4) Supported Forward Bend Pose - These are supported meaning, you use props.

Try it and let me know your thoughts! 

  • 📿 Remember that we are hosting a GIVEAWAY to those who interact with us. To be eligible to win, you must also follow @thejenn_barlow and @melmarieyoga on instagram 🌙 YOU MUST ALSO SHARE, REPOST, & TAG @melmarieyoga . Make sure you use hashtag #truthaboutyoga & #exposetoinform


🌒🌕🌘 The winner will receive a health based EO blend created by The Divine Crown LLC (@the_divine_crown ) and an intention gemstone bracelet! Other goodies may be added!

With so much gratitude,
Namaste,
Jennifer J. Barlow








Wednesday - Benefits of Yoga: Stress Reduction


Yoga For Stress Management

It has been well known that yoga can reduce stress. My last post really demonstrates that. What many people are not aware of, is that there have been research and studies done to actually prove that. Yoga is a great way to strengthen the prefrontal cortex of our brains, the part of the brain that, if depleted, stress occurs, as well as many other mental issues. This is why I stress that the brain and body should be treated as if separate. " What we think, we become. As within, so with out." According to hermeticism. This happens to be 100% accurate, and research shows that. 

Through breathing techniques, meditation, imagery, physical movement, and stretching, a daily practice of this can significantly reduce stress, with yoga being done once in the morning, during a break during the day, and then bed time. 

Yoga can instill within you: self-compassion, positive conscious and subconscious practices, and expansion of awareness. It relaxes and eases your nervous system. 

Right now, we all are in the need for stress management, and yoga can help you RIGHT NOW with that. I encourage you to explore the world of yoga and begin to live in peace with yourself, and with others. But the change begins with you. 


Have questions or just want to chat about yoga and stress management? Interact with me and my fellow yogi friends who are spreading awareness about the truth of yoga, and share what you have to say!


📿 Remember that we are hosting a GIVEAWAY to those who interact with us. To be eligible to win, you must also follow @thejenn_barlow and @melmarieyoga 🌙 YOU MUST ALSO SHARE, REPOST, & TAG @melmarieyoga . Make sure you use hashtag #truthaboutyoga & #exposetoinform

🌒🌕🌘 The winner will receive a health based EO blend created by The Divine Crown LLC (@the_divine_crown ) and an intention gemstone bracelet! Other goodies may be added!

With so much gratitude,
Namaste,
Jennifer



Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Tuesday: Mental Benefits of Yoga

Mental Benefits of Yoga


This week, I will be focusing on evidence based outcomes and benefits of Yoga. It is my hope that with this information, you can see how accessible self care and healing is through something that is inherit to you (movement, breath, and rest). Along with me hosting this challenge, is my yoga teacher and a yoga classmate of mine!

☕️ Feel free to brows our posts as we hope to educate, support, and inspire those who may be on the fence about trying mindful based movement and integrative self care.

- Today we focus on The Mental Benefits of Yoga.
Today's topic I'm becoming more and more passionate about because, it hits close to home for me. Between my autistic son (in the pictures), to witnessing the effects war does to the military, to depression running in my family, and suicides, my ears went up when my education of yoga began. "It only takes one family member to break ancestral debt. Clearing their entire blood line." - The Divine Crown LLC

- The need for stress management is extremely important, especially right now. So, I really wanted to share with you proven facts about yoga being a great tool for mind/body management. Let's begin.

- Stress is the number one focus here on this post. Stress kills and activates illness/disease in our bodies. Stress is what the brain does to itself and other parts of the body. Something that is perceived as a separation, threat, or challenge.

- A lot of organic factors come into play here. You've got your genetic factors (depression, autism, and the stress that comes from that), and added on factors such as work, life transitions, even this pandemic and more world wide chaos. These all create stress in the body which can result in illness or disease. But, it can be prevented if you listen to your body and work with it.

- The Cells in our bodies have jobs to do and they do a great job at trying to keep us healthy, but what can keep them from being their best, is if you constantly stress and constantly arouse certain parts of the brain which can weaken the prefrontal cortex. You need that part of your brain to be well and healthy so that you self regulate properly. If not, (this is where the military example comes in) you will not be able to mentally function properly. This is what happens to some military men and/or women who come home from war and because they were always feeling threatened, detached, stressing, and on high alert, in the flight or fight mode, they are constantly arousing parts of the brain that will actually weaken the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that helps you to adapt well to changes, the area of which you perceive the world, and your ability to make clear decisions will be thrown off. It goes offline when you go into that flight or fight mode. They come home and they still feel like they are in war, thinking that a soda can on the floor is actually an explosive.

- With all that, you have your hippocampus part of the brain that is then being depleted. This effects your memory and is said to be related to dementia (studies are still being done to see if there is a relation to how dementia comes about and this area of the brain). Your hippocampus becomes exhausted after so much stress. It wont regulate normal if your prefrontal cortex is always going offline.

- We need to start recognizing that the mind and body ARE NOT separate. Evidence has shown that the way we think, what we believe in, and our emotions influence our health. "Stress is like rust for our cells", my teacher once told me.

- We need to learn to adapt in a way that will influence out health in a positive way. When you look at plants, if one plant is suffering but the plant next to it is thriving, the unhealthy plant will naturally, little by little, move its roots to connect with the healthy plant. Even in the way that plants tend to lean toward vitality and life (the sun), they can recognize when they need help to survive and that's what we need to be doing and teaching our children, especially those with learning disabilities. What can they do to regulate in a positive way and deal with what Is going on around them.

- This takes me to my son with autism, and autism as a whole. You have a sensory overload when you have autism. This creates constant stress, and a study has shown that yoga has benefited those with autism after about the 25th session and being consistent. They showed an improvement of calming themselves, being able to stay on task longer, and making transitions easier (simply from going to one classroom to the next, like in school). A 3 year old with autism showed amazing progress only after about the 9th session. So I'm guessing the older the child, the longer it takes to see improvement, which makes sense. My son, has been doing yoga with me at home and I notice that after a few grounding poses, he's ready for rest and relaxation. His concentration during the movement is awesome and I know that he will be with me on this spiritual journey.

- Yoga takes you through Asana, breath work (relates directly to nervous system) , the mind (subconscious rewiring), teaches you to befriend and know your body, changing of your demeaner, teaches self awareness, rewiring of the subconscious (thickening prefrontal cortex), and ultimately leads to positive attachments and solutions. Studies show that yoga improves the way the brain functions and bonus, you become more in tune with your spirituality, however that looks and feels to you. This is why it is, after all, an ascension practice. (becoming one with yourself, inside and out, and your authenticity.)

-
Interact with me and share you experiences or, if you would like to add to this post!

📿 Remember that we are hosting a GIVEAWAY to those who interact with us. To be eligible to win, you must also follow @THEJENN_BARLOW and @ALIGNWITHARIEL

🌙 YOU MUST ALSO SHARE, REPOST, & TAG @melmarieyoga . Make sure you use hashtag #truthaboutyoga #exposetoinform

Example:
1) Follow (facebook or instagram) 2)tag 3) hashtags 4)Your questions/experiences DONE!

🌒🌕🌘 The winner will receive a health based EO blend created by The Divine Crown LLC (@the_divine_crown ) and an intention gemstone bracelet! Other goodies may be added!

#sanantoniotexas #sanantonioyoga #sanantonioyogi #yoga #210yogis #mentalhealth #mindfulness #wellness #yogaforautism #autismawareness #autismmama #autsim #mindbodywellness

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Monday - Yoga Research: The Structural Benefits of Yoga!

This week, I will be focusing on evidence based outcomes and benefits of Yoga. It is my hope that with this information, you can see how accessible self care and healing is through something that is inherit to you (movement, breath, and rest). Along with me hosting this challenge, is my yoga teacher and a yoga classmate of mine!

☕️Feel free to brows our posts as we hope to educate, support, and inspire those who may be on the fence about trying mindful based movement and integrative self care.

Today we focus on the structural benefits of yoga. Everything I post has been researched and proven to help your physical body. Great research articles can be found on Google Scholar.

Yoga can help those who suffer from:
- Cardiovascular based diseases
- Stroke, high lipids, high blood pressure, etc.
- Chronic respiratory illnesses
- Arthritis
- GI diseases ( diseases involving the gastrointestinal tract, namely the oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine and rectum, and the accessory organs of digestion, the liver, gallbladder, and pancreas.)
- Autoimmune diseases
- Diabetes
- And more ...

Did you know that stress can activate illness and disease in your body? Yoga is a practice which helps in reducing stress. Think of stress as rust for our cells.

" Yoga increases blood flow and levels of hemoglobin and red blood cells which allows for more oxygen to reach the body cells, enhancing their function.[5] Yoga also thins the blood which can decrease the risk of heart attack and stroke, as they are often caused by blood clots. Twisting poses wring out venous blood from internal organs and allow oxygenated blood to flow in when the twist is released. Inverted poses encourage venous blood flow from the legs and pelvis back to the heart and then pumped through the lungs where it becomes freshly oxygenated. Many studies show yoga lowers the resting heart rate, increases endurance, and can improve the maximum uptake and utilization of oxygen during exercise." -
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3193654/

The awesome thing with yoga is that, it teaches you to befriend your body and reclaim who you are! To be an advocate for yourself! What nourishes the body, also nourishes the mind and soul.

Interact with me and share you experiences or, if you would like to add to this post!

📿 Remember that we are hosting a GIVEAWAY to those who interact with us. To be eligible to win, you must also follow @THEJENN_BARLOW and @ALIGNWITHARIEL

🌙 YOU MUST ALSO SHARE, REPOST, & TAG @melmarieyoga . Make sure you use hashtag #truthaboutyoga #exposetoinform

Example:
1) Follow 2)tag 3) hashtags 4)Your questions/experiences DONE!

🌒🌕🌘 The winner will receive a health based EO blend created by The Divine Crown LLC (@the_divine_crown ) and an intention gemstone bracelet! Other goodies may be added!


#sanantoniotexas #sanantonioyoga #sanantonioyogi #yoga #210yogis #mentalhealth #mindfulness #wellness #yogaforautism #autismawareness #autismmama #autsim #mindbodywellness

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New Week - New Yoga Topics!

☀️
Good Monday friends and family, & Namaste! Last week you saw, I focused on debunking a lot of fear and access barriers around the sacred practice of Yoga. This week, I will be focusing on evidence based outcomes and benefits of Yoga. It is my hope that with this information, you can see how accessible self care and healing is through something that is inherit to you (movement, breath, and rest). Along with me hosting this challenge, is my yoga teacher and a yoga classmate of mine!

☕️Feel free to brows our posts as we hope to educate, support, and inspire those who may be on the fence about trying mindful based movement and integrative self care.

🧘‍♀️Throughout the week, this will be my focus:

🌊 Monday: Structural benefits and research
🔥 Tuesday: Mental benefits and research
🌬 Wednesday: Stress reduction
🌿 Thursday: Using yoga for pain management
🦋 Friday: Using yoga to improve sleep hygiene
🦚 Saturday: Yoga to help fatigue

📿 Remember that we are hosting a GIVEAWAY to those who interact with us. To be eligible to win, you must also follow @THEJENN_BARLOW ( Jennifer J. Barlow ) and @ALIGNWITHARIEL ( Ariel Katherine ) on here or on Instagram.

🌙 YOU MUST ALSO SHARE, REPOST, & TAG @melmarieyoga (Mel Marie Yoga ) either on here or Instagram. Make sure you use hashtag #truthaboutyoga #exposetoinform

Example:
1) Follow 2)tag 3) hashtags 4)Your questions/experiences DONE!

🌒🌕🌘 The winner will receive a health based EO blend created by The Divine Crown LLC (@the_divine_crown ) and an intention gemstone bracelet! Other goodies may be added!

Let's begin!

#sanantoniotexas #sanantonioyoga #sanantonioyogi #yoga #210yogis #mentalhealth #mindfulness #wellness #yogaforautism #autismawareness #autismmama #autsim

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