Finding Freedom with Yoga

Freedom with Yoga

Finding Freedom with Yoga is about welcoming new horizons. This changes how we feel about our Self, the world around us, our relationship to nature to community and with one another.

When we practice yoga we become more aware of how the diaphragm is at the centre of all we do and the part it plays in our mental and emotional health as well as the physical.  When we think of the diaphragm, we often imagine only the large muscle beneath the lungs, rising and falling with each breath.

And yet, the body is alive with many diaphragms— feet, thoracic, pelvic, shoulder, oral, vocal, cranial—each one a threshold of resonance, movement, flexibility and perception.

These diaphragms are not separate; they echo one another. The rooting of the pelvic diaphragm via the arches of the feet grounds the spine and legs, while the expansiveness of the thoracic diaphragm supports the core. The vocal and oral diaphragms shape the voice, the way we communicate and awaken self-expression via vocal tone, and the cranial diaphragm aid in opening pathways of perception, awareness and flexibility. When all are connected the central nervous system there is in homeostasis.

In cultivating the breath we illuminate the mind. In exploring these diaphragms we create an intricate web that unifies breath, movement, and consciousness. When they are awakened, the body finds strength without strain, freedom without collapse, and a deeper coordination that underlies both presence and expression.

When we are in touch with our breath we recognise the emotional tone of our day to day existence by simply becoming aware of the natural rhythm of our inner being. Maybe even noticing our own heartbeat, whether our breathing is choppy and the mind racing or whether the breath is rhythmic and smooth and there is a sense of being at ease.

Yoga offers time to choose, to pause, in the moment, to recognise what's happening in our own organism, to be still and notice the coolness of the inhalation in the nostrils. Can you do this now? Feel, lengthen and experience for a moment how this consciously, continually lengthened inhalation eventually and naturally elicits a long sighing out breath.

When the exhalation simply falls away, there lies a momentary pause before the next inhalation., Time to notice the cooling and slowing down of breath and mind. Overtime this practice leads to a better sense of connection to our inner being. It forms the foundation of awareness of beginning meditation, anapanasati, mindful breathing. Mindful, in this case meaning, breath as a single pointed focus for the mind.

And, when the mind wanders, we are now able to find breath as an anchor on which to rest our awareness. Alternatively, if this doesn't work for you, try sensing the weight in the feet, seat or hands, depending upon whether you are sitting, standing or lying down. This too may act as an anchor to enable us to draw the scattered mind within and for us to experience the inner dimension of our being.

So yoga, is not just about making postures.. Breathing practices, as well as meditation are integral to both a balanced body and balanced mind. They serve as a direct aid to improving our mental health, as well as to bring balance, ease and efficiency of movement to the physical body whilst helping to calm a very busy mind.

Come and see for yourself. Try one of the 90minute Immersive Workshops and discover the incredible depth of embodying diaphragmatic breathing and begin to recognise all seven diaphragms that affect the the spine and the legs, arms and core, as well as the oral and the vocal and perhaps even the cranial.

Immersive Workshops click for dates and venues

One to One to develop your own personal home practice with the support of a Yoga Elder

FREE Consultation over the phone to discuss your personal practice needs pivately

Weekly Classes to have a focus to a dedicated time each week to practice

FREE Class if you haven't tried a class with Kathryn come and see if this approach is for you

Thanks for inspiration to Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen (OT, RSMT, RSME) a movement artist researcher, educator and therapist and the developer of the Body-Mind Centering (BMC) approach.