The Lymphatic System & Yoga

The lymphatic system plays a crucial role in maintaining health and bodily equilibrium.  While it closely parallels the cardiovascular system, which takes blood to and from the heart, it is quite different in its actions. The lymphatic system is responsible for transporting nutrients, hormones and waste throughout the body. It is also responsible for transporting lymphocytes, a type of white blood cells. This helps to mount an immune system response which can fight bacteria or disease.  

The lymphatic system is made up of vessels, lymph nodes and specific organs that rid toxins and regulate lymphatic fluid throughout the body. Often times, this system operates smoothly with no need for special attention. However, when the lymphatic system is compromised, due to illness or disease, we can see changes in the body, such as swelling or infection.   

There are several ways to encourage lymphatic circulation and these often coincide with healthy, active lifestyle choices, including a regular yoga practice. One of the ways you can influence your own lymphatic circulation is to engage in regular exercise that makes muscles contract and relax. This can be as simple as pointing and flexing your ankles if you’ve been sitting for a while, taking a walk or engaging in weight lifting. Another way to encourage lymphatic circulation is through deep, diaphragmatic breathing, especially when combined with some gentle abdominal pressure. When coupled with a yoga pose such as Viparita Karani (legs up the wall pose) we can use the added effect of gravity. This can be especially useful for sore or swollen feet or legs.  

If you are interested in learning more about lymphatic system anatomy and how you can tailor your yoga practice to maintain a healthy lymphatic system, join Jennifer Miller, licensed physical therapist and certified lymphedema therapist in our upcoming Blue Sky Yoga workshop on Saturday, February 1, 2020 from 2:30-4:30. Pricing and specifics can be found on the Blue Sky Yoga Facebook page or on the Mind Body app.  

Legs up the wall pose

Place the short side of your yoga mat or blanket along a wall free from objects.

Facing the wall, sit down on the left side of your mat with your right hip touching the wall.

Your body should be perpendicular to the wall with side of your right hip and right shoulder touching the wall.

As you begin to lie down onto your left side to turn onto your back, begin to walk your legs up the wall.

If your hamstrings or low back are stiff, you may need to scoot your hips away from the wall.

Once your legs are comfortable and supported, ensure that your trunk is even and not rotated.

Place your hands on your belly or one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly.

As you take in a comfortably full breath through your nose, try to expand your belly as if it were a balloon filling with air.

As you breath out through your nose or mouth, let your belly soften.

Your belly should expand with breath as much as, or slightly more than, your chest.

If you would like to add extra stimulation, put firm, but gentle pressure through your hand onto your belly during both the inhale and exhale.

Set a timer to practice for 3 to 20 minutes.

My Restorative Practice

by Bryna Parker

“I’m just here the for Savasana” ~T-shirts everywhere

Bryna Parker enjoying Legs up the (Headboard) Wall, a restorative pose you can easily do in bed.

Savasana — you know, that part of a yoga class where you get to find a supportive posture and relax?

I often hear, “This is my favorite part of yoga and it always seems to go by too fast. As soon as I am getting settled and begin to soften into stillness it is always time to come back.” 

We all need more time to settle and soften into our stillness, and that is what a Restorative Yoga Practice provides. Unlike more traditional yoga classes, a Restorative Practice is not about stretching; it is about opening into the stillness and like traditional yoga classes, it can take a little work, but the work happens within while the body is fully supported and still. 

Restorative yoga offers us more time to explore how we are feeling. While we are still we can ask ourselves:  

What is my mind distracted by? 

How do I feel today in my physical body? 

Where am I with my emotions right now? 

Am I fully breathing? 

What is this heaviness or tension in my body connected to energetically?

And through these questions we get to know ourselves more fully.

My Restorative Journey 

Becoming the silent observer of my inner landscapes took practice and time. Learning how to be present and breathe through all the sh*t that bubbles up when we turn inward can be a challenge at first, but this is where we become resilient. Just like Hatha Yoga, Restorative Yoga is a practice that you need to show up for over and over. It wasn’t easy for me to turn off the ruminating thoughts and worry or take a break from my need to accomplish and checking items off a list. I seem to always be creating a bunch of expectations for events that are in the future, or reliving past experiences and wondering how it could have been different. My mind was rarely in the present moment. I was often stuck in the past or asking eagerly what's next? Restorative yoga answered with “How about nothing?” 

With practice, I soon learned how to sit with myself and accept what is real in that moment without judgment. I could acknowledge and allow rather than ignore and avoid. Once I became comfortable observing and being without judgement, I could take the next step of moving closer to meditation. I began having conversations with my body explaining you are allowed to just be. I began thanking my body for all it does and then reassured myself that rest is a healthy healing practice — I don't always have to be preparing for what’s next. It’s ok to take time to just be present and find satisfaction in not doing. I begin to rewire my brain by training my body to unplug from all those sensory inputs so I could pay more attention to what my inner being needed. This practice of connecting to life force energy and listening to my own intuition was when it became so clear that most of the answers I had been searching for were already there inside of me; I was just too busy, distracted or fearful to seek my own inner wisdom. This restorative practice has empowered me to trust myself. Anytime I am unsure, I know I can pause and connect to that source of energy and wisdom that always resides inside of me. It’s there for you, too, I guarantee it. You just have to make your restorative practice a priority. 

Try this…

Your restorative practice could be as simple as taking your legs up the wall (or headboard) first thing in the morning while you are still in bed, breathing in and out intentionally, and observing what is present and honoring where you are today. 

In this way, you can start your day informed and prepared, knowing what you need so you can better support yourself (and others) throughout the day. 

What a beautiful gift to give yourself!

Join Bryna for Restorative practice on Tuesdays from 6pm-7pm. You can also find her teaching Chair Yoga on Mondays from 11am-12pm as well as occasional restorative popups and workshops on several topics including Yoga for Bigger Bodies, Chair Yoga, and Yoga for Tension Release using Yoga Tune Up balls. Check out our schedule.

What is TRE®? Unwinding Stress & Returning to Our Center

written by Susan Sanders

You're trying to get out the door & into the car to head to work; your kids are fighting and one of them forgets their lunch. You stop at an ATM to get money for the forgotten lunch and get the kids to school late because, this morning, everyone on the planet needed money from this particular ATM machine. You arrive to work late; your boss is less than pleased, and you're informed that the project you'd been working on now has to be completed two weeks ahead of schedule, so much for the family vacation you'd planned… 

Some version of this scenario plays out for all of us to some degree or another fairly regularly; it's part of living in modern society. How are we to manage the inevitable and unavoidable stress that comes with the territory? Our bodies are actually very well equipped for this task! In times of stress, our nervous systems help to protect us in two ways. The first is the fight or flight response which makes energy available to allow us to, essentially, fight or flee a real or perceived danger. The second is the mechanism that allows for the release of the energy after it's no longer needed. Have you ever gone through a stressful or fearful situation and shortly after the incident your hands start shaking or your knees start to knock? That is your nervous system working to release or discharge energy once it's no longer needed by your body. 

There is a disconnect that keeps the second part of this process from working effectively, though. We are all conditioned from a young age to not show fear or weakness. The shaking (or trembling) that is a normal part of stress release is seen as a weakness, and we're essentially taught to suppress the response. Think back to the last time your hands started to shake...what did you do? Wring your hands, clench and release them, put them in your pockets or out of sight? These actions that stop the shaking interrupt the normal process of release; this prevents stress and tension from leaving the body. The energy that was produced can't be released and is then stored in the body. 

Do you struggle with insomnia, worry & anxiety, PTSD, muscle and back pain, limited flexibility, decreased energy and endurance or relationship conflict? These are some of the symptoms that have been identified as stress related and can be a result of our inability to effectively release stress and tension.  

TRE® (Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises), developed by Dr. David Berceli, PhD., is a simple series of exercises that will assist your body in releasing patterns of stress, tension and trauma. It safely activates the natural reflex mechanism of shaking or trembling that releases muscular tension, calming down the nervous system. When this muscular shaking/trembling mechanism is activated in a safe and controlled environment, the body is encouraged to return back to a state of balance. 

Stress is unavoidable in our daily lives, but can be managed. You can learn to recognize your body's natural stress releasing mechanism, understand the cultural constraints that suppress it and honor the process.

Susan Sanders is a Certified TRE® (Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises), Provider. She was first introduced to TRE® in 2013 and began using it regularly to reduce stress and tension in her life. Over time, Susan experienced the healing effects of this process of release and was so deeply affected by the changes she noticed that she wanted to share it with others! Once she obtained certification as a TRE® provider, Susan transitioned out of a career in social services and opened her own practice. She currently conducts workshops, individual sessions & informational sessions in the St. Louis Metro area, Metro East and throughout the state of Missouri. In addition, Susan is a Certified Reiki Master Practitioner and committed to honoring the body's innate ability to heal itself and to create space for that healing to occur.

Susan’s next workshop will be held Saturday, September 28 at 2:30-4:00p. Check our events calendar.