by Jasmine | Jul 28, 2017 | Yoga Therapy
A ROOT Awakening: Yoga Wall & Chill: The Ultimate “Hang Out”
Guest blogger: Elia Nikolaev, therapeuticvinyasayoga.com, @therapeuticvinyasa
A big thanks to Elia for sharing his expertise on the Yoga Wall System with the ROOT Tribe! Check out his bio below and learn about upcoming teacher trainings and future workshops through his website!
As a frequently intoxicated, insecure, and generally bewildered college student, yoga brought me relief from my existential anguish. I have grown tremendously through yoga and I can hardly imagine who or where I would be without the meaningful and authentic soul therapy of this practice.
Naturally, I decided to grow this passion and lifestyle through the path of becoming a yoga teacher. About one year into my teacher training journey, I became starkly aware of two mutually conflicting realities.
- How much students entrusted me with their well-being
- How little I knew about what can help them on their own journey
It was this moment that inspired me to expand my craft to the field yoga therapy. Yoga therapy challenged me to explore yoga on a deeper and more comprehensive level to support the full range of my students’ needs.
Shortly after, I stumbled upon BKS Iyengar’s yoga method, which is all about alignment. This method relies heavily on the standard props (blocks, belts, and bolsters), but there was one other prop that left me in awe. That prop was the Yoga Wall system.
The Yoga Wall (or as Iyengar called it “yoga kurunta,” which means “yoga puppetry”) was first designed by Mr. Iyengar to deepen his own personal practice (Click here for the full story). The ropes that harness you to the wall work by using gravity as a natural form of resistance to relieve the entire muscular-skeletal body of tension and pressure.
Most of us forget the effects gravity has on our body, especially over the span of a lifetime. In our modern world, we are confined to seated positions in our cars, at our jobs, in front of the TV, etc. Most people today are quite sedentary and, as a result, don’t get enough or proper movement in their lives. I’m not suggesting that sitting is the enemy, after all we all need rest to stay balanced. It is simply to point out the imbalances in posture and movement that our lifestyle imposes and how the yoga wall can be a marvelous remedy.
Safety: Tired of your joints feeling tired? When using the yoga wall, the body is securely harnessed to the wall which reduces the risk of injuries caused by some poses. The yoga wall also provides safer modifications for those of us with tighter bodies and limited range of motion, or lack of strength. Ever wanted to try a handstand, but were overcome with fear or simply didn’t think you had the physical strength? Well, with the yoga wall you can! You use the ropes to weightlessly hang and use the force of gravity to do all the work while you reap the benefits like spinal decompression, organ nourishment, and a quieter mind.
Therapeutic healing: Using the wall helps to unload our worn-out joints from their most common and harmful patterns of movement (think slouching a little too much or being a victim of “tech neck”). When you use the wall, you can distribute the weight-bearing elements of a certain pose in an un-habitual way. This is important to any level of student, whether one practices for specific therapeutic reasons like rehabbing from an injury or managing chronic pain symptoms, or to advance their current practice.
Shifting our habits is essential for our growth and healing and the wall gives you the freedom to really switch up your movements and give your joints some relief.
Self-awareness: Self-awareness is an essential component to yoga therapy. This is where we learn not just about our bodies, but also have the space to explore our personalities, strengths, weaknesses, thoughts and emotions. Most of us (especially those of us who are new to the practice) tend to be so focused on the instructions being given and have little opportunity to explore how we feel in any given pose. The Yoga Wall has a unique ability to meet us where we are in our practice which afford us the opportunity to pay closer attention to the physical, mental, and emotional sensations that are present. When we have the space to explore ourselves in this way, we can slow down and observe what it is that is continuously ailing us. The more we know about ourselves, the more control we have over how we respond to life’s challenges.
What is critical to always keep in mind, is that the human body is a whole complex network that is dependent on outside forces such as gravity to perform its normal functions. It is both humbling and empowering to know how interdependent and interconnected the whole ecosystem of life is. In the same way that we rely on our muscles to help us move, the Yoga Wall and other props play a vital role in supporting and guiding our bodies and souls as we experience yoga and its healing benefits.
Want to learn more about the Yoga Wall? Check out Elia’s website therapeuticvinyasayoga.com
Are you a teacher in the field wanting to expand your skill set? Join Elia for a 3-day Yoga Wall Teacher Training! CLICK HERE for details.
About Elia
Elia Nikolaev is a Certified Yoga Therapist living in San Diego, CA. He specializes in skillfully adapting classical yoga poses to The Yoga Wall System and works with all skill levels. Elia completed his first training in 2006 and in 2013, Elia attended an extended live-study at the Iyengar Institute in Pune, India. Elia’s training includes mentorships with Richard Freeman, Usha Devi of Rishikesh, Josh Vincent, Carolyn Belko and Rachel Krentzman, PT, E-RYT. Elia is also a graduate of the Clinical Yoga Therapy program at Loyola Marymount University, where he participated in a clinical internship program led by Dr. Larry Payne, Ph.D and Lori Rubenstein- Fazzio, DPT, C-IAYT. To see all the creative ways Elia uses the yoga wall, follow him on Instagram: @therapeuticvinyasa
by Jasmine | Jul 20, 2017 | Yoga Therapy
A ROOT Awakening: Pay Attention To Your Intention
How many times have we gone into a yoga class, sat with our hands at our hearts, and then were asked to “set an intention?” For years I would ignore this cue because I didn’t really understand the value of this part of the practice. Just like how I used to think meditation was an excuse for a nap, I regarded intention as some fluffy intangible thing that was not going to make my core stronger… or would it?
Most of us strive to be a better version of ourselves each day, but with all the distractions and demands of the day, it’s easy to fall off course. For example, how many times have you gotten sucked into Facebook or Instagram, then looked up at the time and realized five or ten minutes have gone by? If you’re smiling, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Now, if you intended to take that break with the intention of getting lost in the world of social media, you might feel pretty good about allowing your head to wander. But if you did not intend for that to happen, you might feel guilty, frustrated, and even ashamed.
When I first created ROOT Yoga Therapy, I had to peel away a lot of layers and ask myself a series of questions to clearly convey my message, my intention. As most of us know, yoga in the west is typically thought of and practiced as a form of physical fitness (yay for long lean muscles!) While there is nothing wrong with this type of practice, I knew that as a yoga therapist, I was going to face some challenges in:
- differentiating myself from what others were offering
- explaining my approach to potential clients and other healthcare professionals
- encouraging others to recommend and use this practice to heal and improve their quality of life
I knew discovering and setting my intention around my business was the key to understanding how to address these challenges, which projects to pursue, which stories to tell, and what type of community to build with the wonderful ROOT tribe. Now that I’ve found my intention – empowering habit change through yoga therapy – I can lead and create with authenticity.
So, the next time you’re asked 
to “set an intention” think about the power it can have in achieving all types of goals.
How setting an intention strengthens the heart of who we are and what we want to create
Clarity. Whether it’s mastering a certain yoga pose, moving through an ailment or striving for a promotion at work, the road can get bumpy. We might find ourselves pushing our limits (physical and mental) and sacrificing our free time to reach our goals. In these tough situations, it is common to get distracted and ask the age-old question “what am I doing” and “why am I doing this?’
Intentions offer answers for what we do and why we do them, which play a huge role in offering us clarity. It’s that clarity that keeps us connected and grounded. Without the clarity of our intention, we may lose motivation to carry out our goal. However, when we are clear on the why/when/where/how we are able to stay aligned with our purpose, making it easier for others to support and encourage you on your journey.
Confidence. When family and friends impart opinions, fears, and worry on our decisions, it can open the door for confusion to set in. Sometimes, the opinions of our loved ones are so persuasive that they lead us towards self-doubt. Having a clear intention instills confidence in our actions. When we are clear on our intention, we are not only more capable but our journey also becomes that much more powerful.
When I decided to leave my job to start my own business (a position many entrepreneurs find themselves in), I felt my own fears and worries as well as the fear and worry of those closest to me. Now, even though it’s normal and expected for our loved ones to caution us on the road ahead, it is important to not be dissuaded from what we feel will bring us true happiness. With a strong intention, it’s much easier to do a quick “gut-check” because we can take comfort in our purpose and believe in our path. And, if we are firmly aligned with this purpose, we are unshakable and unstoppable.
Community. Most of us have heard about the law of attraction which I like to call the “law of intention.” The law of attraction says, “you don’t attract what you want, rather you attract what you are.” Having a strong, clear intention allows us to fake it until we become it (as Amy Cuddy would say), which creates the space for the right people to come into your life. On the flip side, it will also make it clear for you to decide what relationships you no longer want in your life. When we build a community with a strong intention, we are surrounding ourselves with people who share common interests, goals, and values. Most of us have heard that there is power in numbers. Cultivating a group of like-minded souls brings more energy to our intention and offers us a sense of accountability.
Setting an intention guides us to take action and get results. There is no other way. We are 7.5 months into the year and the next 5.5 months are a blank slate. Ask yourself, what are you going to do differently moving forward? Is this day one or more like one day?
by Jasmine | Jul 14, 2017 | Yoga Therapy
ROOT Hero: Self-Care Starts With Living “Bellyful”
At ROOT, we believe that habit change is the pathway to transformation. We also believe that yoga therapy isn’t just what happens on the mat but how you choose to live your life. Living boldly and practicing self-care can come in many forms beyond physical movement. When the goal is awareness of mind, body and soul, everyone has their own path to forge.
This month’s ROOT Hero exemplifies just that.
Meet Connie Sintuvat, a brand manager, wife and mother of two living in Alameda, CA. From the outside, Connie’s life is quite full. Between a full-time job, her energetic and friggin’ adorable little boys, family visits back to LA, and travel, Connie seemingly has it all plus some. Upon closer observation, Connie realized something wasn’t quite right.
“I loved life, my boys, my blossoming career, but I began to struggle with my identity. Who am I really outside of work and being a mommy?”
This is an all too common struggle that many parents face but far too many never address. Finding a sense of purpose and nourishment that is purely their own – not for others – is essential to balance the ability to care for anyone else. That’s why flight-attendants always pester you to put your air-mask on before helping others.
Connie needed to focus on her personal happiness and not limit the pursuit of her passions because of her other demanding roles. When every second of the day is about caring for others, she had to set an intention to do something just for her. She needed to get to her root by finding a new routine that put self-care on the menu.
As a lifelong foodie, Connie decided to start feeding herself, literally, and created a food, travel and lifestyle blog – Bellyful Life! A mixture of family stories, mouthwatering recipes, pictures, local finds and adventures, Bellyful Life was the self-care that Connie was seeking.
We caught up with Connie to learn more about why Bellyful has provided her with the shake-up she needed: “It’s been 4.5 months, and each time I complete a post feels so cathartic for a few reasons:
The blog makes me feel like I’m doing something more than just work and being a mom- I’m actively pushing myself to seek delicious foods, which strengthens my passion for it
- I love when my community cheers me on in the form of a restaurant uses one of my photos to regram (like when Blue Bottle Coffee regrammed my waffle picture) or someone comments that they’ve loved my recipes
- And lastly, I now have a legacy of original and curated recipes to pass along to my boys – self-care for me leads to a true gift for them!”
But as it turns out, eating, traveling, and blog writing aren’t all donuts and dumplings. This new project also comes with bumps like managing her hectic schedule, burning the midnight oil to write, IT nightmares (don’t even get her started), and worrying if she has more pictures of food than her growing boys.
How does she ensure that this is still something that feeds her? Well, like any good yogi and ROOT Hero, she:
- Checks in with herself periodically to ensure she’s still doing this for the right reasons
- Sets accountability with a greater community of supporters to keep her on track
- Keeps going deeper – with each blog post she learns something new about social media or food, which keeps her pushing to the next level (think getting better at your headstand and deeper into your warrior II)
Thank you, Connie for being our ROOT Hero this month and inspiring us all to take on new projects and habits to heal and care for ourselves! You empowered yourself and proved that a full – bellyful – delicious and balanced life is ours for the making.
How would you practice self-care if you had an hour or two extra each week? What would you do that was 100% for you and your own enjoyment? Let us know in the comments below!
To learn more about Connie and her bellyful adventures:
About Connie
Connie is a full-time working mom of 2 young boys, Parker and Cooper, and wife to her high school sweetheart, Hsiang. A native Southern Californian, she moved to the Bay Area after completing her MBA at Cornell to pursue a career in Brand Management. Cooking, eating and adventuring to find great food are her passions and main source of inspiration for her blog, bellyfullife.com
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