Yogis – HOW Kinesiology can help your practice!

 

I have the privilege of working with lots of yogis. Yoga teachers, training to be yoga teachers, self practicing yogis. I get them all. And I love it. I’ll tell you why…

In Kinesiology we often refer to the triangle of health. That is, we have an emotional/ mental side, a biochemical side and a physical/ structural side – AND everything is connected. Working with yogis helps me to acknowledge and appreciate the physical/ structural side of the triangle. Yogis have a different appreciation for it than I do. I’m much more geared to work with complicated emotions, but the power of Kinesiology lies in the fact that it is a holistic modality and we are holistic beings. So the physical is damn well important, these yogis remind me of this.

When we experience anything in life, a thought, an emotion, a feeling is generated. Quite simply a chemical reaction is set off inside the body and this is what makes us feel what we’re feeling. And so it is this chemical reaction that has a direct impact on our physical bodies. 

This is why over time we develop certain physical restraints – tight hips, tight hamstrings, lower back problems, the list goes on. It’s not just one thought or one experience that has created it, it is many thoughts creating the same chemical reaction inside the body. The body then talks to us via pain, or restraint. As we know, it is constantly talking to us.

Yoga teachers often refer to the hips holding emotion. From a Kinesiology perspective this is right on the money. The psoas muscle, is a key player in the group that makes up the hip flexors, (i.e. it’s responsible for allowing half pigeon to be a pain in the arse or a walk in the park). The psoas muscle in Traditional Chinese Medicine is connected to the Kidney meridian, which happens to sit inside the Water element. The Water element happens to relate to all things emotional and to things needing to end. Things needing to die off, to finish, to be put to rest so the energy can instead move on into the Wood element where transformation then occurs.

So here I am working with these yogis who complain of tight hips and not being able to do certain asanas. All the stretching and half pigeons in the world haven’t loosened them up. THEN we do a balance together. In the balance we look at the emotional subconscious component of why they’re potentially holding emotion there.

We identify what their story is, the story they are holding on to.

This got me thinking about disconnecting from the power of an old story. Using that power instead to create a new story.

‘Release trapped moments of time being continuously played in the system. Be mindful to the shrines you erect out of loyalty and devotion to your loss/ pain/ suffering.’ 

– Catherine Collautt, PH.D.

Recently I was talking to a dear friend, telling her about a particular past life reading I once had, saying ‘it all connects, don’t you think?’. She abruptly stopped me, (which she noted was for my own benefit in case someone was overhearing our conversation) and plainly said ‘Do you really want to identify with that story? It’s this life time, not that one. Sure things can come on through, but regardless, create your own story’.

I took her words on board. She was right. What story was I even identifying with? What shrine was I erecting? And how was this affecting my body?

Of late I have been receiving the most gorgeous feedback from clients stating that their practices have moved to a new level. Asanas that plagued them, that were part of ‘their story’ have shifted. They are able to experience themselves within their practice in a totally new way.

I’m writing this blog post with my yoga peeps in mind. If your hamstrings are tights, if your upper traps don’t allow you to chaturanga like you want, if your lower back is so tight your upward dog looks like a lazy stretch you use to get out of bed, then keep in mind a Kinesiology session.

At the end of the day everything is connected, it’s never just physical, it’s never just emotional. Start joining the dots and you might just see how your ‘story’ is in fact impacting your practice, and therefore your life.

Realise and release your story – and just watch those hips and hamstrings change.

If you’re the teeniest bit curious make sure you get along to our Yoga + Kinesiology workshop on Sunday March 30th.