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Sal Flynn
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Sal Flynn began practicing yoga 25 years ago while working as a senior executive in the television industry, because she’d heard that yoga was useful for dealing with stress.
Sal has studied both eastern and western modalities in India and Australia. She holds a degree in counselling and human change, and is motivated to integrate the knowledge of modern psychotherapy with the ancient wisdom of yoga. As a certified yoga teacher, Sal has established several yoga therapy practices in Australia and spent three years as Head of Yoga Faculty for the Advanced Diploma of Yoga Teaching at Nature Care College, where she continues to lecture today.
Based in Sydney, Sal has a private counselling and yoga therapy practice, Stillmotion, which specialises in yoga and psychotherapy for stress and pain management. She also runs workshops and retreats in Sydney and Byron Bay.
Email: sflynn@stillmotion.net.au |
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Yoga – the restorative practice |
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Our bodies are a boundless field of energy, although at the end of a long day working at the office, chasing after the kids, or running endless errands, it may not feel that way! Yoga however helps us to access the most profound states of rest and renewal so that our waking hours are vibrant and we are able to lie down with ease and slip into deeply restorative sleep at the end of the day.
We modern humans are blessed with an extraordinarily adaptive nervous system that manages as much stimulation in a day as our primitive ancestors probably experienced in their entire lifetime. At any given moment our autonomic nervous system is either gearing up for action or gearing down for rest and renewal. But unfortunately, due to the unrelenting pace of modern life, most of us find it difficult to downshift even when we are physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted.
The practice of yoga includes postures, breathing exercises and meditation. Each day the simple act of getting onto the yoga mat invites us to enter a different world where for twenty minutes or an hour – or even just ten minutes! – we learn to rest our attention and reside in stillness.
The key to benefiting from yoga is to find a good teacher who can help you create a practice for your unique needs, and then do the practice regularly. Before bedtime you will gain remarkable benefit from the following safe and simple exercise that is an excellent way of letting go of the stress that accumulates in the course of a normal day.
Relaxation Exercise
- Lay on your back in the Shavanasa pose (hands at your sides, palms upward, feet slightly apart) on a firm surface.
- Place a bolster or a couple of pillows underneath your knees.
- Place an eye bag or a folded towel over your closed eyes.
- If necessary you can also place a pillow under your head.
- Take you mind’s attention to each part of your body, starting at your scalp and moving systematically toward your toes.
- Begin by softening your forehead, eyes, face, and jaw. Tensing and then releasing each muscle group helps tight muscles loosen, especially those in the neck and shoulders.
- Continue giving attention to each area of your body – the arms, the trunk, and the legs – until you reach your toes.
- Surrender to gravity.
Once you work your way down to your toes, stay in this relaxed state for a few minutes, letting the floor support you. Focus on your natural breathing, letting go of tension each time you exhale. Let your breath come from deep down inside, and let it flow smoothly, slowly, and evenly.
This simple exercise is a way of telling your mind and body that it is okay to stop thinking, working, and struggling. It will enable you to access the deep equanimity and peace that is the very fabric of our nature. |
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