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Alchemy Of Gentle Yoga, by Lisa Z. Hughes, P.T.

I was born with boxing gloves. An early baby and a sick baby in the early 1960s meant I
fought alone in a tiny chamber of isolation. Such were the times. I was 10 days old
when my parents finally got to hold me. They brought me home to a full house where
competing for time, food and attention became lesson #2. I was glad to have the boxing
gloves.

Lisa Hughes baby pic

It’s no surprise I would find myself drawn to performing and competing throughout my
childhood. Dance performances and then competitive gymnastics filled my days until I
started kickboxing and running. I excelled at individual sports and academics.
Perfectionism ruled in my chamber of isolation. It wasn’t until my body started to rebel at
the age of 49 that I began a 21 day experiment with Yoga. I liked practicing Ashtanga
and vigorous Power Vinyasa in my bigger chamber of isolation (home) because I could
allow myself to let go, to fall over, to practice. I tried to like class, but I was aware of my
desire to excel. I enjoyed the challenge of advanced asana and was drawn only to
classes where I could practice in the most advanced way in the most intense heat.My first experience with Gentle Yoga came as part of my 200 hour Teacher Training. I
heard the long exhales and audible sighs of my fellow students and I wanted to punch
them. Seriously. Did I hear someone moaning? Nothing made me want my boxing
gloves more than Gentle Yoga. As someone who could spend 10 minutes in plank, THIS
was torture! I would describe the silence like the deafening sound of fingernails on a
chalkboard and the feeling it evoked in me was anger. I wondered when we would get
back to the “real yoga.” I wondered who would ever sign up for this type of Yoga. I
wondered why I was unable to enjoy this type of Yoga. I secretly wished I could feel
what a sigh felt like. I wanted to run. I wasn’t good at this. I looked for the door.In order for me to be able to teach this Gentle Yoga, I HAD to practice and I practiced
every day. I offered my body and my mind to the experiment. I taught Gentle Yoga to
anyone who would let me and in giving myself and my students the gift of Gentle Yoga, I
found an ability to relax, to let go and to open to receive the gifts in each posture. I
learned to listen to the wisdom of my own body. I learned to nurture myself. I learned I
didn’t need to fill the space with anything. In teaching others, I taught myself. The gift of
Gentle Yoga is a blessing of the Self. No boxing gloves are required.

“To reteach a thing its loveliness” is the nature of metta. Through lovingkindness,
everyone and everything can flower again from within. When we recover
knowledge of our own loveliness and that of others, self-blessing happens
naturally and beautifully.
                                                                               – Sharon Salzberg

FINDING ALCHEMY IN GENTLE YOGA:

1. Go Easy On Yourself:
Our society’s conditioned idea of moving our body is deluded by calorie burning,
productivity, distorted body image, torture. You are learning something new, something
out of your comfort zone. You are learning to love yourself from the inside out, rather
than the other way around. You deserve every moment of this practice. Meditative and
Gentle Yoga time is mind-FULL time. Laziness is mind-LESS time. There is nothing
outside of YOU than can do this work for you. There is no pill, no mind altering
substance, no amount of sex, no runner’s “high”…nothing outside of you that will bring
you to this eventual state of bliss.

2. Let go of Doing:
Let go of analysis (I’m not moving enough. This isn’t exercise), expectation (should I be
sighing too?), and outcome of any kind (maybe I’ll lose weight). With every exhale, let
go of all of that and inhale where you are, the energy of the people around you, the
feeling of the floor under you, the support of your teacher and of all those present.

3. Bring in the natural attraction to happiness:
As an intention for your Gentle Yoga practice it can be helpful to bring to mind
something you have done or said that was caring, gentle or kind. Bring in something
that you honestly feel was a good action. It could be a time where you were generous or
a time where you were fully clear and present for a friend. Take your time and with the
memory, allow the happiness to come in. Notice your comfort level with allowing that
most intrinsic and fundamental drive toward happiness. Notice how beautiful that is.

4. Every Posture has a Gift. We must be open to the gift if we are to truly receive it.
As you begin to flow and move, connect to the places in the body that we receive from
as if you were receiving the most beautiful gift of this class. Soften to the incoming
breath. Open the palms and touch the pinky fingers together, hands soft and reaching
out to receive. Connect to the ability to receive through the crown of the head and
through the back door to the heart (the space between the shoulder blades). As you
inhale, receive the breath through these places. In every posture and with every breath,
connect to happiness of your original intention, receive that happiness through these
places (palms, crown, heart). Give yourself the time in each posture to fully receive it’s
gifts.

5. Stay with the feeling that receiving evokes.
The mind will wander. It will make up stories of things you have to do, places you have
to be. It will distract you with promises of Gelato and cake. It will do ANYTHING for you
not to feel this. Feel it anyway. Just bring the wandering mind back. Even if you have to
do that countless times, know that there is no great skill in bringing back our attention to
our original intention (that happy memory of you doing that gentle, caring
thing…remember?). Know that you haven’t failed just because the mind wandered.
There is no duration of wandering that is impossible to begin again from. Leave the
judgement behind and just come on back. We ALL leave the practice many times. Just
remember to come back.

6. Gather Your Props for Savasana:
Make your Savasana delicious! Pause to reflect on what your body would most enjoy as
it’s final restorative posture. Maybe you work on your feet all day and Viparita Karani
(Legs Up the Wall) would feel best. Maybe you want to stay with your open heart space
and Salamba Matsyasana (Supported Fish) would feel nice. Bring back your original
intention and rest in that feeling.

Ajna

Gentle Yoga is the ultimate gift to myself. It is also the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I’ve
learned to open to receive the gift the teacher has prepared just for me in a group class
setting – from a place of truth, sincerity and authenticity. I have received beautiful, kind
and gentle assists, well placed props, lavender eye pillows, essential oils applied to my
temples, warm towels on my head and the unison of my breath merging with that of my
teacher. I sleep well. I eat well. I care about what goes in my body. My blood pressure is
lovingly low. My heart rate rests at 54 beats per minute. In befriending myself, I’ve
opened to new and meaningful friendships, I’ve left my tiny chamber of isolation and I’ve
opened to a deeper sense of belonging in my family, in my community and in the world.
In bringing attention and focus to the feeling of happiness that comes from extending
kindness, I’ve learned to extend further in sharing my time and my gifts with not-for
profit organizations that serve our community. In being fully present with my clients,
constant in the happy times but also in times of struggle, I am aware that they are able
to leave their burdens at the door. Most of them forget them on the way out.

I’ve learned to be a bud that chooses to flower. Knowing my days in this state are
vulnerable and limited, I open anyway…to LOVE! I couldn’t imagine life in any other
state than this. I’ve located a happiness that has transformed me from within. In locating
that, I seem to have misplaced my boxing gloves.

Lotus

The bud
stands for all things,
even for those things that don’t flower,
for everything flowers, from within, of
self-blessing;
though sometimes it is necessary
to reteach a thing it’s loveliness,
to put a hand on the brow
of the flower,
and retell it in words and in touch,
it is lovely
until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing
                                                – Galaway Kinnel

Lisa Hughes Lisa specializes in treating the whole client, integrating the traditional Physical Therapy modalities of Neurophysiological Manipulation and Myofascial Release with Yoga Therapy and holds a B.S. in Physical Therapy from Northeastern University. She is currently pursuing her Yoga Alliance 500 hour Yoga Therapy Certification through Pranakriya School of Yoga Healing Arts and sees private Yoga Therapy clients at her home based business, No Boundaries Yoga Therapy. Her blog blends her 28 years of Physical Therapy knowledge with the direct experience of Yoga Therapy. She is a certified Mat Pilates instructor, a certified strength training specialist, a GYROTONIC® certified instructor, and has completed a course on the GYROTONER®, a specialized piece of GYROTONIC® equipment. She is a volunteer with the Challenged Athletes Foundation, whose mission it is to provide opportunities and support to people with physical disabilities so they can pursue active lifestyles through physical fitness and competitive athletics. Lisa can be reached at No Boundaries Yoga Therapy.

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