Yoga = Positivity
According to Northern Beaches Pyschologist Dr Lyndsay Brown “International research has established that yoga and related activities can impact positively and significantly on developing mental resilience and fortitude and inoculating us again future mental illness”.
By committing to a regular yoga practice on your mat you can expect to enjoy a greater sense of well-being, or as I like to refer to it as a more positive mindset/outlook in life.
Throughout our lives we can all expect to experience times of dismay or loneliness, or times of being overwhelmed and stressed. Yoga is a self-care practice that supports your body and provides ease and comfort to your mind.
I invite you to go into your yoga practice with greater mindfulness to maximise your well-being by:
1) Focussing on your breath – the inhale and exhale. This will keep you present and not distracted by your busy head.
2) Respecting your body - meet your body where it is on any given day. This means include both effort (strength) and ease (letting go) as required throughout the class. Remember to listen to your body’s cues and back off postures that your body/joints cannot support safely. However also note the times your mind is limiting the movement with negative self-talk and see if you can let that mind-chatter disappear.
Along with greater mental resilience and positivity, Yoga also provides many other benefits including:
- Improves overall health – reduces blood pressure, increases blood flow, boosts immune system etc
- Develops greater strength and muscle tone in our body
- Improves and aids flexibility
- Increases balance
- Improves concentration and focus (greater clarity)
- Calms the mind and reduces anxiety
- Greater mind-body awareness (mindfulness)
- Relaxes and energises
- Its’ fun and a great way to connect to not only your body, but others in your local community 😊!
If you would like to connect with others in your yoga practice, consider dropping into one of our Manly classes each week - Community Wednesday Yoga and Affordable Inclusive Friday Yoga classes, both at 9.30am in Manly (at the old Royal Far West school building on South Steyne, Manly Beach). More details can be found on www.cnb.org.au/events
Or view and practice at home with these free online yoga practices to suit you and your needs.
Meet the teacher - Simone Larmer
Simone is a compassionate and considerate yoga teacher who supports community members to re-discover their inner strength and celebrate their value and resilience through yoga. Her yoga classes provide a safe environment to nurture the self while building strength and gaining greater clarity to feel renewed and empowered for the road ahead.
Simone is Hatha (& YIN) trained and has been gifting a weekly community yoga class since August 2018 to Community Northern Beaches and also to Royal Far West since 2020. She continues to share her passion for yoga (and self-care) with her local community and believes yoga is a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with one-self and gain a greater level of compassion for self and others.