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Therapeutic Yoga & Meditation

What is Yoga?

 

Yoga is about creating balance in the body by connecting one’s breath to movements that build strength and flexibility. Practicing yoga provides space for one to let go of the ego and develop a mindset of acceptance. By honoring your body and mind in this way, you are able to connect, heal, and change. Each person’s experience is unique and constantly evolving, and yoga provides you with a safe harbor to reconnect with your true nature and find stillness.

Do I need to be flexible?

 

ANYONE can start practicing yoga! You do not have to be flexible to practice yoga. Yoga is a state of mind that is activated and enhanced while engaging in various types of postures. As you practice varying postures, or what yogis refer to as asanas, your body will naturally become more limber and stronger. However, the essence of your yoga practice will remain the same—connecting the breath with movement.

Benefits of Yoga  

(Research by Yoga Journal)

  • Builds inner strength

  • Improves focus

  • Improves balance

  • Releases tension

  • Supports connective tissue

  • Lowers heart rate

  • Protects your spine

  • Betters bone health

  • Improves lung functioning

  • Helps digestive problems

  • Reduces blood pressure

  • Decreases levels of stress hormones linked to depression and physical illnesses

  • Drains lymph nodes and boosts immunity

  • Increases blood flow

  • Helps you sleep better

Yoga with Andrea 

Meditation & Yoga Nidra

I started practicing yoga in 2007. At that time, I was mostly interested in the physical benefits of yoga, and it took me several years to truly internalize the important role the breath plays in integrating the body and mind. After continuing my personal practice for several years, I discovered the powerful role the principles of yoga can play in one’s life, and I decided to implement the mind-body awareness techniques popularized by yoga with my inner-city 6th and 7th grade students while teaching in Houston, TX. Through this experience, I was able to witness the tangible benefits of increasing a child’s mind-body awareness, and I was driven to deepen my scholastic understanding of the topic through my graduate coursework in psychological counseling at Columbia University. After I developed this connection to yoga, I shared the transformational benefits of the practice with others. In daily life, it is easy to get pulled into the insecurity that is a byproduct of the modern world. However, when practicing yoga, you are able to accept the limitations of your body and release energy blockages that have disrupted your natural state.

I strongly believe that yoga is accessible for everyone, and I love helping others discover and explore their inner world through yoga! If you are interested in starting, reconnecting to, or deepening your yoga journey, please contact me for a free 20-minute consultation where we will review previous injuries and important information to tailor your private practice to YOUR needs. I look forward to meeting you.

lMeditation is a mental practice that helps one foster and develop compassion, love, patience, generosity, and forgiveness. It trains one’s mind to consciously observe rather than evaluate in order to help increase one’s level of self-awareness and acceptance. Meditation is often misunderstood, and one of the most common misconceptions is that the sole purpose of meditation is relaxation. Although meditative states have calming effects that help draw one’s awareness inward, meditative states may also evoke unresolved or suppressed feelings, thus providing the practitioner with space to welcome and process the feelings. I consider meditation a beautiful and powerful tool because it serves as a conduit between your conceived self and your true self. When Buddha was asked what he had gained from meditation, he replied, “Nothing! However, what I have lost: Anger, Depression, Insecurity, Fear of Old Age, and Death.”  

Yoga Nidra, also referred to as “yogic sleep,” is considered one of the deepest possible states of relaxation. During this practice, one has the opportunity to experience what some consider “lucid dreaming” and release tension from the body and mind. 

Ready to work together?

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