Blog | School of Gentle Yoga

Form Ever Follows Function

October 31, 2017 By Dannette Mason

Life is recognizable through expression. And all expressions are essential to experience this life fully. If we have an absolute idea of how something is supposed to be expressed, we limit the possibility and freedom of expression. And in doing so, we impose limits on ourselves and others.

There is a tribe of people in Namibia that has no word in their language for the color blue. This tribe of people lives off the land, and has many words for colors that reflect the landscape of their home and lives, like green for instance. They have many words for the color green. But beyond the sky, there is little in nature that this tribe relies on to survive that is the color of blue. So not only do they not have a word for blue, they struggle to, or do not even see the color of blue. And yet their lives are joyful, and fully expressed, as the form of their language and vision follows the function of their culture and lives.

And our yoga practice can be the very same – joyful and fully expressed through our own personal needs, expressions, and desires. If it is a desire to master headstand, then follow that desire by whatever means serves you. Maybe your constitution requires a step-by-step guide, with a partner or teacher there to support you. Or maybe your constitution allows for more free form and play as you explore bringing your body into the intended shape. The form will come when you allow the function of the exploration to be in alignment with your true nature.

The many practices of Yoga are intended to resolve and undo patterns of constriction and behaviors that prevent us from being in the highest expression of ourselves – our true nature. And that is a very personal journey. An abundance of space is needed for exploration and inquiry.

This is precisely why strict alignment cues and hands-on adjustments are not emphasized at the School of Gentle Yoga. As Leslie Kaminoff, author of Yoga Anatomy, is known for saying, we simply cannot take the intention of the practice out of the context of the body and constitution.

To say your heels must reach the floor in downward facing dog is similar to saying every river must flow north to south. And leads down a slippery slop of “should’s” and “shouldn’ts,” “always” and “never,” “right” and “wrong” philosophy that creates contraction in the most subtle layers of our bodies. In order to be doing something right, there must be the possibility of getting it wrong, and if you are absolute in your righteousness, it’s likely because you have sought and found evidence for it by making someone/something else wrong.

That form ever follows function is our guiding principle at School of Gentle Yoga. Not because it is best, or right, or the truest path, but because it is the path that allows for grace in every moment. And it allows for exploration and self-discovery. It allows for our innate gentleness to filter through, which influences our every action, thought, relationship, and the culture of our lives. Some people simply cannot yet see gentle, because it is not in their nature, or culture, to do so. Here, gentle is the foundation of our form, and the function of our lives.

Restorative Yoga for Migraines and Fatigue

September 11, 2015 By Dannette Mason

Guest Blog post by School of Gentle Yoga student, writer, creative, and yogi, Courtney Amber Kilian.

Yoga for Migraines

In this research process, I discovered an amazing resource on migraines, migraineagain.com, which had an article about the structure of the brain changing every time someone suffers with a migraine, killing cells, which leads to earlier dementia. In addition to the often debilitating pain of migraines, this is a shocking and important reason to take action in pursuing as many preventive options as possible.

Yoga can be utilized as a prescription for many ailments including reducing stress, tension and migraine headaches. In a study published in the International Journal of Yoga, chronic migraine sufferers who practiced yoga therapy focusing on gentle, relaxing poses for 30 minutes five times a week for six weeks reported significantly fewer episodes and less intense symptoms. While aerobic exercise can be great for less frequent and intense migraines, it can actually provoke and make them worse. Yoga is a mild alternative, which can decrease occurrence and improve symptoms as it quiets the nervous system.

In addition to a gentle yoga practice, a study in Headache cites that meditation, particularly Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Meditation, practiced for half an hour per day can relieve the intensity and duration of migraines by an average of three hours. The practice also granted practitioners a sense of control over their pain, and potential to reinterpret pain. In the teacher training for The School of Gentle Yoga, Dannette Mason speaks of redefining our tension and pain, visualizing tension as nothing more than a ball of energy that needs to be dissipated and smoothed out—and yoga grants us the key to doing this.

In addition to yoga and meditation, migraine sufferers can cut out allergenic foods such as refined or artificial sugar, gluten, soy, and dairy. Drinking plenty of water and taking magnesium helps refresh and replenish the system. Knowing that each and every migraine has a (mostly) permanent effect on brain structure, the best thing a sufferer can do is start writing down patterns—including food, environment, and location in menstrual cycle—to determine triggers. Migraineagain.com offers an excellent calendar to track headaches and triggers, and shows the importance of learning as much as one can about their own symptoms and causes.

Yoga offers a hopeful and exciting answer for relieving and preventing headaches and migraines by:

Improving circulation
Reducing pain and stress
Releasing muscular tension which improves blood flow
Improving skeletal structural alignment
Balancing the endocrine (glands that produce hormones that regulate metabolism, growth and development, tissue function, sexual function, reproduction, sleep, and mood, among other things) and nervous systems
Bringing oxygen and blood flow to the brain (because we live predominantly with our blood moving downward and pooling toward our feet, yoga reverses that flow and allows it to move in the opposite direction)
Allowing us to tune into our muscles and breath

Preventive Practice:

As a preventive practice, practicing yoga once or twice a week will build muscle memory and teach you poses to keep your arsenal when feeling an oncoming headache. A more dedicated suggestion is to practice every morning, holding each pose for up to one minute, focusing on breathing, and repeating 2-4 times. After consulting different sources, below is a list of the best preventive poses to work into your practice:

Pranayama Breathing
Child’s pose
Puppy Dog
Cat pose
Down Dog
Wide angle standing forward bend
Standing forward fold
Janusirsasana – head to knee forward fold (one leg tucked in, do on each side)
Seated forward bend
Seated twist – Half Lord of the Fishes
Seated Eagle
Upward facing dog
Bridge
Legs up the wall
Knees to Chest
Savasana

Additional Important Notes When Creating a Migraine Prescription Practice:

Integrate Restorative Yoga poses, as they both relieve and prevent headaches. They grant the body a state of complete rest to restore balance, release tension in the shoulders, and to ease estrogen and serotonin levels, which regulate the size of blood vessels.
Inversions regulate the blood flow in and around the head, preventing constriction and dilation of the blood vessels (exactly what caffeine and some medications do).

Prescriptive Yoga for An Occurring Migraine or Tension Headache:

If you already have a migraine, movement can make it worse, so Restorative Yoga is the best practice option. Here are poses and tips of note:

Legs up the wall, up to 10min
- Props: cover eyes with cool compress or eye pillow
Reclining Bound Angle
- Props: eye pillow, bolster, up to 3 blocks (propping up bolster and one under each knee for support)
Supported Bridge Pose – restorative inversion that stretches the muscles of the neck and back helping to relieve the pain and discomfort brought on by headaches. Use this pose both for prevention or to stop an impending headache. 10-15min
- Props: 1 bolster or thick blanket; Eye pillow; Optional blanket for body
Supported Seated Forward Bend
- Props: Bolster; 1-2 blankets; Pillow
Corpse pose
If activity tends to aggravate your headaches, keep your head above your heart.
Child’s pose (regular or bolster supported) – When feel shoulder muscles tensing up, neck aching and pain rising up the base of your skull, take to this pose.

Restorative Yoga for Fatigue

Restorative Yoga is an excellent solution for adrenal fatigue and to rest the body as it is soothing to the senses and allows you to turn your attention inward toward the breath and hidden tension. The practice also decreases anxiety and calms the stress-induced flight-or-fight response. With each pose, allow yourself to relax into the posture, your body to sink in, allowing gravity to take over, and give into stillness and calmness to activate your parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for rest and digest activities, and is out of balance if you are adrenally fatigued. With its balance comes good digestion, sleep, a healthy immune system, and a general feeling of relaxed calmness. When fatigued, a vigorous, dynamic practice can be very depleting, just like taking a shot of caffeine—your body’s energy bank account only has so much for you to withdrawal before it needs to be replenished. For those suffering from chronic fatigue, practice restorative poses daily in a warm, dark, quiet atmosphere. The following is a short restorative series to calm the mind and shut down the adrenals:

Supported Sukhasana (Easy Pose)Forward Bend — rest forehead and arms on a padded chair seat (stack folded blankets until you reach a comfortable height).
Benefits: releases tension in the back and neck muscles; calming; supported forward bends quiet the mind and body; provides reprieve from overstimulation by turning attention of the brain and senses of perception inward. In other supported forward bends when using bolsters and blankets to support the organs in the frontal body, the back of the body and kidneys relax and spread, further relieving tension.
Variations: If legs are not too tight, extend one or both legs; raise pelvis on one to three folded blankets.
Viparita Karani (Legs Up the Wall) – elevate pelvis on a bolster or folded blankets.
Benefits: stimulates baroreceptors (blood pressure sensors) in the neck and upper chest, triggering reflexes that reduce nerve input into the adrenal glands, slows the heart rate and brain waves, relaxes blood vessels, and reduces the amount of norepinephrine circulating in the bloodstream. Inversions provide support for all of the body’s systems, especially the immune and endocrine systems, helping address various kinds of hormonal issues like adrenal fatigue. Inversions give the heart a rest from its effort to pump blood to the brain and let gravity help refresh the legs and lower body from heaviness and vascular stagnation.
Variations: If legs tire being straight, bend knees and cross legs, with knees near the wall.
Supported Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose) — support on a bolster or long, folded blankets.
Benefits: stimulates the baroreceptors, so has many of the same effects as Viparita Karani; relieves tension in the chest and front body; prepares lungs for breathing practice; broadens and lifts the chest and frontal diaphragm away from the lower body; encourages inhalation to expand outward and upward toward the top chest, bringing lightness, while the abdomen can flow downward and soften on the exhalation.
Savasana (Corpse Pose) — with normal inhalation and long, slow exhalation.
Benefits: allows complete relaxation in a neutral position; emphasis on exhalation slows the heart and calms the mind.

Sources:

About the Author

Courtney Amber Kilian is a writer, creative, and yogi based in Southern California. She’s worked with Native American tribal communities following the southern California fires, volunteered on organic family farms in Costa Rica, and earned her MFA from UCSD, where she received writing grants to conduct research in Spain. She is currently a student in the School of Gentle Yoga’s Teacher Training Program, and looking forward to continuing her own healing journey by combining her love for yoga and writing to help others. She loves yoga near trees, writing meditations, teatime, gardening, and floating in the Pacific. To learn more about her work visit Om & Ink, where she blogs about writing, yoga, and finding your voice. Follow her @CAmberKilian.

Touching the Bliss Point

May 15, 2015 By Dannette Mason

Every body benefits from time spent in gentle practice.

What does that mean exactly? It’s a nice, catchy tag line, but how can a blanket statement like that apply to EVERY body?

Let me share one of my favorite teaching moments with you to explain what that line means to me, and why I use it to help promote School of Gentle Yoga trainings.

I am occasionally asked to participate in various teacher trainings in my community to share my philosophy of Gentle Yoga. Most recently I was asked to teach a session for a hot, power vinyasa training. And while that may seem like an odd fit, my answer is always yes to these opportunities. Any chance to show that Gentle Yoga is so much more than modified, easy yoga, I am in!

When I arrived, I was greeted with kind indifference. The students were wrapping up a break, and it took several attempts to get their attention and prepare them for a practice. Speaking amongst themselves, one student commented that she was ready to do something easy like Gentle Yoga. I smiled, took a deep breath, and asked them once again to clear their mat space and prepare to practice.

Practice began lying down, with a deep, conscious experience of the breath. As the minutes passed, I could see each of them becoming more present in their practice. As we progressed into asana, that presence deepened as they flowed in and out of the movements, guided by the quality of their breath. Standing now, they moved in rhythm and harmony as their patterns of breathing began to sync, and their movements became meditations. Long held poses became opportunities to refine and deepen the balance between effort and ease ~ sthira and sukha.

It never fails to move me when I see the benefits of a gentle practice take hold. The ability to practice deeply while always maintaining a connection to the breath. The ability to move in and out of potentially challenging asanas with grace and ease because the balance between breath and body is firmly established. I see it in my classes at the senior center, and I witnessed it with this group of young, healthy, fit yogis. Yoga does not discriminate. Every body can access the deep grace and peace of the practice; whether moving through vigorous and challenging standing asanas, or while lying on mats, moving all that is accessible to move.

As class concluded with a salutation, I invited them to take a short break before moving on to our lecture. No one moved. They each had that glazed look of deep peace. And began to spontaneously share their experience with each other. In turn, every student in the room commented on having touched a place within that was new to them. In their own words, they had never had such a connection to their breath, and all the benefits that allows. They had never had the balance to move through flows with their eyes closed, and feel deeply rooted. And in Savasana, each student expressed going so deeply within to almost feel as though they were asleep, while still being fully conscious and aware. Bliss!

This led to an enthusiastic and engaging lecture. As we discussed their preconceived notions of Gentle Yoga, it became clear that there is a stigma and perceived lack of value to the practice. One of the students then shared that she had almost left as our session began. And asked, what would I have done if she had walked out. “Not take it personally,” was my response. Never take responsibility for someone’s experience or practice. We are responsible for student’s safety and wellbeing in class, but never for their experience. Even if someone comes to you and says your class changed their life – that’s not about you.

It’s about the yoga, and the access each person gives to the yoga. It is my belief, my philosophy, that Gentle Yoga gives us an expanded access to practice – a greater entry point. Whether you are fully healthy and able-bodied, or limited by age or illness, there is a way in that will take you beyond the physical benefits into the subtle bliss point within. There is a gentle practice that will both challenge and calm, stimulate and soothe. All leading to that bliss point that inspires you to look around the room and say “Wow!”

Welcome to Gentle Yoga. Learn more about our upcoming Yoga Teacher Training here.

Defining What Makes a Practice “Gentle”

April 20, 2015 By Dannette Mason

I have been contemplating the word “gentle.” What does it mean to use “gentle” as a descriptor of a yoga class, training, posture, or practice? What is Gentle Yoga?

If you have taken gentle classes before, you’ve likely seen that “gentle” has a wide range of meaning in the world of yoga. One teacher’s idea of gentle might mean never coming into standing postures, while another’s might mean lowering the knees during chaturanga.

And that’s just it. A gentle practice is expansive and wide-ranging, just as are the bodies and constitutions of all who practice yoga. To precisely define it, to narrow the concept and meaning, is to limit the potential and possibility of what it means to be in gentle practice. Practice is personal, a journey within, and only within can we each discover what it means to be gentle.

I teach several gentle classes and private sessions a week, and depending on where and who I am teaching, the style of Gentle Yoga varies widely. Sometimes we sweat. Sometimes we stay lying down the entire class. And always we practice in a way to allow for greater connection to the Inner Self. Whether that connection happens or not is up to the practitioner. What is up to me is to set the space, understand the dynamics, and teach in a way that encourages going within. This is what my years of training and teaching have provided me, the knowledge and ability to set the space.

That is precisely the mission of our training here at the School of Gentle Yoga: To train teachers in the subtleties of yoga, giving them the knowledge and ability to set the space for students and clients to practice in a way that allows their inner wisdom to take the lead. Again, another wide range of potential and possibilities here.

When I first suffered the head trauma that instantly took me out of my type-A-say-yes-to-everything-push-though-the-pain-too-busy-to-breathe lifestyle, I had no connection to my Inner Self. At that time, any gentle practice would have challenged the foundation of my Being. So, lowering my knees in chaturanga MAY have been a possibility.

As can be the case, a breakdown was needed before I could even begin to think of being present and aware in my body. I created my days in a way that left no space for quiet contemplation – for ease in my body or mind. Until the day I was forced into being gentle with myself. And even then, it took me time to undo the way of being that made stress and tension and busyness feel like home.

So maybe when your inner wisdom can first be heard, it encourages you to mix in a restorative class with all of your physically demanding classes. That’s a gentle practice. Or it encourages you to take a chair yoga class to move with safety while your injury heals. That is a gentle practice. Or it encourages you to intentionally focus on deep breathing for 5 minutes a day. That is a gentle practice. Or maybe it is the voice that says yoga is not just about how I show up on my mat, it is about how I show up in my life. Being present and aware throughout the day is a gentle practice, as it enables you to hear that wisdom within that is best heard when we move, breathe, and live in a way that brings Harmony into all layers of our being.

So what does “gentle” mean? It is really up to you to decide. And once you do, commit to finding a teacher, a healer, or any resource that will help you to develop your practice in a way that infuses all areas of your life with Harmony.

And if you are interested in becoming a teacher, trained in the many subtle aspects of yoga that create this Harmony, enroll in our upcoming training. It will help you define what gentle means to you in a way that enables you to help others find what it means to them.

Namaste~
Dannette

Form Ever Follows Function