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Ever wondered why I chose Restorative Yoga for my Wednesday classes?
Do you feel that lying around relaxing is a waste of time and is not productive?
You are not alone. I received this feedback from a few of you and thought that Restorative Yoga deserved more clarification.
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With a parent, a friend, a colleague, a neighbour. It’s about one-on-one interactions. What is fun?
Am I creative?
What is a healthy relationship?
How do I interact with individuals?
What is a healthy food, what is a beautiful body, what is home?
Do I belong to my tribe (be it family, friends, colleagues, classmates). Do I feel safe and accepted in my body, home, and community?
Have you ever thought of your body being a computer?
Brain - is our Processor (manager)
Liver - Antivirus scan (filtering)
Large intestine - Display (output)
Heart - Battery (engine)
Immune system - Firewall (protection)
Stomach - Keyboard (input)
Nervous system - Cables (connect Processor with the rest)
Our spine is like a tube through which all the cables run and it is crucial to keep it safe and aligned so that not one can get jammed for the information to circulate freely.
Almost in every class, I challenge my students to go down from standing to sit down on the floor without using their hands or knees. This simple transition requires muscle tone, hip mobility, and balance.
Ever since I discovered that this simple skill reflects on how long we are going to live, I started integrating elements of it into my classes. There are a few transitions and exercises that I teach in almost every class to help my students live longer.
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It all started 11 years ago…
When for the first time in my ashtanga practice I did a deep backbend assisted by a friend, came out of it and started sobbing uncontrollably.
My friend asked me why I cried. I said I did not know. But she persisted.
“Of course you know!”, she exclaimed.
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In a snap of a finger, my world was turned upside down. One moment I was coming out of my class feeling elated because two people gave me such beautiful feedback, thanked me and said they were my fans. And a moment later I was in my car driving to pick up Dan from school and sobbing at my loss.
You would say that an Emotional Release Yoga Teacher would know better and will do what she preaches straight away - do the practice of Emotional Release!
Well, she did not…Not straight away anyway.
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The power of Manifesting is something I have learned by myself through meditation practice and now I teach this process to others through Emotional Release Yoga.
I use this tool all the time. There is always something I want to manifest either for myself or those close to me.
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I was 30 and I was angry.
It was a rough patch of my life. A relationship of 11 years just fell apart and I quit my corporate job. I had very little money because I started a business - Astanga Yoga School Amsterdam.
I was sad and could no longer put a happy smile on my face. And when I finally admitted to my parents that I wasn’t doing well, they could not take it so well, too. The easy go-lightly Madina wasn’t there and it was hard on them.
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Last week I taught restorative and yin classes sequenced around liver - gallbladder meridians.
With anger being the main emotion associated with this pair of organs, I feel there is so much to talk about this misunderstood emotion.
To me more often then not, anger is a a secondary cover-up emotion that stems from powerlessness. That’s when I can’t voice my needs, put up boundaries, change my attitude or claim my power.
This inability is often related to my unwillingness to be disciplined, to address my patterns and limiting beliefs.
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We all know this blissed out feeling of coming out of a class being whole, complete, balanced, tuned up. A good class for me is when I get up from savasana and have no urge to do one more pose. I do not want one more little stretch or another handstand. It is when my whole body was addressed and my mind cleared.
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