The “Core Four” or “Inner Unit”

Therapeutic Yoga for Pelvic Health – Workshop
This 3-hour workshop is for anyone interested in pelvic health either as a prevention or in support of conditions such as low-back pain, pelvic pain, incontinence, or prolapse. Participants should be able to get up and down to the floor and prepared to look at anatomy models and illustrations of the pelvis and lower back. Participants will gain a better understanding of the muscles, bone structure, connective tissue and ligaments that need to work together for optimal pelvic health. Participants will also improve their awareness about posture and how it can influence breathing, pain, body mechanics and alignment. The workshop starts with 1.5 hours introduction to pelvic health and how yoga therapy can support you. After a short break there will be a guided therapeutic yoga practice followed by closing Q&As. Participants will get a hand-out and take-home sheet to continue their practice at home.

Yoga for Improving Your Balance – Workshop
In this 3-hour workshop you will learn safe and gentle approaches from the “Yoga tool box” that improve your balance, increase stability and build strength and confidence. Balance is an important part of fall prevention especially for older adults and people with moderately impacted mobility. Therapeutic yoga offers techniques and tools that include mindful movements and breathing to support core stability and lower body strength. This focus informs a safe practice that helps to address fear of falling while supporting increased confidence. The light-hearted yet solid approach of Regina’s teaching style combined with her experience as a certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT) makes this workshop accessible without previous knowledge of Yoga. Techniques are explained followed by practices that will be adapted to individual needs. Participants will be encouraged to use their “take home sheet” and integrate simple practices in their everyday living.

Yoga Therapy for Pain Management
An almost private Yoga Therapy series for those living with persistent or chronic pain that follows recent scientific understanding of pain education and how Yoga Therapy can support comprehensive integrative pain management.
Yoga Therapy offers tools and practices that allow movement recovery through awareness, discernment and self-regulation. You will learn gentle safe movements, breath awareness, relaxation techniques and self-compassionate mindfulness tools that help with how your thoughts, emotions and energy relate to pain and what you can to do to find more ease.
In this series you will:

Cultivate awareness of all body dimensions
Relate to yourself with self-compassion
Identify with your whole self -beyond persistent pain
Learn tools for self-reflection
Feel empowered through a renewed sense of wholeness
Leave with a personalized practice for home

“Evidence exists for the benefits of yoga therapy, … At least in terms of cost and efficiency there may be benefit in providing one intervention that positively addresses body and mind and focuses on an overall well-being, quality of life, and flourishing within one’s life circumstances.” (White Paper: Yoga Therapy and Pain – How Yoga Therapy Serves in Comprehensive Integrative Pain Management, and How It Can Do More. International Journal of Yoga Therapy – No.30,2020)

Yoga Therapy for Back Care
Suitable for people with chronic back issues including low back pain, osteoporosis, arthritis and sciatica. The focus is on building confidence and a sense of safety to support a healthy back. Depending on your needs this may include building strength and increasing flexibility.
Benefits:

Adapt your practice to your needs
Enhance your body-mind connection
Learn to release tight and tense muscles
Safely strengthen your inner core to support your back
Increase your breath awareness to tune into your body’s needs and release pain
Move without fear and promote healing and prevention

“From a yogic perspective, other factors are important, too (to back pain). Beyond stress, emotions like anger and dissatisfaction, yoga links back pain to posture, muscle tightness, and muscle weakness, as well as to a lack of body awareness – all issues that yoga is effective in addressing.” (Yoga as Medicine, Dr. Timothy McCall, p.190)

Pelvic Health Yoga Therapy for Women
Join this supportive small group session for women only and learn to help yourself and improve your pelvic health.
You can benefit from this class if you have concerns about pain pelvic girdle or low back (including SI Joint), pelvic floor dysfunction, prolapse or incontinence, urinary disfunction and other conditions involving the function of pelvic organs. No previous yoga experience required.
In this class, you will:

Strengthen the “Core 4” (pelvic floor, diaphragm, multifidus and transverse abdominals)
Understand how a supple psoas supports your core and overall pelvic health
Improve breathing that supports pelvic health
Better understand the anatomy of the pelvis including bones, muscles, organs and ligaments and how they connect with the overall body
Find support and understanding
Learn that incontinence is common but not normal and what you can do about it

Yoga Therapy for Insomnia
This series will be scheduled again in 2021. Let me know if you prefer a time on Wednesday or Thursday 
An almost private Yoga Therapy series for people who have trouble falling asleep, wake up frequently, are not being able to go back to sleep, suffer from sleeplessness or feeling unrested upon waking up.
In this series you will:

Learn yoga movements for calming your system and preparing for sleep
Practice relaxation and breathing techniques that help falling or going back to sleep
Know more about Yoga’s tools that reduce stress which is a major contributor to insomnia
Find self-compassion and increased peace of mind
Take home practices and better understanding about sleep -recovery

“Yoga isn’t just beneficial for improving core strength, flexibility, and stress levels; it can also help you sleep better—especially if you suffer from insomnia. When people who have insomnia perform yoga on a daily basis, they sleep for longer, fall asleep faster, and return to sleep more quickly if they wake up in the middle of the night. This is also true for older people who have insomnia—those who are 60 and older experience better sleep quality, sleep for longer, and feel better during the day when they perform regular yoga.” (The Connection between Yoga and Better Sleep, July 28, 2020. SleepFoundation.org.)

Pelvic Health Yoga Therapy for Men
Join this supportive small group session for men only and learn to help yourself and improve your pelvic health.
A Yoga Therapy series addressing overall pelvic health, chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome, urinary dysfunction, low back pain and other conditions involving the functions of pelvic organs.
You will:

Understand the anatomy and function of the male pelvis and pelvic floor
Strengthen the core’s inner unit including abdominal, back, hip muscles and their relationship to the breathing and pelvic diaphragm of the body
Learn easy movements to relax the pelvis and relief pain
Improve breathing that supports pelvic health
Learn self-care approaches that help with incontinence, constipation and urinary dysfunction
Get a better understanding about the energetic and emotional aspects related to male pelvic health
Understand how to support your rehabilitation after prostate surgery