Yoga, training and health inspiration for you

Yoga can be a great tool to improve physical and psychological symptoms as well as emotional health – learn more here! 

This is the second blog post in a series on living with cancer that I'll be writing the coming months. The introduction to these blog posts, and to me, can be found in the first one; To live with, after and next to cancer.

Ease the process with yoga

“I learned that, having been hit by the hammer of Western medicine to save my life, I needed complementary therapies like yoga to regain my health” – Pauline Fray, Yoga teacher and acute myeloid leukemia patient

No matter what your experience with cancer is, there is no denying that being diagnosed with cancer and going through treatment is tough, both physically and psychologically. It often means great physical suffering combined with an emotional roller coaster of uncertainty, anxiety, fear, depression, and loss of security and control.

Being a cancer patient, it’s easy to feel like a passenger in one’s own life. Life is put on hold when treatment takes all focus and behind the steering wheel are the doctors who decide what will happen to you and your body. Sometimes it’s like you’re not even in a car seat, but rather lying in the trunk of the car.

Yoga for body and mind

While the tough treatments breaking you down are necessary for survival, there are things you can do to ease the process. To cope with cancer and its treatment-related side effects and toxicities, the use of yoga is increasingly popular. It’s proving to be very beneficial. Studies show that yoga improve physical and psychological symptoms and improve emotional health and quality of life in cancer patients.

The great thing about yoga is that it offers a way for you to take part in your own treatment. The moving, breathing, and meditating that YOU do are what make you better equipped to deal with symptoms and side effects. Cancer patients are used to having things done to them and for them all the time. To actively do something for your own wellbeing is empowering and gives a sense of participation. You step out of the car’s trunk and go riding shotgun instead. With your own actions you can make yourself feel better and create conditions for body and mind to handle the tough treatments better.

You can affect your everyday life. Studies show that yoga not only increases quality of life, but relieves side effects, increases stress resilience, helps with depression and anxiety, and decreases pain. Yoga strengthens both body and mind since it focuses both on physical activity and have space for recovery and stress reduction through breathing- and relaxation practices.

Exercises for balance and strength

Below I have listed some classes and exercises directed to find more balance and strength in body and mind. While you sometimes notice an immediate effect, it’s often good to create a routine and repeat the exercises often to really reap the benefits. If you find a favorite, weave it into life. Yoga doesn’t only happen on the mat. Use the exercises in those moments where you need the effects they bring – like slow breathing while in chemo if that is a stressful situation for you, or the body scan while anxiously waiting for a test result.

Most of the suggested videos are in Swedish, for videos in English, check out the video library. 

MOVE

Doing physical yoga poses and sequences has many benefits. One is to reconnect with your body and gain better body awareness. When cancer is a fact so is changes in body and energy. Enter fatigue; loss of flexibility and strength; scars; loss of bodily functions; neuropathy; dizziness; the list is long. The mindfulness in yoga makes you aware of your body, how it feels, and how to move with respect of your current state and energy level.

After surgery, radiation or chemo, appropriate poses can realign scar tissue’s collagen strands and help the body to regain lost strength and flexibility and thus improve stability and balance. Yoga can also relieve joint and muscle aches that are common side effects from medications.

While some find breathing or seated meditation the perfect antidote to their anxiety, others find that stillness simply too agitating. The chatter in the mind is amplified. There is a need to get out of the head and onto the feet and feel the ground beneath. Here yoga poses and movement is great - not as a means of escape but as a way to calmly return to center.

Try one of our classes
Let Josefin Wikström guide you through a sequence that moves your whole body and brings you back to your body to regain stability and centeredness.

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During this class Milla shows how you can practice the same poses free on the mat or with a chair. That gives you a nice opportunity to adjust movements day to day depending on where in treatment you are and your energy levels.

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BREATHE

“Cancer took my breath away. Yoga gave it back” – Tari Prinster, founder of Yoga4Cancer and breast cancer survivor

The breath is said to be a mirror of our internal state. When the mind is calm the breath is calm, and when the mind gets agitated our breath follows. What’s awesome is that it’s a two-way street - changing the breath changes our internal landscape. Your breath is one of the best tools you have to work with your mental state.

Stressful events make us hold our breath and force it high up in the chest. Like a viscous cycle this kind of breath tells our bodies that we are under a threat, keeping the breath short and high up creating even more stress. Taking control of your breath, making it even and slow, puts you in the driver’s seat when it comes to dealing with stress and agitated emotions (you’re not even riding shotgun anymore!)

One reason for breathing practices’ effectiveness is its adaptability: Breathing practices can be done anywhere, anytime – in hospital beds; in treatment rooms; and during long, anxious periods of waiting for test results. And it can be done by people in all stages of illness or health.

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Practice to slow down your breath to become resilient to stress.

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Use this breathing and mindfulness practice to find center, focus, and calm when you feel overwhelmed.

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PAUSE

Just relax. Sounds easy enough, right? But we all know that’s not the case. Relaxation is something we might need to practice. A restful state doesn’t just appear on its own. It is many times a result of the modern way of living – always on the go; always online, reachable; always performing and achieving, doing something. It is for sure a result of the trauma of being diagnosed with cancer.

With stress levels being high, and being high for a prolonged period, resting and relaxation can be a challenge – but very important to practice. Learning how to pause and rest is vital to improve both physical, mental, and emotional health. Worry, anxiety, and fear thrive when the body is full of stress hormones. When we practice, and learn, how to enter a relaxed state, these emotions can’t get the same grip around us. It will lead to a calmer state of mind, and also improve sleep, which is often compromised in the presence of cancer.

Try one of our classes
This kind of relaxation, and other body scans, helped my boyfriend find calm when he had cancer, and has greatly helped me with my insomnia.

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Use this soft and easy sequence as a bedtime routine to help with relaxation and sleep.

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With the support of yogic breathing you can make small changes that lead to big ones. One breath at a time. Learn more about how the yogic practice of pranayama can work as an alternative method to cultivate well-being!

The health benefits of pranayama

Psychological distress and mental health difficulties
According to the World Health Organisation, mental health difficulties are a global issue. Studies conducted in the U.K., the U.S and in the Nordic countries, demonstrate that mental health difficulties and sources of psychological distress such as depression, anxiety and chronic stress are on the rise.

Adolescents and young adults seem to be suffering the most from these disorders, with suicide being the second leading cause of death in those aged 15-29. This matter needs to be taken seriously and acted upon. One way of doing this is to offer people in need the appropriate support through a variety of channels such as the national health care system, therapy work, community support groups, educational sources and self-care practices.

In recent years, alternative complementary therapies have been increasingly employed with people who are living with mental health difficulties. An example of this has been the integration of psychosomatic techniques such as yoga, dance and mindfulness meditation into therapy programmes, with the aim of improving people’s well-being. Studies show that people who are living with psychological difficulties can, in an attempt to support their healing process, draw from practices like yoga and mindfulness meditation to help improve their well-being. Furthermore, the findings of a ground-breaking journal article published in 2015 showed that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is equally effective as antidepressants in the prevention of depressive relapse.

With yoga- and mindfulness-based therapies as our central focus, this article will introduce the yogic practice of pranayama as an alternative method to cultivate well-being, and will discuss its potential health benefits for a person’s overall health.

What is pranayama?

Without breath, we cannot live. The flow of breath regulates the movement of the life force i.e. prana in our bodies; our breath thus keeps us alive and vibrant. According to yoga philosophy, prana brings movement to the mind and by altering the flow of prana, we can alter the state of our mind. In part 1 of this article series, I discussed how the breath functions and how one can establish more free and harmonious breathing. Pranayama is different in that it does not refer to our natural breathing. Rather, it refers to particular breathing exercises whereby you consciously alter your natural breathing pattern in a controlled manner. Pranayama can thus be used as a tool to regulate prana and is described in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali as follows:

• Pranayama is the conscious, deliberate regulation of the breath, replacing unconscious patterns of breathing (2.49).
• The regular practice of pranayama reduces the obstacles that inhibit clear perception.
• And the mind is now prepared for the process of direction toward a chosen goal (2.53).
  The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (Desikashar, 1995: 181-182)

Dos and don’ts when practicing pranayama

Pranayama can have a strong effect on the body and mind. Therefore, all breathing exercises should be practiced purposefully and carefully. I recommend that you practice pranayama with the guidance of an experienced teacher. Best is to practice on an empty stomach. Avoid drinking caffeinated drinks before or after the practice. Make sure to include a couple of minutes of supine rest after practicing pranayama, to relax your nervous system.

Each breathing exercise has a certain effect on the body and mind. The effect will differ from person to person. Some pranayamas are more challenging than others, as they can involve breath retention and quicker inhalations, and exhalations. Deep fast breathing, and/or holding the breath for a long time can be triggering for some people who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, or have experienced panic attacks or psychosis in the past. Therefore, pranayama should be practiced with great care.

If you experience discomfort, dizziness, or a lack of breath, stop immediately and return to your own natural breath. Less is more when practicing pranayama. If you live with a medical condition of some kind, then make sure you consult your doctor before trying these exercises.

Exploring the practice of pranayama

Pranayama is an experiential practice. For the purposes of this article, I will introduce two basic pranayama exercises that are suitable for both beginners, as well as advanced students. I will include a brief instruction video and describe the benefits associated with each exercise.

Brahmari – the humming bee breath
This exercise is appropriate for beginners, as there is no breath retention, alternation between nostrils, or counting of breaths. The practitioner goes at their own pace. The sound makes it easier to give the practitioner something to focus on and they can further assess their breathing more easily by evaluating the quality and evenness of the sound.

Instruction video, for free:

Benefits: Brahmari changes your normal breathing rhythm by shortening the inhalation and prolonging the exhalation through the “hmmm” sound. This can have a significant impact on our physiological system. Research demonstrates that brahmari can help decrease heart rate and lower blood pressure. It is also associated with enhanced cognitive control and response inhibition. Brahmari can help to balance the autonomic nervous system, and induce the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps us to calm down. It can be practiced for mental relaxation and stress reduction.

Nadi Shodana – alternate nostril breathing
Alternate nostril breathing is a gentle exercise for the beginner, as well as the advanced student. Clear the nostrils before starting the exercise to ensure good airflow. The synchronisation of hand movements with the breath can be confusing at first. Give it a bit of time and practice to master.

Instruction video, for free:

Benefits: This exercise has shown to have a balancing effect on the activity of the two cerebral hemispheres, providing a more balanced state of mind and an improved attention span. Additionally, nadi shodana has shown to increase the amplitude of P300 – a brain wave that concerns cognitive function in decision making processes, helps one to discriminate between different stimuli, and affects attention and memory.

Our P300 is affected by our emotions and can decline in amplitude if we experience emotional distress. Alternate nostril breathing can reduce autonomic arousal and lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure rates, as well as increase one’s vital capacity, which improves overall wellbeing. With lower levels of arousals and anxiety, one can assume that this supports participants in feeling more relaxed, thus also increasing the amplitude of P300. Therefore, alternate nostril breathing helps one to concentrate better and to improve one’s performance in tasks requiring attention.

Contribute to your own healing and well-being
Our body has an innate capacity to heal and re-balance itself. Through the support of yogic breathing, conducted in a safe and responsible way, we can consciously contribute to this healing through our own initiative. Follow these videos on a daily basis and take note of how they make you feel. Small changes can lead to big ones. One breath at a time.

A social mission as well as an individual one
I wish to acknowledge that supporting the healing of people living with mental illness is a societal mission, as well as an individual commitment. It is not sufficient to put the sole responsibility on the person who is suffering, expecting them to be able to deal with their mental health difficulties by themselves.

Mental illness is a social issue that needs to be addressed not only by the individual person, but also within larger social structures, such as workplaces, schools, social and natural environments, social media, and so forth. Yoga can be a great tool to support us in coping with different stressors, and to help us improve our immune system. However, it alone is not a panacea for the characterisation and treatment of mental illness. Rather, we must work together to develop more comprehensive and tailor-made interventions for each individual, whilst addressing the roots of mental distress, which lie in an unequal social system, and its corresponding stigmas.

Read more

• Exploring the breath – part 1, by Eleonora Ramsby Herrera.
• Learn more about Pranayma through the online course The Art of Breathing!
• Prāṇa - does it really exist? by Simon Krohn.

References

• WHO, 2018
• Mental Health Foundation UK, 2018
• American Psychological Association, 2019
• Nordic Council of Ministries, 2018
• Pilkington et al. 2005
• Van der Kolk, 2015
• Van der Kolk et al. 2014: Rhodes, 2015: Price et al. 2017
• Kuyken et al. 2015
• Kuppusamy et al. 2018
• Telles, Singh, & Puthige, 2013
• Singh, Gaurav, & Parkash, 2011

How does your diaphragm work – and how does your posture affect your breathing? This first article of two about the breath – explains how the breath functions works and how to breathe in a more easeful way.

Exploring the breath: A two-part article series by Eleonora Ramsby Herrera

This series consists of two articles, which discuss the practice of breathing in yoga, and its effects on our overall well-being. The first article introduces the Sanskrit word Prana and the connection between Prana and the breath. It explains how the breath functions and how to breathe in a more easeful way that is in accordance with the body’s natural function. The second article is a continuation that explains the practice of pranayama and its effects on mental health. 

Exploring the breath: Part 1

Learning how to breathe – Introduction
In yoga philosophy, our breath can be seen as the physical manifestation of prana. Prana can be considered the life force of the universe and can be translated as “to breathe forth” (Rosen, 2017). Through the breath we receive the force of energy that brings life to our being; without the breath, there can be no life. This article highlights the function of the breath and how to cultivate a healthy breath that is in harmony with the physical body, both in everyday life and during yoga practice.

The diaphragm: The conductor of breath

Our main breathing muscle is called the diaphragm. What follows is an explanation of where the diaphragm is located in the body, how it works and why. It is important to be aware of the positioning of the diaphragm and its movement in order to understand how the breath moves and what happens in our body as we breathe. This awareness also informs us how our posture can affect our breath and how we can improve both our breath and our posture, to cultivate freer breathing.

The diaphragm is the muscle that drives our breath. Imagine the diaphragm as a thin circular mushroom-like cap that sits between the thoracic and the abdominal cavity. It is attached along the inner rim of the ribcage (cartilage of the bottom six ribs) and the front of the spine (anterior part of vertebrae L1-L3), where it contracts and relaxes continually to keep the breath flowing in and out of the lungs.

On an inhalation the diaphragm contracts downwards, causing the lungs to expand as they fill with air. The expansion of the lungs results in the expansion of the ribcage. The downward pressure of the diaphragm simultaneously causes the abdomen to relax and bulge out. On an exhalation, the diaphragm lifts upwards towards the base of the lungs, causing the abdomen to subtly engage and draw back in the direction of the spine and, as air leaves the lungs, the thoracic cavity to decrease in volume.

Good to know about the diaphragm

• The circular shape of the diaphragm causes the breath to move three-dimensionally across the front, side, and back of the chest and abdomen. The breath does not just happen at the frontside of the body.

• The position of the diaphragm causes the movement of a natural and uncontrolled breath, both in the chest and abdominal cavity. The breath does not just happen in one place.

• When we inhale, the diaphragm moves down, causing the abdomen to relax and bulge out. We do not keep our abdominals tight and “sucked in” on a constant basis. If we do, it will restrict the breath.

• When we exhale, the diaphragm moves up, causing the abdomen to slightly contract and draw inwards; the spine lengthens and lifts while receiving support from the abdominals. Emphasising this movement helps you to “grow taller” on the exhale.

• The breath can be seen as a shape-changing movement (Kaminoff and Matthews, 2012). Thus, the breath can be understood, seen and felt as a rhythmically pulsating force of energy. The breath moves the body. Thus, the body is never stagnant or kept in a fixed shape.

The posture’s influence on breathing

The movement of the body also impacts the breath. If our shoulders and chest slouch forward, it causes tension in the surrounding muscles, while compressing the ribcage forward and down, causing tension in the muscles in between the ribs. A shortened and rounded spine compresses the diaphragm and the abdomen, which limits the movement of the diaphragm and inhibits our capacity to breathe with ease.

If the diaphragm is not able to do its job properly, the surrounding muscles around the chest and shoulders start to “take over”, causing the breath to become superficial, which can create tension in the neck, shoulders and chest. This can trigger the sympathetic nervous system, leaving you in a state of stress.

Good to know about the breath

• You can re-train and improve your breathing pattern by improving your posture.

• Stretching the muscles surrounding the neck, shoulders, chest and ribcage can help “free up your breath” so that you can breathe with more ease.

• Strengthening the postural muscles around your back can help you maintain a long spine and an upright posture.

• The breath is not constant, it changes all the time depending on the body’s activity and your emotional state.

• A common misconception, especially in yoga classes, is that the breath should be kept at a similar pace at all times i.e. that if we can keep our breath constant, no matter how strenuous our yoga practice is, then we are “doing it right”. This is not the case. A healthy breath adapts to the body’s metabolic needs. This means that your breath will adapt depending on what physical movements and activities that you do. If you are resting in the couch reading a book, your breath will be quiet and hardly noticeable. If you have just finished a massive sprint, then you will naturally be gasping for air, taking quick shallow breaths. Your breath does not remain the same.

• Your breath also changes depending on how you move your body, and this becomes apparent when practising yoga movements.

Good to know about breathing and different movements

• When practising deep twists where the abdomen is compressed to a great degree, your breath will become restricted, causing the breath to shorten and become shallower.

• When practising backbends, the pull of the spine on the diaphragm, and the deep stretch of the muscles of the chest and ribcage makes it harder to take deep breaths. Shorter shallow breaths are therefore necessary.

• If you’re resting on your back, your postural muscles can relax making it easier to take deeper slower breath with less effort.

• If you are sitting upright on the floor, your postural muscles are required to engage more to resist gravity and keep the spine upright. This makes it more effortful to breathe.

• If you do abdominal work such as planks or sit-ups, you allow the inhalation to release the contraction in the abdomen, and contract the abdominals on the exhalation.

Easy body – easy breath, and vice versa

We now know that our breath moves our body, and that the movement of our body affects how we breathe, as well as the sensation of the breath. If we can approach our breath and movement as two co-existing forces, we will start to notice that they both always work together. Thus, the key is to cultivate a harmonious relationship between breath and body, to experience greater freedom and ease in ourselves as a whole. One breath at a time.

In my next article, Exploring the breath: part 2, I will introduce the practice of pranayama and its effects on mental health.

Read more

• Creating a space for the wild birds to settle down, by Eleonora Ramsby Herrera.
• Breathe life into your life – part 1, by Ulrica Norberg.
• In Swedish: Andas i harmoni, av Linus Johansson.

References

• Intelligent Yoga: Listening to the body’s innate wisdom.
• Yoga Anatomy.
• Yoga FAQ: Almost everything you need to know about yoga – from asanas to yamas.
• Anatomy, Abdomen and Pelvis, Diaphragm.

Videos on breathing

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It's not about doing, it's about being. Asana is about settling in, surrendering. By really focusing on this in your yin yoga practice as well as your yang, flow, practice, you provide your body with support to really release tension. When you relax – the doors will start to open. So stop forcing and start letting go.

Don't push it

In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali writes: Slacken the tension born in your effort and fuse yourself with the current of life force within.

In other words, we must realize our limits in an asana and then back off, cut ourselves some slack. Don't push the posture to the limit. If we keep pushing the limit, going to one hundred percent and beyond, we are only going to run into more and more resistance. This is not only dangerous and can lead to injury, it is also counterproductive in terms of what we want to achieve. The thing is, when you stop forcing things and stop being aggressive, when you just give in and relax, that's when the doors are going to open. When we relax and let go, only then are we united with the life force, with prana. This is how you let go of deep tension in your connective tissue and fascia.

The concept of holding a posture is actually quite wrong. It's not about doing, it's about being. Asana is about settling in, surrendering. This way we can really benefit from asana. The true yogi is actually a lazy one ;), the asana is supposed to be a humble offering, not a show-piece. Instead of holding the pose, think of being held by the pose.

Slow down the flow
Your issues are in your tissues, as they say, and it takes an estimate of three to five minutes of holding a pose to fully penetrate the superficial muscle tissue layer, and to access the deeper layer of connective tissue and fascia. A slower practice not only makes for a deeper physical, but also a deeper emotional release. Yin yoga practice is all about this. But I encourage you to try to go there with a more yang style practice as well.

Slow the flow down. It should take a very long time to get into a pose. Allow yourself this time. Enjoy it, explore it and let it teach you. Marinating in a pose for a long time allows you to go deeper. There is a tendency in us to rush things. We only briefly stop in an asana and then proceed to the next one. In this type of dynamic practice, the heart pumps faster and internal heat is generated. This heat allows for the muscles to stretch more. Post-practice, endorphins are released and we feel good and relaxed. This is great, but it only goes so far. Once the muscles cool down, they shrink back to their resting length. Eventually the endorphins wear down. This kind of practice might only be skin deep, not penetrating the consciousness deeper and not calming the mental fluctuations.

Learn to listen to your body
After the prolonged hold, a phenomena called the Golgi tendon reflex (named after the italian anatomist Camillo Golgi) kicks in. In this, a neuron in the muscle tendon sends an impulse to the spine and the central nervous system. The central nervous system then sends it back to the muscle and that leads to the relaxation of the muscle and surrounding fascia. Prior to this, when we stretch a muscle for a short time, the muscle tries to resist the stretch by contracting to prevent the joints from overextending and the muscle tissue from tearing. The feeling of release associated with the Golgi tendon reflex is characteristically preceded by trembling, change in body temperature, sweating and emotional upset.

It is highly beneficial to the yoga practitioner to recognize these symptoms and their origin. When you encounter these feelings, observe them calmly, air them with your breath, recognize their nature and remember that they are going to pass. Embrace the steadiness and ease, let go of the resistance and give in. Trust yourself to the current of life and let it carry you. When we loosen our grip and let go, the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in and we experience profound mental, physical and emotional release. What follows is a deeper and calmer meditative state.

When you let go of the idea of trying to arrive somewhere, you can settle into the pose, just be there and explore. Don't hurry. Don't anticipate. Ultimately every asana, Yin or Yang, is a chance for meditation.

Read more

• Breathe life into your life - part 1, by Ulrica Norberg.
• How to understand yoga through gravity, by Frida Starvid.
• Prana - does it really exist? by Simon Krohn.

Release tension with yin online

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If you - like me - absolutely love to travel this might have already, or it soon will, cross your mind. Traveling has some many faces: Excitement & love, challenges & growth, friendship & laughter, loneliness & fear. It’s a great teacher – but is it a sustainable way of life?

Aligning with more sustainable habits

It’s easy to point fingers when talking about traveling and flying. At the same time it's hard to be “politically correct” in todays society. The short answer to the question whether traveling is a sustainable way of life, could be a simple ’no’. But I’ll explore that ’no’ just a little bit through this article.

Perhaps you - like me - have been aligning your life with more sustainable habits as you’ve reacted to how our often destructive, often unconscious, behaviour is f*cking up our dear planet.

• Maybe you’ve cut down on eating meat or completely took that out of your diet.
• Maybe you’re using less plastic by saying no to straws and bringing your own bag to the supermarket.
• Is that oat milk in your latte instead of the good old cow version?
• You’re going to second hand stores realising that you don’t need the newest version of everything and that five t-shirts - not fifty - is enough.
• I have to admit, it feels good to align with these habits, I feel lighter in my mind, body and spirit from all the de-cluttering, both on my plate and in my closet.

Some changes comes naturally – others don't
But I don’t want to be a hypocrite. Some changes come naturally and when they don’t, turning a blind eye wont solve the matter. It’s always hard changing a habit. Even though change is the most natural thing, it’s one of the things we resist the most.

When writing this I’m sitting in my lofty shorts and with no shirt on a beautiful island in the Andaman Sea. Trainings and work opportunities brought me here, and unlike my friend Eva Eriksson who rode a bike around the planet I didn’t bike here - I flew.

As a freelancing Yoga teacher and massage therapist many of the happenings I’m interested in takes place all around the world. When earlier this year I was taking one of those ‘How-much-carbon-dioxide-do-you-emit’ tests I - not entirely un-smug - answer the lowest alternative to most questions, then came the final question: How many hours did you fly during last year?

Turns out flying brings up your carbon footprint quite a bit.

I’m currently being torn between the urge to learn exiting techniques and meeting inspiring people around the world and staying put in Sweden, simply for the sake of not adding to my carbon footprint. Especially I feel a responsibility as a yoga teacher, often talking in my classes about different aspects of Ahimsa (non-violence) and aparigraha (non-greed). And if we don’t practice, we should not preach - don’t judge a man until you’ve walked in his shoes.

Traveling inspires and engages

As the years have passed, flying has become vastly more efficient than it used to be, but at the same time the amount of people flying has increased dramatically. Should we be worried? Well yes. I think we should. But should we ’say no’ to flying? This could potentially be a really, really long discussion but I’ll keep it short here.

Rather than pretending it’s not a problem I like to bring it up for discussion and bring it into light and I welcome your opinion as well. I’ve been fortunate to meet some of the most inspiring people out there; pioneers in taking on environmental and cultural problems. Whether it's building sustainable housing, cleaning the oceans from plastic, building support groups for abused women, these people have gotten there by going out into the world and taking action.

Traveling does this splendidly. It inspires, it motivates, it engages. I’ve seen this again and again.

In this day and age when we’re seriously planning manned missions to Mars and where cars, (and soon probably airplanes) drive themselves, I think the necessary step is not one backwards, but forward with awareness.

If we bring awareness and openness into the discussion, we have a chance to strive forward looking for possible solutions to the issue rather than losing ourselves in a game of pointing fingers – It’s their fault! No problem has ever been solved by pointing out whose fault it is - instead, take ownership.

Bringing awareness into your actions

I keep coming back to that - like with everything - we should watch our behaviour. “Why am I doing this” is always a great question to ask yourself. Do I really need this thing or this experience or could I reach the desired feeling in another, more sustainable way? Simply by bringing awareness into your actions you’ll naturally make wiser - and closer to heart decisions. And sometimes the answers will be a little uncomfortable.

Recently for me this came in the form of an offer to teach in Costa Rica at a yoga/surf camp for a month. It all sounded great with a beautiful Shala overlooking the ocean but going twelve time zones away, to do this I would have to cross half the face of planet earth, for a single month...I simply couldn’t justify it. I had to say no.

Just like with your closet where cluttered shelves will just drain your energy, one or two trips with purpose might serve you better than ten different ones simply because you can.

A mantra that truly resonates with me comes to mind; less is more. I’d like to take a stand for doing what you can and doing your best without telling people what they should do. You can’t teach anyone anything, they have to do that themselves.

I think it’s possible that people I’ve come to know on my travels with the world as their work place contribute less to global warming than a typical urban citizen. Especially if you take into account the accumulated effects in the long run, thinking for generations to come not only how it effects us today.

Giving back more than you’re using in the long run is the key, and remember, there are many ways to give and only you know which way is best for you. And how will you know if you don’t get out there and try. See which ones you fail at, which ones you're better at, try them again and gradually find your own gift to give this world. Growth only comes through experience, you can't skip the experience.

Read more

• Managing hardship through connection, by Eleonora Ramsby Herrera.
• A farewell to emotional harms, by Frida Starvid.
• Breathe life into your life - part 1, by Ulrica Norberg.

About Stefan Ericsson

As a full-time freelancing Yoga Teacher and massage therapist Stefan wholeheartedly dedicates his time to learning about the human body and how we with playfulness can tap into our own inherent power. From the Himalayas to Hawaii he has collected inspiration from the cultures encountered along the way and today he teaches a style that respects, plays with, and challenges all body types.

Yoga has been a mayor influencer to the way Stefan lives his life today. All areas of life including the way he eats, dresses, dances & moves. Sharing this with his students is a true gift, and seeing all the different ways the knowledge impacts people from all walks of life is nothing short of amazing. The styles of practice that appeals to him the most is hatha, yin and vinyasa for those days you just want to play and sweat. If you want to know more about where Stefan teaches you can find his classes here or follow him at Instagram.

Can you be steady but still soft and relaxed? These are traits that really can help when you are leading, especially a group of kids. Yoga teacher and author Helen Larsson tells you more about a playful way to lead.

Lead in a steady yet playful way

I love the concept of sthira-sukham from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which means steady but at ease. I also love to explore how I can take what I experience and learn on the yoga mat into everyday life. How can we be steady, focused, aware and awake in all that we do, but still be at ease, gentle, soft and relaxed.

 I like to play with this and it’s so useful.

For instance the other day, when I was riding. The horse needs you to take the lead but if you become rigid, inflexible and harsh it will protest. The other way around, if you are too soft and yielding the horse won’t listen to you at all. It’s also really helpful in my work as a kid’s yoga teacher.

When I started, more than six years ago, I wasn’t good at the sthira-part. I was way too flexible and lacked the steadiness. The kids felt that and tested me in many ways, which was a great learning ground. Children just like horses need to feel that you are the leader, but if you get rigid and too strict they will start hating yoga. They need you to be steady but in a playful, fun and relaxed way.

You can apply this to anything. To the way you walk to work, the way you clean your house, the way you speak when you have an important presentation to do, to the way you sit in front of the computer and so on and so forth.

So, will you play with me, right now, whatever you are doing? See if you can be steady but at the same time soft and relaxed. How does it feel?

 One thing that works for me when I become to rigid is smiling. And forget about perfection, it’s boring.

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More about Helen

Helen has practiced and studied yoga for almost 25 years. She teaches yoga for all ages and specializes in yoga for children and yoga for stress management and recovery. Helen also holds workshops and trainings in children's and teenage yoga and has written a book on children's yoga in Swedish, "Yoga with children" (Lava Publisher).

Can feelings as anxiety be a substitute for something we are too scared to encounter? For yoga teacher Frida Starvid anxiety had been a loyal companion for a long time. After hearing about a theory called Affect phobia she started digging deep into herself. What other feelings can hide there under our anxiety?

Anxiety seen as a substitute feeling

“Anguish, anguish is my heritage, the wound of my throat, the cry of my heart in the world…” The year is 1916, and the Swedish poet Per Lagerkvist, then 25, is ridden by existential angst (you might know Per – he recieved the Nobel Prize in Literature after 11 years of active membership in the Swedish Academy; another depressing story but in a different way.)

Almost a century later, I was 30 and also burdened by anxiety. During the previous years, I´d had moments in places where the light of living was overwhelming only in its absence. Sure, I had a good degree and a pretty decent CV. I was brave and free, had an exciting job and was travelling the world. But the flipside was that I felt emotionally detached. Close relationships were very challenging, and I often found myself lost; lacking some unspoken direction.

Then one day around Christmas of 2011 I overheard a conversation between my mother and her friend, and something caught my attention: “… in McCullough´s theory, anxiety is not seen as a real emotion or affect per se. Instead, anxiety seems to be a substitute feeling, produced in order to cover up or defend oneself from another emotion that one is too scared to encounter…” I looked up, contemplating what I´d just heard. My anxiety had been a loyal companion for a long time, and it defined my inner workings to a large degree. What my mum´s friend had said flipped a huge coin for me. It would just take some time and research before it finally dropped.

Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy

In short McCulloughs theory is about analysing psychological issues, proposing that most of their causes are related to conflicts about feelings, or affects. The theory, called affect phobia, was developed mainly by Leigh McCullough, Director of the Psychotherapy Research program at Harvard University. Through extensive clinical research, the method is well proven to work for a variety of psychological diagnoses, and sorts under a strand of therapy called STDP – Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy. From its name, you´ll gather that the durational factor is important – the goal is to get substantial improvement, the sooner the better. You work with concrete formulations of your issues, and the therapist plays an active role. There´s no beating around the bush, no silent nods. Essentially, it´s not much Freud and very little bullshit.

Avoidance of undesired feelings

Affect phobia – a fear of feelings - is explained by the fact that as small children, it´s our caretaker´s responsibility to mirror and validate our emotions. Their job is to help us understand what we´re feeling and guide us how to constructively act based on these emotions. Since no parents are flawless, however, most of us learned that some emotional expressions were less welcome than others. Perhaps you had a father who got very uncomfortable when you cried – you´d soon learn that showing sadness wouldn´t score you any attachment points; you´d probably swallow your tears and give him your best smile instead. Or perhaps you had an older sibling who acted scornful if you became overly excited about something – you will likely refrain from openly bursting with joy in the future and instead act indifferent. For small children, adaptation is a game of survival.

In this way, we establish a set of defences to help us avoid undesired feelings, and these patterns persist through adulthood. Interestingly, our defences can express themselves as thoughts (for example thoughts of self-contempt), behaviours (perhaps constant doing and achieving) or in the form of other emotions. In a typical example, someone who doesn´t dare to show grief covers up by becoming very angry. And anxiety belongs to this category, as a primordial catch-all shield.

Do you dare to really feel?

It all sounds pretty simple, but it´s decidedly complex. As the rigorous person I am, I went and bought a book – Treating Affect Phobia, a text book for psychotherapists by McCullough et.al – and started reading. After 50 pages I realized that I am indeed no therapist, but that I had to go and get myself one, now that I knew what I needed. And then, with the help of Leif Havnesköld (one of the most experienced affect therapists in Sweden, now sadly passed) I started untangling my inner life. There was stuff in there I had no idea existed, as most of my feelings – both negative and positive – had been buried under a heavy load of shame. And many of my defence responses were so automatized that my first step was to identify them and learn to hinder myself before they set in.

In the end, emotions are what makes us feel alive. We live in an era still heavily influenced by Descartian thought – I think, therefore I am – and when emotional openness is encouraged, such as in opinion-driven social media, we tend to forget that many feelings are not ”pure”, but rendered through a filter of personal experience. If we honestly don´t want to let our one-year-old selves rule our world, I hereby – joyfully and shamelessly – encourage everyone to do a bit of psychological digging.

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Read more

• What I talk about when I talk about yoga, by Frida Starvid f.d. Boström
• On the Pursuit of Slackness, by Frida Starvid f.d. Boström
• Yin & Restorative: The art of pausing – part 1, by Ulrica Norberg

About Frida

Frida Starvid f.d. Boström is a Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Rocket and Yin teacher (200+140 hr), educated in India, Sweden and Spain. She started off as an architect but after a burnout she decided to shift careers. Her first trip to an ashram in India in 2015 led to many more, and evoked her already existing curiosity about philosophy and meditation, as well as fun and physically challenging yoga. Frida gives regular classes and assists at yoga teacher educations in Sweden and abroad. Read more about Frida at her website or follow her at Instagram: @frida_bostrom

How can yoga and the yoga community can help us to heal in a world that from time to time undenaibly will be changelling? Through yoga and the yoga community we can, with practice and time, learn to master the waves of life, while simultaneously enjoying the moments when we reach calm waters.

The balancing act that is life

Being human means having to encounter endless challenging waves that, more often than not, arrive uninvited into our life space. There is no way around these waves. Once we come out of one wave and the water of life calms down, it is only a matter of time before another wave arrives and challenges our strength and ability to remain above the surface. Should we live our lives in fearful anticipation of the next wave to strike? In truth, doing so would not give us much space to enjoy the richness of beauty and love that life has to offer. Instead, we can learn, little by little, to become better swimmers and to master each wave as it comes our way, while simultaneously enjoying the moments when we reach calm waters.

Hardship co-exists with enjoyment and satisfaction, love co-exists with loss, trust co-exists with fear, and in the same way movement co-exists with stillness. So too does an active lifestyle co-exist with times of recovery and rest. However, this co-existence is a continuous balancing act that requires the ability to self-regulate through awareness and conscious action. The demands of daily life can easily overwhelm us. Thus, maintaining a balanced life can feel unachievable at times. Perhaps, it may be of some comfort to know that balance in and of itself, is never a static moment in time, but an ongoing movement involving listening and adjusting to present circumstances.

Balance requires focus and strength, as well as breath and softness. It requires courage and trust and a great deal of patience. It can remain inside us in the eye of the storm and in the depth of the dark waters. In times of stress and hardship, yoga can serve as a helpful tool that brings us closer to balance. The practice of yoga offers a space and opportunity to slow down and to take care of our body-mind-heart relationship. Additionally, it can help to improve our interoceptive awareness and ability to listen to our bodies’ needs, so that we can better manage and regulate our physical sensations, psychological mood states and autonomic balance. Thus, yoga does not only have the potential to make us feel better and more balanced, but also, to teach us how to do so.

The nurturing influence of yoga
A growing field of empirical studies are examining the influence of yoga on people in workplaces, in schools and in primary healthcare. These studies show that yoga reduces perceived stress and anxiety, while improving one’s ability to manage stress and situations of distress. Additionally, studies suggest that yoga further improves aspects of well-being such as positive affect, feelings of peace, focus and endurance, self-confidence, life purpose and clarity of mind. In addition to this, an important element that is often overlooked in studies like these, as well as in discourses on yoga, is the positive influence that a yoga community can bring.

The social element of people coming together in a safe and welcoming space where social relationships can be developed and nurtured offers another layer of support and connection, which in turn cultivates the circumstance for transformational growth. Yoga is a practice that is both individual and relational; a practice that has the potential to bring us closer to ourselves and to our loved ones. Furthermore, in times of hardship, the practice of yoga, interweaved with the support and connection with people around us, is crucial to keeping us afloat and making us stronger. Love as a form of connection (yoga i.e. union) is the answer to it all. Choose love.

We work too hard.
We’re too tired to fall in love.
Therefore we must overthrow the government.

We work too hard.
We’re too tired to overthrow the government.
Therefore we must fall in love.

– Rod Smith, “Pour le CGT”

References

• Hartfiel, N., Havenhand, J., Khalsa, S. B., Clarke, G., & Krayer, A. (2011) ’The Effectiveness of Yoga for the Improvement of Well-being and Resilience to Stress in the Workplace’, Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 37, 1, pp.70-76.

• Köhn, M., Persson Lundholm, U., Bryngelsson, I., Anderzen-Carlsson, A., & Westerdahl, E. (2013) ‘Medical Yoga for Patients with Stress-Related Symptoms and Diagnoses in Primary Health Care: A Randomized Controlled Trial’, Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2013.

• Noggle, J., Steiner, N., Minami, T., & Khalsa, S. B. (2012) ‘Benefits of Yoga for Psychosocial Well-Being in a US High School Curriculum: A Preliminary Randomized Controlled Trial’, Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 33, 3, pp.193-201.

• Prasad, L., Varrey, A., & Sisti, G. (2016) ’Medical Students’ Stress Levels and Sense of Well Being after Six Weeks of Yoga and Meditation’, Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 16.

• Sarkissian, M., Trent, N., Huchting, K., & Khalsa, S. B. (2018) ’Effects of a Kundalini Yoga Program on Elementary and Middle School Students’ Stress, Affect and Resilience’, Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 39, 3, pp. 210-216.

• Wolever, RQ., Bobinet, KJ., McCabe, K., Mackenzie, ER., Fekete, E., Kusnick, CA., & Baime, M. (2012) ‘Effective and Viable Mind-Body Stress Reduction in the Workplace: A Randomized Controlled Trial’, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 17, 2, pp. 246-258.

Photo: Talitha Gamaroff

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