Category Archives: Uncategorized

Sep19

IS YOUR YOGA PRACTICE KEEPING YOU & YOUR STUDENTS TENSION FREE & POISED OFF THE MAT?

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This blog post is for yoga teachers who want deep transformation for themselves and their students.

Asana practice is meant to create ease and flow in your life both on and off the mat. As a teacher, it is meant to do the same for your students. Is it? Do most of you feel tension-free and poised off the mat?

Integrated Cobra Pose

If you (or they) find that the feelings of wellbeing and good posture don’t seem to last very long after you step off your mat, it’s because you’ve fallen prey to modern yoga’s addiction with “results” and “control”. As a result, you must make progress at all costs on the mat even when your body is giving you clear signals off the mat that this way is not necessarily working for you.

If you feel a constant urge to stretch, if your muscles or joints ache in some ways, or if you find that you go right back to slouching after making an effort to be upright, it means that your idea about strengthening, stretching or good posture is not complete. It is missing an important dimension.

How to be sure when enough is enough beyond the subjective experience of feeling good? How to stay poised without holding your body upright consciously?

Could it be that you are unknowingly overdoing? Could assessing how much is enough come from a deeper place in you than how your muscles feel on the surface of your awareness?

How can you build a trusting relationship with your body if you’re misinterpreting or ignoring its signs? You may blame your tension on the stress of life or on sitting too many hours in the front of the computer but is it the whole truth?

Intrigued by these questions at the core of your practice and teaching? I would be happy to talk to you. Just email me or sign-up below for my next webinar which addresses these questions more extensively.

https://offthematyoga.lpages.co/free-live-interactive-webinar-for-yoga-teachers/

Till then,
Namaste

Cecile Raynor has been teaching the Alexander Technique for over 25 years out of which came her Body Intelligence Activation Process™ (B.I.A. Process) to assist yogis in enhancing their practice towards best performance with optimal safety. She is also a Thai Yoga Massage Therapist and a Reiki Practitioner. Faculty at Akasha Yoga Teacher Training, she runs a 12 months Mastermind for Yoga Teachers with a Vision, and a 90 Day Live Online Program for trainees, new teachers and committed yoga practitioners interested in using their body more efficiently on and off the mat in a way not taught in regular training courses. She is also the author of a June 2018 publication called THE WISE WAY TO YOGA which is available on Amazon or from Cecile if you are local to Boston!

Jul3

Yoga & the Spirit of Discrimination

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The recent study referred to in the article below concludes, based on emergency room reports, that only yogis of age 65 and after are at risk for practicing yoga. Why is this rather misleading?

                  https://www.yogauonline.com/yoga-research/new-study-charts-yoga-injuries-over-13-year-period

I personally do not think the conclusion of this study is accurate. The poster child for pioneer yoga teachers in North America, Diane Bruni, and many other teachers and practitioners have been injured when much younger in their practice. Their injuries and challenges motivated their deep commitment to start a yoga revolution to improve the practice of modern yoga as it is still developing. The current flaws are nobody’s fault. Among other things, they are part of the evolution of an eastern practice in a western world.

Injuries don t always make it to the emergency room and older yogis are more likely to report to the emergency room than younger folks who may feel invincible and trust their injuries will heal quickly. Also, I personally know loads of young teachers and practitioners who would not last without serious injury if they were not going to their chiropractor and massage therapist periodically. Lastly, yoga injuries do not always manifest while on the mat. When the body is not used in line with its whole-body intelligence, it promotes excess tension and injuries can happen anytime, anywhere!

In fact, yoga injuries are often caused by misuse of our body off the mat as seen in the pictures below. As a yogi, you may think that you can fix your “Daily Body” by engaging with your “Yoga Body” on the mat. The truth is that you only have one body and it is crucial to learn how to better handle your body in daily activities if you do not want to promote excess tension and injury down the road. Ignoring slouching in daily life hurts your yoga practice. And tensing your back to sit or stand straight on or off the mat contributes to your irresistible need to slouch. Just know that there is a more organic way to do this as you well did when you were children. And the ability to do so is still in you, available 24/7. You simply need to learn how to activate it!

In the meantime, let’s not close our eyes to the danger still present in the way many practice yoga today. Yoga is not the problem of course, how it has been taught since the 19th century and how we use our body practicing yoga is. How we bring harmful habits from daily life to the mat is. How our physical sensations rule our practice is as well given that yoga warns us to not trust sensations alone. Besides, it is not because we can do something to an extreme that it is good for all our body parts.

We need to develop discrimination! And with it, yoga injuries can decline steadily!

We must face the underlying roots of these injuries so yogis can practice yoga the wise way (regardless of their body type, age, fitness level or yoga style), and keep injuries at bay.

It is a given that younger people bodies are more resilient and can handle more misuse. But is that a reason to assume their practice is flawless and safe?

Studies are helpful up to a certain point. Yet studies proving opposite points can easily be found if we look carefully. So we must use our spirit of discrimination when we read the conclusion of studies. We must learn to connect with our whole-body intelligence in a way so it can be activated on demand and offer guidance for what is right for us, individually, in each moment. And questioning outside information no matter where it comes from is part of yoga!

Cecile Raynor has been teaching the Alexander Technique for over 25 years out of which came her Body Intelligence Activation Process™ (B.I.A. Process) to assist yogis in enhancing their practice towards best performance with optimal safety. She is also a Thai Yoga Massage Therapist and a Reiki Practitioner. Faculty at Akasha Yoga Teacher Training, she runs a 12 months Mastermind for Yoga Teachers with a Vision, and a 90 Day Live Online Program for trainees, new teachers and committed yoga practitioners interested in using their body more efficiently on and off the mat in a way not taught in regular training courses. She is also the author of a June 2018 publication called THE WISE WAY TO YOGA which is available on Amazon or from Cecile if you are local to Boston!
Jun4

Attention Yoga Teachers, Committed Yoga Practitioners, Big Picture Thinkers, and Spiritual Seekers!

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Today Is the Amazon Launch Date of The Wise Way to Yoga!

Why do you want to order it? Read on and share with the other yogis in your life!

Yoga has become a widespread activity to help you handle your health and fitness. And you gain your best results when you practice yoga regularly, in a “Wise Way”. So far, you are all familiar with the “Hard Way” and the “Gentle Way” to practice. However, the “Wise Way” to yoga is a new approach that guides you to your best performance with optimal safety. It can be applied to all styles of yoga regardless of body type or fitness level.

The Wise Way to Yoga is the Yoga of the Future!

It is launching the Movement of the Wise Yogi that has been long overdue! Be a part of it!

If you resonate with this, go to the following link for the Manifesto of the Wise Yogi! Namaste!:)

BOOK: The Wise Way To Yoga (Released June 4, 2018)

To Order the Book, go to:
https://www.amazon.com/Wise-Way-Yoga-Intelligence-Performance

Cecile Raynor has been teaching the Alexander Technique for over 25 years out of which came her Body Intelligence Activation Process™ (B.I.A. Process) to assist yogis in enhancing their practice towards best performance with optimal safety. She is also a Thai Yoga Massage Therapist and a Reiki Practitioner. Faculty at Akasha Yoga Teacher Training, she runs a 12 months Mastermind for Yoga Teachers with a Vision, and a 90 Day Live Online Program for trainees, new teachers and committed yoga practitioners interested in using their body more efficiently on and off the mat in a way not taught in regular training courses.
Dec29

WARRIOR ONE & RESOLUTION SUCCESS!

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Do you make resolutions around this time every year? Or do you do them ongoingly throughout the year? Do you stick with them or do you find it challenging? Below are a few tips to help.

Many of us make resolutions for the new year. We all want health, prosperity, joy, and love. However, how body, mind, and soul are connected and functioning harmoniously together does affect, not only your yoga practice but how successful you are in manifesting your new years’ resolutions.

Why is that? One way to get mind, body, and soul to work together is to let all your body parts also work together as the integrated and coordinated whole that you are. Following the guidance of your whole-body intelligence is the best way to succeed. And surrendering to the earth support while keeping your skeletal height is one way to activate that guidance.

Learn to approach your Warrior 1 as the integrated yogi that you can be and notice your practice and your life change for the better. This ability to surrender is natural for everyone although it may be covered up by unconscious habits of body and mind. Reclaiming this ability is the foundation for optimal safety and performance through any daily activity, especially your yoga practice. If you want more of this for 2018, sign up for my mini-class this Saturday by clicking on the link below.

Make a point to explore, discover and unlearn such habits!

In the meantime, here are a few tips I use myself:

1) Start by making a list of what you accomplished or enjoyed experiencing in the last year no matter how small it seems to you. Be grateful for these experiences, they are the platform from which you get added stimulus for your actions now and tomorrow.

2) Then Make a list of things you want to see happen in the future with no dates for them. Extract those that are reasonably reachable within the next year and prioritize them into two lists: one for the first 6 months of the year and the others for the second half.

3) When listing what you want to see happen in the future, you can dream big. Tell the universe what you are after. When you reduce the list to reachable goals,  remember that bite-size goals make for best results.

4) Last but not least, work on functioning as the integrated self that you are by learning how to activate the guidance of your whole-body intelligence to get support 24/7 to carry out your thoughts into actions.This is the best way to optimal safety and best performance.

Don’t wait next year to explore this.
Get ahead of the game this time and click on the link below to join me tomorrow at 3 EST!

Saturday, December 30, 2017, Mini Video CLass!
https://offthematyoga.lpages.co/free-live-interactive-webinar-04/My blogs plant seeds, the free class gives you an experience of what I am talking about!

Yoga is awesome but your yoga practice can benefit greatly from increased awareness of underlying daily habits which are the source of much of your returning tension. They are also what feeds your conscious harmful habits such as poor posture or excess tension off the mat. When you have less tension to deal with, you can access the deepest benefits of yoga! 

Take an hour out of your day and be inspired by tips that can make a noticeable difference right there and then during the mini-class itself!

You will not regret it!:)

Cecile Raynor has been teaching the Alexander Technique for over 25 years out of which came her B.I.A. Process to assist yogis in enhancing their practice bypassing the intellect. She is also a Thai Yoga Massage Therapist and a Reiki Practitioner. Faculty at Akasha Yoga Teacher Training, she runs a 12 months Mastermind for Yoga Teachers with a Vision, and a 90 Day Virtual Program for trainees, new teachers and committed yoga practitioners interested in using their body more efficiently on and off the mat in a way not taught in regular training courses. She is currently writing a book on her personal and professional experience. THE WISE WAY TO YOGA is to be published soon! To be followed!

Dec25

Holiday Lights, Presence & Tension Release!

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As we cross the cold and darkness of winter, we are surrounded by lights everywhere. Simply being present to them is always beautiful and heartwarming. As I am surrounded by this palpable energy of the season, I can let go of any mental activity, and instead, I enjoy the warmth of the lights, smile, and breathe in gratefulness!

It is my wish for you to also allow the lights of the holiday season to be a reminder and an opportunity to stop your monkey mind chatter and enjoy the present moment. Notice how it helps your body’s ability to let go of unnecessary muscle tension. Notice how you can fully connect with the body of the earth and experience its reliable support.

This ability to surrender to the earth through your whole-body intelligence is natural for everyone although it may be covered up by habits of body and mind. Make a point to explore, discover and unlearn such habits so you can experience the lightness of being, one moment at a time whether you are on or off the yoga mat!

Reclaiming this ability is the foundation for optimal safety and performance through any daily activity, especially your yoga practice. If you want more of this for 2018, check my website and various offerings (including free mini-classes).

Cecile!:)

https://offthematyoga.lpages.co/free-live-interactive-webinar-04/

Nov11

What Does it Really Mean to Work Smart Rather Than Hard?

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To work smart rather than hard to gain an efficient and safe yoga practice has become a common phrase yet, it is not always practiced in the way it was meant. And the way it was meant can be a challenge for modern yoga teachers and practitioners who have become obsessed with muscle engaging. However, engaging your muscles focusing on body parts is the reason you keep needing to stretch the same tension over and over. Ancient yogis’ strength came not from the size or firmness of their muscles but from the power of their mind over their body as a whole, over their energy!

Maybe it is time to learn to be strong using brain and bones and stop overworking your muscles. It is a more holistic and efficient approach. And it actually feels easier simply because gravity becomes your ally and you can work out smart instead of hard! The only thing you lose when you embrace this new paradigm is body stiffness, not strength.

You may want to check a humorous black and white 3-minute Rare Jujitsu footage posted by Andi Brooke to see what I mean! It shows a woman in the early nineteen hundred, dressed in her everyday outfit, using some Jujitsu maneuvers to prevent a few staged assaults. Although she is a petite non-muscular bodied woman, she handles this quite well using the strength of her skeleton and whole-body use. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj15lvQhoSI

There is a way to practice yoga with this mindset and gain in efficiency and safety while still challenging yourself. If you are interested in learning more about this, sign up for my free or paid events by going to my blog site menu  or click on the following link to attend my FREE LIVE VIDEO WEBINAR: https://offthematyoga.lpages.co/free-live-interactive-webinar-04/

Aug30

Tree Pose, Yoga Practice & Flamingos!

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Biologists have long wondered how the flamingos can stand on one leg for so long. Researchers reported that these pink birds have a unique anatomy that makes their posture almost effortless. Whereas humans need some muscles activity to balance on one leg, the flamingos unusual skeletal and muscular systems essentially let gravity do all the work.

And that is a great lesson for us because, although we are not flamingos, we are reminded that the skeleton plays a major part in our standing up and our body strength even though we tend to assume that muscles are our sign of strength. The truth is that you need to let your skeleton and gravity do the bulk of the work for you! Yes, you can!

Muscle engaging is good when it is chosen by your whole-body intelligence to keep your skeleton in a pose. When your mind directs your muscles to control your skeleton, it actually creates excess tension rather than adding more strength or stability to a pose. It is like you are fighting with yourself and you actually trigger your stress mode even if only underground.

I have experienced this personally and professionally. This is why I am encouraging you all to revisit your “muscle obsession” which may not serve you as much as you think it does. Next time you are on the mat or involved in an activity, play with this idea that your mind’s intention of movement initiates your skeleton to make a move while your necessary muscle tension goes on for the ride in perfect harmony with the bones, keeping you feeling strong, fluid and light.

A tree pose is only a tree pose, no need to control every aspect of the movement to get there. Trust your whole-body intelligence to know how to find a place for your foot anywhere along your leg and to keep you grounded and expanded. No need to press and force anything to go anywhere it is not going willingly. When you do not engage your muscles as you go and stay into Tree Pose, just by standing relaxed on one foot with your arms extended up and out like branches, you are still building up the strength of your necessary muscle tension and bones. The only thing you are losing out on is Unnecessary Muscle Tension. Why would you want excess tension anyway?

When you do not muscle your way to go and stay into Tree Pose, you are still building up the strength of your necessary muscle tension and bones just by standing relaxed on one foot with your arms extended up and out like branches. The only thing you are losing out on is Unnecessary Muscle Tension also known as Stiffness. Why would you want to build up stiffness anyway?

Try this and let me know how it felt! And if you are a yoga teacher, teacher trainee, or a committed yoga student and you want to explore this work with my help, sign up for my Free Webinar this Saturday afternoon by clicking on this link: https://offthematyoga.lpages.co/free-live-interactive-webinar-04/

 

Cecile Raynor has been teaching the Alexander Technique for over 25 years out of which came her B.I.A. Process to assist yogis in enhancing their practice bypassing the intellect. She is also a Thai Yoga Massage Therapist and a Reiki Practitioner. Faculty at Akasha Yoga Teacher Training, she runs a 12 months Mastermind for Yoga Teachers with a Vision, and a 90 Day Virtual Program for trainees, new teachers and committed yoga practitioners interested in using their body more efficiently on and off the mat in a way not taught in regular training courses. She is currently writing a book on her personal and professional experience to be published this year with Bliss-life Press, San Diego California.

Jul3

Is The Instruction “No Knees Past Toes” Always Appropriate?

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Many instructions are heard in yoga classes that have been spread over time without a valid foundation. “No Knees Past Toes” is one that is overused to a fault although accurate in some cases.

I could go through the poses for which it is true and the poses for which it is not and that would be promoting the very approach to yoga that is not serving you, namely letting your mind decide what is right for your body instead of trusting that your innate whole-body intelligence knows best.

So how do you know when it is a good thing or not? It is simple because your innate whole body intelligence always knows what is appropriate for you in each moment.

If you are told to keep your weight on your heels instead of your whole foot, you can be sure that the way you are guided to do the pose is not in line with your whole-body wisdom.

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A typical example is Chair Pose. By not allowing your body weight to stay balanced above the whole surface of your feet, you may think that it is a good thing because your lower body is screaming and you have been told it is the way to strengthen.

You are strengthening alright but doing it this extreme way, you are also creating stiffness all over your body and you are activating your stress mode underground. Not worth it when you can build flexible strength instead by staying balanced and released above your feet!

All you will loose is the building of unnecessary tension, not a lessening of strength building. Who would not want the flexible strength of the cat?

For more info about this approach to flexible strength building which gives you the “steadiness and ease” Patanjali talks about, read my blogs, sign up for my free email seminar or sign up for a private session in person or online by private messaging me directly.

https://offthematyogablog.com/

Cecile Raynor has been teaching the Alexander Technique for over 25 years out of which came her B.I.A. Process to assist yogis enhance their practice bypassing the intellect. She is also a Thai Yoga Massage Therapist and a Reiki Practitioner. Faculty at Akasha Yoga Teacher Training, she runs a 12 months Mastermind for Yoga Teachers with a Vision, and a 90 Day Virtual Program for trainees, new teachers and committed yoga practitioners interested in using their body more efficiently on and off the mat in a way not taught in regular training courses. She is currently writing a book on her personal and professional experience to be published this year with Bliss-life Press, San Diego California.

Jun5

Beware Of The Drishti & Alignment Connection!

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Yoga teachers may talk about “Drishti” (vision). On the mat, they often refer to it as a form of gazing in the distance to focus your mind in the present moment. Focus is fundamental in yoga practice. Focusing your eyes and your attention is practicing the yogic technique called “Drishti”.

However, even though using your vision to stay in the now or come back to it is always an excellent tool, there is another important dimension to consider in understanding and properly use “Drishti”. Along with this intention to gaze so as to step out of your overactive mind, you need to always make sure the gaze direction does not lead you to sacrifice your spinal length.

When Drishti is used properly, there is no neck or back compression and the kundalini energy can flow through you as it is meant to.

Pay attention to what is happening in the back of your neck when you look up in any given pose. Many poses do not require you to lift your head up as it is commonly cued by some teachers. Often, you are cued to “look up” in a way that is not necessary for the movement at all.

This cue has been passed on over the years from one teacher to the other and yet it was not necessarily an appropriate cue to start with. If you can look up with your eyes without compressing the back of your head, you’re good. Otherwise, don’t feed neck compression, it never is worth it for your body.

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If you are having trouble with this, know that by activating your whole-body intelligence, you can always find the best way to do any pose in alignment with your whole-body intelligence. Even Crow Pose can be done with no neck compression! Yes, it is doable and much better for you!:)

If you want to learn more about this breakthrough way to approach yoga so that your poses are always performed in line with your whole-body intelligence, check my blog site, read my blogs, sign up for my free email seminar or webinars. They all offer great value to help you practice yoga, even power yoga with optimal safety and highest results.

If you are a teacher or a committed yoga practitioner interested in joining my 90 day online live program where I teach the Body Intelligence Activation Process, reach out to me for an online free consult!:) https://offthematyogablog.com/

1) Free Email Seminar 2) Free Webinar

Call or email for Private Sessions with Cecile locally or online!

Cecile Raynor has been teaching the Alexander Technique for over 25 years out of which came her B.I.A. Process to assist yogis enhance their practice bypassing the intellect. She is also a Thai Yoga Massage Therapist and a Reiki Practitioner. Faculty at Akasha Yoga Teacher Training, she runs a 12 months Mastermind for Yoga Teachers with a Vision, and a 90 Day Virtual Program for trainees, new teachers and committed yoga practitioners interested in using their body more efficiently on and off the mat. She is currently writing a book on her personal and professional experience to be published this year with BlissLife Press, San Diego California.

Apr24

To Engage or To Allow Engagement? A Crucial Difference On & Off the Mat!

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Every time I go to a yoga class or attend an online class, I am struck by the lack of distinction between “engaging” and “allowing engagement”. Do you use your mind to control your body muscles as if it knew better than your whole-body intelligence? Maybe you are so used to it that you don’t even know you have another option to stretch and strengthen that is more efficient? Then read on!

When you are spontaneously running, dancing or simply walking, you don’t need to tell your body what muscles to engage and when to release the joints. It has a postural mechanism, an ambassador for your whole-body intelligence, designed to handle it all for you. Its job is to manage your best balance, coordination and posture.

 

This mechanism works at its best when you don’t interfere with it. Children and animals are good examples of this perfectly functioning mechanism.

When you are on the mat, your mind can decide what pose you want to go into. After that it is best to let your postural mechanism handle your muscles and joints activity for you as you go into the skeletal expression of the pose. I know, it requires having trust in your whole-body wisdom to be there for you!

The thing is that when you “allow engagement” by your whole-body intelligence, it knows exactly what needs engaging and how much to engage so that the pose is good for all parts of your body. When you “engage” specific muscles and joints, you create unnecessary body tension that interferes with the best expression of your pose.

Releasing excess tension is neither going limp nor decreasing how much strength you are building. It is preventing building body stiffness while you are building strength!

Want to learn more about how to activate your whole-body intelligence guidance 24/7?

1) Free Email Seminar 2) Free Webinar 3)  90 Day B.I.A. Process Program.

Cecile Raynor has been teaching the Alexander Technique for over 25 years out of which came her B.I.A. Process to assist yogis enhance their practice bypassing the intellect. She is also a Thai Yoga Massage Therapist and a Reiki Practitioner. Faculty at Akasha Yoga Teacher Training, she runs a 12 months Mastermind for Yoga Teachers with a Vision, and a 90 Day Virtual Program for trainees, new teachers and committed yoga practitioners interested in using their body more efficiently on and off the mat. She is currently writing a book on her personal and professional experience to be published this year with BlissLife Press, San Diego California.