Restorative Yoga Therapy, Cardiff
With our lifestyles becoming ecologically and socially more unsustainable, our bodies and minds are not hard wired to thrive in fast paced, complex environments.
Systemic stress takes its toll, curtailing our breath and depleting our energy.
Sometimes life throws us a curve ball; we become injured, move home, change job or lose a loved one.
Faced with our vulnerability we might feel overwhelmed or hopeless
“It’s not about what’s wrong with you; it’s what happened to you and how you adapted to survive”
Yoga wisdom teaches us to grow and transform in adversity. We are not meant to stay wounded.
Yoga reawakens our capacity to flow with life, meet challenges and focus on reducing suffering. By raising self- awareness, we are better able to choose the right response and action.
Therapeutic method
This therapeutic method focuses on opening heart intelligence, restoring nervous system coordination and structural-energetic balance. This involves learning how to relate to our body in a sensible and attuned manner. Respecting our embodiment (our body is our temple) promotes better immunity, emotional health, mood and resiliency.
Yoga as a mindful method can replace the harsh inner critic and cathartic coping strategies. With commitment, time and patience, this process will put you back in touch with yourself and restore equilibrium and self-love.
What happens in a session?
In the first 1-3 sessions, we gather information and set a focus, this involves me attuning to your energy- nervous system ( vata- vayu- nadi ) and timing interventions. We listen, feedback and dialogue. In this process we build trust and working alliance. Sessions involve, movement, talking and touch. I use touch respectfully and appropriately, with your consent.
I use props such as bolsters, cushions, weighted blankets and warm pads.
How does it work?
Raising awareness: Understanding your internal landscape: sensations, feelings, emotions, thoughts and energy as well as your outer landscape: awareness of body parts, body movement and body alignment. Sometimes this is not obvious, with time it becomes clearer.
Resourcing: Connecting to your body wisdom and harnessing the intelligence of your nervous system (vayu) and your heart (light, compassion, love).
Titration: Doing little bits at a time and giving space to process and make sense of what is happening.
Tracking: Cultivating a kind, non -judgemental stance to identify the shapes and patterns that tension, pain or injury can form in your body/mind
Re-patterning: Exploring different movements, gestures and postures that give relief. Addressing and replacing negative self -talk and scripts.
Resiliency: Building skills to increase feelings of support, ease and presence. Enabling your nervous system to re calibrate and self -regulate; mobilising without overwhelm and intensity and relaxing without crashing or shutting down.
Who are these sessions for?
These sessions are open to anyone wishing to gain the benefits of yoga. Yoga therapy is a body psychotherapeutic modality. It is a very sophisticated body mind practice with diverse roots and traditions. Unfortunately today, yoga is commodified and therefore stripped of its psychological and somatic value. Engaging with a yoga process will require some energy and patience.
After an initial consultation, I can let you know how much time and investment you would need to put in.
I have experience of working with stress, anxiety and depression, injury and pain, burn out & fatigue, post operation care, cancer recovery support, muscular-skeletal aches and pains, shoulder/neck problems and frozen shoulder, arthritis, CFS or ME, fibromyalgia, dissociative seizures, sexual assault/violence, invasive medical procedures, pregnancy and birth support, fertility & conception assistance, menopause/ menstrual challenges, pelvic floor issues such as irritable bladder and prolapse, hysterectomy, post abortion, post miscarriage, post still birth recovery and postnatal/post- partum support.
