200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training

~ Ever Dreamt of Doing Your Yoga Teacher Training ~

There are so many reasons why I am thankful to have found the path of yoga which led me to do my own yoga teacher training. It has shaped my life in so many ways. My relationship with my body, my relationship with others, my mental health, my career. I used to have a ‘job’ but I retired at 26, went to do my yoga teacher training and truly have never felt like I’ve worked a day since – despite my husband calling me a workaholic. I can truly honestly say Teaching Yoga is the most rewarding, amazing, heartfelt, joyous and at times terrifying experience.

And training to be a Yoga Teacher – well that’s a whole new level of personal development. Here are just a few awesome points about teaching yoga . . .

You spend all your time barefoot & wearing leggings
Your days are filled with the most wonderful people who you get to connect with on an honest, open & authentic level
You become a part of the most amazing community filled with people who inspire you on a daily basis
You get really good at doing yoga poses as you’re doing them all day every day
You help people and get to make a real difference in people’s lives which is so rewarding
You can fit it around another job, quit work all together to be your own self-employed Yoga Boss, or save it as a retirement project
You are constantly learning and growing as a person and a teacher

If this sounds like something you need, then let me be your guide.

The next 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training Course, accredited by Yoga Alliance Professionals starts March 2019 and I’m taking application now. It’s a 9-month journey with 8 Weekends in the UK, Southampton + 1 Week Intensive in Spain.

A minimum of 2 Years Prior Yoga Experience is Required.

So What Can You Expect?

200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training Course

with Laura Green

01|Real World Teaching Experience

Many courses will teach you a lot of yoga, which yes you need! BUT you also need to learn, HOW TO TEACH. How to stand up in front of a group of students and guide them through a yoga experience that works for their body, calms their mind and uplifts their soul! How to use your voice, choose your words, place your hands; how to sequence, theme and break down asanas. Teaching yoga is both an art & a science and it takes practice. Each Sunday on this course the Trainee Teachers lead our Community Yoga Class to practise their skills on actual students in a real class environment. We get you teaching from Month 1!

Yoga Teacher Training in Southampton

02|Engaging & Educational

There’s a lot to learn:
~ Asana, Pranayama & Meditation
~ Anatomy, Physiology & Biomechanics
~ History of Yoga, the Ancient Yoga Texts
~ Yoga Philosophy & Modern Day Applications
~ Prana, Chakras, Bhandas, Mantra, Chanting
~ Sequencing, theming, imagery
~ Hands on Assists & Verbal Cueing
~ Teaching Methodology
~ Business Methodology

Sessions are taught Laura and a faculty of fascinating guests teachers with a strong focus on practical, hands-on, relatable, fun and memorable teaching. We want to empower you with knowledge, skills & confidence so that you can go out there and teach with Confidence, Passion & Precision.

03|Supportive Community

Training to teach yoga is tough. The course asks for long hours over weekends, where you’re regularly asked to step outside of your comfort zone. Expectations are high and standards are higher BUT you have an amazing support crew from your fellow trainees, Laura’s entire community of students who turn up each Sunday for class, and an amazing Faculty of Teachers who all have your back and want to see the very best for you. This is a journey unlike no other and you’ll make friends for a lifetime.

04|Blend of Vinyasa, Hatha & Yin

This course focuses on giving you the skills to be the teacher you want to be. It’s not tied down to styles and specific lineages but will give you the confidence to teach yoga in the WAY YOU WANT and in a way that serves your community.

With a grounding start in Hatha Yoga, progressing through the more dynamic Vinyasa Yoga and then developing on to Yin Yoga and even some Chair Yoga.

05| Final Week Training in Spain

After 8 Weekends of training in Southampton, UK Laura will whisk you away for a final week-long intensive in the South of Spain. Here we will complete this 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training course, taking a practical exam and experiencing the more subtle and advanced aspects of teaching such as the Chakra System, Prana Vayus and Kosha. The week finishes on a high with our Graduation Ceremony after which you fly home a fully qualified Yoga Teacher.

06|Ac Yoga Teacher Training in Southampton credited by Yoga Alliance

This Yoga Teacher Training Course taking place in Southampton, has been quality controlled, verified, assessed and accredited by Yoga Alliance Professionals. Laura Green Training & Mentoring Ltd is a registered yoga school and Laura is a Senior Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance Professionals. You will be fully qualified and insured with the leading industry body giving you confidence and trust in your training.

Interested?

You’ll find all the details including Course Overview, Dates and Course Fees here. Have a good read through then get in touch for an informal chat and to find out more about the application process.

If you have any questions, thoughts please get in touch. If you know anyone might be interested in this journey I’d love it if you could forward this on.

Lots of Love, Namaste & Oms

Happy Gut = Happy You

by Charlotte Troester

Gut health isn’t the sexiest of subjects, but it’s one I’ve been exploring recently since my experience with nutrition has changed.

A book on the subject that I recommend is ‘The Clever Guts Diet’ by Dr. Michael Mosley. Here is what I have found out about Gut Health

Our intestines has a brain.

It contains over 100 million neurons, as many as you would find in the brain of a cat!

Wonder why you have ‘a gut instinct’?

It comes from this second brain which orchestrates digestion and moderates gut pain

One to two kilos of live creatures (microbes) live in our gut.

They make up what is known as our microbiome. We have over 50 trillion microbes in our gut, at least 1000 different species – a richer diversity of life than you’d find in a rainforest!

Here’s the part that I find most interesting when it comes to our microbiome and what these microbes do:

They help regulate our body weight.
They decide how much energy your body needs to extract from the food you eat.
They control hunger signals.
They help decide which foods you crave.
They determine how much your blood sugar spikes in response to a meal.
They teach and regulate our entire immune system.
Over the last half-century there has been a massive rise in allergic diseases (e.g. asthma, eczema) caused by an overactive immune system.
We have also seen an increase in autoimmune diseases (e.g. inflammatory bowel disease, type 1 diabetes), primarily caused by an immune system out of control.
Changing the mix of bacteria in your gut can reduce the impact of these diseases.
They create hormones and chemicals which affect your mood.
The microbiome does this by taking the bits of food our body can’t digest and converting them into hormones and chemicals.
This has implications on our mood, appetite and general health.
Changing your biome may reduce anxiety and lessen depression.
80-95% of serotonin is created in our gut (depending on which source you are looking at). Serotonin is often called the ‘happiness hormone’.

You can see why I have become fascinated by the subject. The idea of healing the gut and therefore healing the body and mind has captivated me.

The reason for my interest in this subject began in January 2016 when I completed a 30 Days to Healthy Living and Beyond programme with Arbonne. I found myself losing bloating and excess weight, gaining more energy, clearer skin and better sleep but these were all results I was expecting. What surprised me was the incredible feeling of happiness that took over and for me this was the best result I could ask for (especially during a long, dark January!).

I am certainly no expert on the subject of gut health. I only speak from my personal experience which has then encouraged me to do my own research. The relation between gut health and happiness is fascinating and one I highly encourage you to explore.

Happiness is…

by Charlotte Troester

My name is Charlotte and I am on a happiness journey! My mission is to live my best life possible and to help and inspire others to do the same.

There have been three pivotal turning points in my life so far. One was in 2010 when I took a year out with my partner to travel the world. We had saved enough not to have to work and visited 11 different countries in that year. Every morning we woke up and could decide what to do with the day, where to go, what to explore. Every day I woke up filled with excitement and every day I went to bed feeling inspired, having learnt something new, made a new connection and feeling happy.

The second was in 2013, when I found yoga. Yoga has introduced me to a whole new journey, one where I am learning to live in the moment, follow my passion, believe in myself and to have the courage to live the life I wish to lead. What started as a way to physically exercise myself has become so much more.

In 2015 yoga led me to assess my life and ask me what really made me happy. The answer was helping others and freedom and so I allowed myself to be open to opportunity. Shortly after this, I started my Arbonne business alongside my business development management job and a whole new journey began, one of personal development, continuous growth, new friendships and discovering a deepening passion for health and wellness.

In January 2017 I was made redundant from my job but as I already had my business in place, this became my full time passion. My business has given me the freedom and flexibility to delve deeper into self-care and what makes us happy as humans. I continue on this journey, helping as many people as I can in finding their true health and happiness and living their best life.

For each one of us happiness means something different. Happiness for me is starting my day off with purpose and positivity and I am so happy to share my routine with you. Here’s what works for me…

Wake up one hour earlier than I need to.

This is a shocker for some – I know it was for me when I first started! Now that I work from home for myself, I have flexibility, so I choose to get up at 6.30am as I like to start my work between 8am and 9am. However, when I was working in a job for someone else, I got up at 5.30am.

Why do I get up an hour earlier? So that I can start my day off right, and here’s what I do…

Silence

I start my day in silence. Meditation allows you to start the day in control and focused. It’s surprising how much it clears your mind and how many ideas and inspiration will come to you after giving your mind this space.

Affirmations

Positive words to yourself – they have been scientifically proven to rewire your brain. What you think about, you bring about. By telling yourself positive things in the morning, this raises the level of feel-good hormones and you will approach the day on a whole new energy level.

Visualisation

Be bold – picture your wildest dreams coming true! Or simply picture your day going as you would like it to. Visualising what you want to achieve is one of the most powerful things you can do to help you to actually make it happen.

Exercise

I find this is the perfect time to do some yoga, even if it’s just five or ten minutes. Time spent first thing to stretch and breathe makes the world of difference to me, especially if I am going to be working at my desk that day. You might want to do this, or a few star-jumps or maybe bounce around the room to your favourite song!

Reading

Feeding your mind first thing with something inspiring and positive, or learning something new, will make you feel energised and alert. Reading is one of my favourite things to do, so how wonderful to wake up to this!

Journaling

Write your worries, joys, fears, struggles, successes and set your intentions for the day – get it all down on paper and out of your head. I end my journaling with gratitude – 3 things that I am grateful for in that moment, whether that be my partner or the cup of herbal tea in front of me. Big or small, feeling grateful is one of the happiest states to be in.

Eat Healthy

There is an undeniable link between the food we eat and our happiness (more on this in a future blog…). Hormones and chemicals are created during the digestion process and what these are/how many of them there are depend on what it is we have eaten. I start my morning with a protein shake made of protein, healthy fats (nut butter/avocado/coconut oil, etc.), fibre, vegetables (kale/spinach/celery/beetroot, etc.) and berries.

Your morning routine doesn’t have to take as much time as I spend on mine. You could even do a six minute version! I recommend reading ‘The Miracle Morning’ by Hal Elrod if you’re looking for further inspiration and please do contact me if you want further recommendations on books or resources for any of the above. I would love to help!

Living Your Yoga

What does it mean to live your yoga? To be a Yogi or Yogini? Is it even possible in the modern Western world? Yogis of old in India often segregated themselves from society, spending much time in isolation living in the mountains and caves in India, meditating for very many hours on a quest to calm the mind and achieve enlightenment.

In the West, Yoga is often something that we do; an interest, or hobby, a class that we attend once a week but soon the benefits of yoga seep into the rest of one’s life. Then with continued dedication and commitment the practice of yoga can become a way of life. Everyone’s path is different, and although it is common to come across preconceived notions of what a Yogi must and must not do, it is essential that you walk your own path based on intuition, guidance, reflection and self-study. It is a path towards growth, unity and harmony with oneself and the world we live in; for me this is enlightenment.

What is Enlightenment?

The meaning of enlightenment and what happens once one achieves it is open to much debate. For me, it is something we can all experience through the path of yoga. It is the experience of being completely present in the moment, in touch with your true self and free from the suffering imposed by the fluctuations of the mind. Maybe our first such experience lasts for just the tiniest moment, but through continued growth there are more of these moments and they last longer until this becomes your permanent state of awareness.

Suggestions for Living Your Yoga

Here are a few ideas you may wish to consider in exploring how to live your yoga. Don’t worry if you don’t know what all of these practices are just yet, we will study these in detail together. Please note that this is the road less travelled, it is winding and bumpy with many obstacles but a life lived with intention, clarity and an open heart is a life worth living.

A regular home yoga practice in addition to continued guidance from teachers.
A committed meditation practice.
The practice of pranayama to calm the mind and ease through daily challenges.
Journaling as a form of self-study and reflection.
Volunteering and being of service to others – karma yoga.
Intentionally focussing on the qualities of loving kindness; mantra and meditation can support this.
Reading texts such as Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita and interpreting their being for you.
Exploring bringing the Yamas and Niyamas into everyday life.
Creating your own sadhana, a daily spiritual practice.
Upgrading your diet for optimum health and well-being.
Being part of a satsang, a community of likeminded individuals joining for discussions.
Performing a daily gratitude practice.
Setting intentions, using affirmations and sankalpas to bring clarity to your days.
Working through mental and emotional afflictions and challenges such as samskaras that stand the way of your spiritual growth.

Yoga Immersion Course

If this is the path you wish to travel support and guidance of a teacher and a community is really beneficial. I’d love to walk this path with you and invite you to consider joining the Yoga Immersion Course. A 6-month course for committed yoga students designed to deepen your awareness, knowledge & understanding of yoga in all its dimensions.

Boundries For Yoga Teachers

Teaching Yoga is Tough…you get that right? I refused to accept this for a long-term, having come from a full-on corporate job. I couldn’t understand why I was tired when I was working way fewer hours. But we give our all, our body, heart and soul when we teach and this my love, is why, it is tiring.

In preparation for my 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training Course which started this weekend, I’ve been considering the role of boundaries in teaching yoga. Boundaries are about conserving your energy as a Yoga Teacher and respecting your students. The term ‘boundaries’ gets used a lot (along with ‘holding space’) but we never really stop to consider what it means and how we work with them.

Most of the time we don’t ever know where our boundaries are until they get crossed. If you’d like to reflect on your boundaries and your sensitivity towards your students boundaries consider the following categories, I’ve included a few examples of boundaries to provoke your thinking but have no judgement either way. Boundaries are personal, you set yours and your students set theirs.

Material: What do you feel comfortable lending/sharing with your students. Do you have a system in place if you loan out books so that you get them back? Do you lug around a huge bag of mats for your students increasing physical strain on your body and then spend your spare time cleaning these mats (I’m still guilty of this)? What about students & you stepping on people’s yoga mats? If you teach a really sweaty class do you have a hand towel to place between your student and your hands when you do adjusts? Will you teach students in your home or not? Would you give a student a lift in your car?

Physical: Where are your boundaries in terms of personal space? I like my personal space and I’m not a hugger. How do you read a student’s boundaries around being touched and adjusted? What about when students work together in partner work? This also refers to your physical time. How long are you prepared to give a student at the end of class? If a student is asking a lot of questions have you considered inviting them instead to book a one:one session with you? What about when you bump into a student outside of class. I guess I’m not the only one who’s stood in Waitrose for 20 mins listening to a student, after having asked ‘How Are You?’. My husband pulled me up again on Sunday after another long supermarket chat. He’s coaching me not to ask ‘how are you?’ unless I have the time to listen but to instead say ‘Nice to see you’.

Mental: This comes down to thoughts, values, opinions, beliefs. How do you share the philosophy of yoga whilst honouring your student’s various beliefs? How do you stay true to your authentic self when there are so many preconceived ideas of how a yoga teacher should be? How much of your personal life and journey do you share?

Emotional: This is one of the toughest ones. The practice of yoga brings emotions to the surface. How you respond to a student who is feeling upset will differ whether it’s just before the class starts, during the class or after class? When you ask a student how they are and they respond ‘I’m really not good’ but then give no further information how do you interpret this boundary? I currently say something like ‘Well done for coming to class, you’re in the right place. If I can support you in any way please ask’. When you’re having a tough time of things what is your process for making sure you don’t bring this into class. Where are your boundaries when it comes to the student-teacher relationship? Would you go for coffee with a student? What about romantic relationships? My boundaries are pretty strong here as I’m an introvert and I find socialising like this draining. I prefer to keep a small group of friends.

This is a complex topic but I hope this has given you some food for thought. It’s good to think through where your boundaries are and also know when, why & how to shift them. At some points or with some people you may need to firm up your boundaries and in other situations make them a little more permeable.

Trusting your Yoga Teacher Instincts

You’ve planned a high energy, upbeat yoga sequence designed to challenge your students, you look at the class in front of you and they’re tired, stressed and in need of something chilled out and relaxing? What do you do? You trust your yoga teacher instincts and rethink you plan!

The main critique of lesson planning and sequencing is that it prevents you from reading your students, their energy and what they need in the moment. I encourage yoga teachers to do both; lesson plan thoroughly, play and create yoga sequences that enhance your yoga students experience of the asanas and the flow of prana and then be present and adapt to the moment: watch your students as they arrive at the yoga class, observe them during the warm up and throughout your sequencing and adjust your plan accordingly, by that I mean the following:

As your students begin, are they holding their shoulders unusually tight? If so, add shoulder opening variations to your standing sequence and some extra warm up poses.

Have they walked in energised and full of get up and go, when you’ve planned a totally chilled out and meditative flow: Meet them somewhere in the middle to help them find balance, remove a few of your resting poses, add in some extra vinyasas, swap your pranayama to a balancing one such as Nadi Shodana.

Do your students look exhausted and depleted: Take your poses lower to the ground (e.g. instead of a high lunge take a low lunge, switch standing or seated poses for the reclining (supta) variations), swap a few Downward Facing Dogs out for Child’s Pose. Encourage students to take it easy and honour their body, cut out a couple rounds of your Sun Salutation or Standing Poses to save time for an extra long Savasana.

You’ve planned a flowing yoga class with emphasis on fluidity and the movement of prana but in the first couple of rounds of Sun Salutations you notice some very dodge shoulder alignment in the majority of your students during Chaturanga. Pause your music (if using), explain your going to take a little detour to workshop Chaturanga and then get back into your flow.

Learning to be observant, trusting your gut and being flexible with the content of your lesson plan will help to ensure that your students leave your class feeling looked after.

If you’d like to explore in greater detail the Art & Science of Sequencing, Laura is teaching an 8 Hour CPD day on Sunday 15^th April 2018 at Rownhams House near Southampton. Find the details here.

Creative Approach to Yoga Class Sequencing

Stuck in a Rut? Fancy Mixing Up Your Yoga Class Sequencing?

Getting a little bored with your yoga lesson plans? Looking to bring new inspiration into your yoga teaching, and mix things up for your yoga students? How about trying out some new yoga class sequencing techniques?

In sequencing a yoga class a yoga teacher draws on all their skills, knowledge and intuition to craft a journey for the body, mind and soul. Yoga students put their absolute faith and trust in their teacher to lead them on a journey that is safe, authentic and true to the teachings of yoga. This takes planning and practice, it is both a science and an art.

Lesson Planning & Sequencing

Yoga class lesson planning and yoga sequencing is in my opinion a must. I know that opinion is divided on this topic with many yoga teachers proudly saying that they don’t plan classes; I usually don’t come down heavy on anyone side of a yoga debate but on this one I am firmly in the lesson planning camp. The sequencing of a yoga class dramatically impacts your yoga students’ experience. When it’s done well, our bodies open with ease and feel fantastic but when it’s poor, the body feels tight, poses feel unnecessarily challenging, the alignment can be unsafe and the flow of prana is inhibited.

By planning and carefully crafting yoga sequences you start to teach your students rather than just lead them through yoga asanas. As a Yoga Teacher you get to truly facilitate your yoga student’s journey and create an engaging yoga experience. The science in yoga sequencing is your understanding of Asana, Alignment, Technique, Modifications and your Students Bodies, the art in yoga sequencing is in holding and creating the space for your yoga students to blossom, grow, transform and experience.

So here are a few suggestions for alternative ways to sequence a yoga class.

Singular Pose Yoga Sequence: A great way to really teach your yoga students a posture very thoroughly, inspiring them to add it to a home yoga practice. Take one fundamental yoga pose keep repeating throughout the yoga class, use complimentary postures to teach alignment principles of the main pose and draw the energy/feel of the main pose into other posture. Such as Tadasana, Star Pose, Tree.

Repetition Yoga Sequence: Build a yoga sequence around a repeating posture, transition, movement motif, mantra, mudra or pranayama. For instance, a flowing arm pattern you set up as a standing movement meditation, re visit as an arm variation in standing postures and then again in seated.

Double Up Yoga Sequence: Bikram style. Perform each yoga pose twice, either increasing or decreasing the hold length. You can experiment with adding additional cues. For instance – first round physical cues, second round energetic or breath cues or visualisation.

Wave Yoga Sequencing: Take a peak yoga pose such as crow and break it down to the easiest variation. Begin with this seed of the posture, then a warm up, revisit the seed and add the next progression, continue preparing the body with standing asana, revisit the seed, the progression and add the full posture, then counterpose. This can be used in a theme and variation approach such as variations of all fours.

Bilaterally Symmetrical Yoga Sequence: The first half of the yoga class is mirrored and taught again as the second half in its mirror image/reverse order. This makes for a really interesting journey of observation as the yoga students experience the poses the second time they can notice changes in their body and mind.

Book Ends Yoga Sequence: A simpler version of above. Create an opening yoga sequence and repeat in the reverse order for your closing yoga sequence so students can observe and reflect on the journey.

Building a Chain: Take a yoga sequence such as Surya Namaskar with Warrior II, repeat right and left. Start the yoga sequence again and add on another posture to the chain, such as Pasrvakonasana, next round add Trikonasana, then Ardha Chandrasana for the final round. Can be done with easier postures and even seated sequences.

Chorus & Verse Yoga Sequencing: Your chorus is your connecting vinyasa, the most common is the plank, chaturanga cobra/updog, down dog flow but you can create a variety of other vinyasas. A connecting vinyasa neturalises the body between sides and sequences. Experiment with other approaches.

If you’d like to explore in greater detail the Art & Science of Sequencing, Laura is teaching an 8 Hour CPD day on Sunday 15^th April 2018 at Rownhams House near Southampton. Find the details here.

Getting Published Online

By Laura Green

You’ve spent hours laboring over your blog post, researching and tweaking. Taking amazing photos to support your writings. You upload it to your website. Great ! Now what . . . .read further for handy hints on how to get published

Why not extend your reach by sending it off to a couple of publications. Often our own reflections and musings can inspire and help people. What better way to practice Karma Yoga on a Global Scale. Today most magazines have an online presence, I can easily subscribe to a magazine that is in print in Canada or Australia. So, even if you are in Southampton, you can have a global impact due to publications moving to an online platform.

A Few Things to consider when submitting a blog or article to a publication

Your topic should be well researched
The format must be right for the publication it is being submitted to
Write passionately and for the reader
Edit, check, and Edit again !

We’ve done the hard work for you on the most popular sites to get published in the Yoga world.

Each link below will take you to the relevant page on the publications article submission requirements and guidelines. Always read the guidelines as each publication is different and unique in their own way, and could be looking for a certain style. I suggest that If you have a topic you are passionate about and want to write for a publication, first check out their guidelines before you start, so that you have a format to follow before you submit. It will save you from having to edit your work too much. Peruse the published articles of the publication you intend to submit to. It will give you a feel for the types of articles and style they are looking for.

Om Magazine – Head over to the Contact page and get in touch with the editor. When emailing an editor use the subject title – Article for your consideration.

Yoga Digest

Writing Tool Box

In this section you will find some really handy resources to help you on your journey as a writer or blogger. There’s a myraid of resources on the internet that offers support, from Facebook groups to writers Forums. We have chosen a few to help you get started.

Facebook Groups to link in to…

We Blog…A Blogging Community

Blogging Boost

Write On! Online

Yoga for the Runner

How Yoga gave me my all-round ‘personal best’ as a runner

~ by Gemma Young ~

I have been practicing yoga for many years and as a runner and someone who is fairly competitive, I tend to also have that competitive stance within me, even when on the mat. Not with others but with myself. Always wanting to push myself that little bit more each week, bend that little bit further, breathe that little bit deeper… the same goes for running. I am always striving for my personal best, always wanting to beat my last time.

However, practicing yoga with Laura in Southampton and the family of yogi’s has taught me how it is okay to sometimes enjoy the minimum, not get things perfect, be on the mat not to compete with myself, but to surrender myself to all that yoga has to offer my body, mind and soul. Learning and accepting this has been profound for me. The odd thing about it is that by doing regular yoga practice, learning to breathe deeply and correctly, connecting body and mind, and stretching and strengthening my body, has meant that I now run faster and longer than I ever have done!

The Yoga for Runners workshops comes highly recommended by me to enable runners to learn the basic techniques for breathing and those crucial stretches pre and post runs.

I will be running in the Bournemouth half marathon on Sunday 8th October for the wonderful Children’s charity, the NSPCC. Please feel free to visit my Just Giving page if you wish to make a contribution. Any donations would be very much appreciated and make a difference to this wonderful cause.

Check out my workshop page for details on our regular monthly Runners Workshop or send me an email me to book.

Yoga Relief for Neck & Shoulder Tension

As a Yoga Teacher in Southampton the most common grumble I hear from my students is neck and shoulder tension plus referred pain such as headaches. I’m always diving into my yoga tool box for the perfect yoga poses and yoga relief for neck and shoulder tension.

Neck and shoulder tension can be a source of much frustration for many of us. So often, especially at the end of a long hard day we really “feel” our neck and shoulders and this is just the time to get yourself to a yoga class in Southampton. The most common cause of neck and shoulder pain is stress, either emotional or physical stress, or sometimes just a combination of both. With hectic lifestyles and the constant strain of stress our physical bodies often pay the price.

The trapezius muscle group, which runs from your neck to shoulders, carries the most stress of anywhere in your body but what causes this tension?

Common Causes for Shoulder and Neck Pain

Stress

We often carry emotional stress which manifests itself in our physical bodies as muscular pain

Pulled muscles

Moving too quickly, or placing undue physical stress on the muscle can cause tears and pain

Bad Posture

Sitting or standing, with the head slightly forward, can cause stress on the trapezius muscle group. We call this the computer chin which juts forward.

Pressure

Carrying an object that puts strain on the muscle can result in aches and pains. Examples are bras, backpacks, or shoulder bags.

Holding positions

Positions that are held for a period, consistently, can cause stress in the trapezius muscle group, computer monitors in the wrong position or sleeping in the wrong position, are a few of the most common reasons.

Yoga Poses to relieve Shoulder and Neck Pain

Using Yoga as tool to relieve physical and emotional stress is just one of the many ways we can heal ourselves. Taking the time to relieve the stress of shoulder and neck pain can help to feel rejuvenated in the whole body.

Try this short video with yoga poses from Neck & Shoulder Tension. This video is just 6 mins long, try doing it daily for a week and see what happens . . .

If you’d like to learn and experience more I’m teaching a 2 Hour Yoga Workshop for Neck and Shoulder Tension in Southampton on Saturday 7^th October at 10am. More information here.