Not My Job
Traditionally, we each had one primary physician: the person we depended on to have all the answers about our bodies and to “fix us” if we got sick or injured. This person often knew us from the time we were born and could be relied upon to intimately know our health history. In many ways, they could be looked to for a “fix” when things went wrong.
While our modern lifestyle and cultural shifts have made that type of old school medical care obsolete, many of us still operate from that mindset. We expect our General Physician to have all the answers, to know our bodies better than we do, and to take charge of our health.
Unfortunately, that model doesn’t work – and it’s unfair to both us and our doctor (or yoga instructor or massage therapist or personal trainer).
They can’t know our health history the way physicians of the past could; they simply have too much red tape, and pressure from payers, in the practice of modern medicine. Also, it’s not their responsibility to know what’s going on with us or to fix us when something’s off. No one can know our bodies the way we can, and to expect someone else to take charge of our health in that way is disempowering to us!
Ideally, health care is a collaboration, in which our innate wisdom of what we’re experiencing is met with their expertise. Most of us aren’t doctors, but showing up for medical care with basic knowledge about our bodies and mindfulness about what we’re experiencing fosters better care. It makes their job easier and empowers us to take charge our health & wellness journeys.
Hopefully, we will live much longer than the generations before us, but that also means that we have a greater responsibility to take care of all our parts. If we’re asking them to function – and function well! – for a longer period of time, it’s up to us to practice good maintenance. We don’t expect cars to run well for decades without significant investments of time, attention, and care for all their systems & parts – no matter how well they’re made! đ
One simple way to do this for our bodies is Yoga Teacher Training. YTT empowers us with basic knowledge of the body’s systems, parts, and functions. It helps us understand how it all works together – and provides accessible, realistic practices to keep ourselves healthy for the long haul.
Pain and injuries are an inevitable reality for most of us, especially if we’re active, over the course of our lives. The knowledge you gain from Yoga Teacher Training will not only empower you to prevent pain; it will also help you understand what happened – and address injuries if / when they occur.
No one else can take care of your health but you. No one else can fix you. We’ve got one in-person spot left in the 2021 YTT program. Claim it, and learn how to more fully inhabit – and take optimal care of – this amazing body you’ve been given!
For program details, click here – or email us here with specific questions.
Leigh-Ann Renz
Leigh-Ann has been practicing yoga since 1997 and teaching it since 2005. She is attracted to fluid vinyasa styles, including moon salutations, and loves to geek out about yoga “off the mat” – such as how the philosophies behind the physical postures can enrich our journey, both for ourselves and for others. She is honored to co-teach the 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training program at Waynesville Yoga Center, and loves facilitating healing services to the community. A writer, dancer, massage therapist, creative marketing nerd, and proud Mom, she can be found travelling, enjoying the rhythm of the seasons, or soaking up the natural world when not working.
A massive financial crisis; violent protests across the nation; a hyper divisive election season; and now another round of holidays, all while still dealing with the aforementioned crises. Whew. As my stepmother says “We’re all breathing the same air”, meaning that we’re all intimately connected and affect one another, whether we choose to recognize that or not.
The empowering thing is that, if we’re lucky, we can control ourselves. Those of us who have experienced deep suffering understand that even self-control is illusory! There are levels of pain that can strip us to the mercy of our experience, to pure survival, in which we cannot control our circumstances or even our response to them.
What is a Medicine vs. Dessert Philosophy and How Does it Apply to Yoga?
// Yoga helps you be more present in your body, and therefore better connected to your natural cues of hunger and fullness. Its calming effects on the nervous system make you less likely to binge or stress eat; and its detoxification effect on the kidneys, liver, and thyroid mean that youâre more likely to reach for unprocessed foods when you do eat.
faceâ; they were given very specific, isolated instructions, such as âlift your eyebrows up and towards the corners of your foreheadâ or âdraw the chin back and down 20%â.
// Anahata Mudra
// Padma (Lotus) Mudra
While we can express gratitude in any yoga pose, especially those in which we’re folding forward in a pose of surrender, there is actually an asana called “grateful pose”. From cow face pose (Gomukhasana), release the hands to the floor, folding over your legs and bringing your chin to (or past) your knees.
We normally think of the warrior poses as intense, fiery, challenging shapes – but any true warrior knows that there are times to employ humility and softness! Humble warrior can be very challenging for balance, but is a wonderful way to open the heart & shoulders, stretch the hips and inner thighs, and remind ourselves of the balance between hard and soft.
When we feel grateful, our hands instinctively go to our hearts. How many times have you felt a strong emotion of âTHANK YOU!â and found that your palms had unconsciously pressed together on their own? This spontaneous mudra is a perfect example of how our bodies, minds and emotions are vitally integrated.
A more gentle version is a reclining heart opener, in which you lie on a bolster, allowing the arms to extend out to the sides for a long, gentle stretch. The head and neck are supported by the bolster, and the legs are shaped around it in a way that is comfortable for the low back and hips.
For some of us, it brings on a feeling of change and contemplation. Where was I this time last year? Where do I want to be this time of year next year? And how do I get there- be it in regards to our mental health, physical well-being, habits, finances, relationships, etc.
In the summer of 2001, I was in Brooklyn for my cousinâs wedding. I had only been practicing for a few years and was somewhat obsessed with Cyndi Leeâs (now closed) Om Yoga studio.
