Put On Your Own Oxygen Mask First!

by Nina

Supported Bridge Pose with Straight Legs

Yesterday I gave my regular private lesson to Richard, a very lovely and compassionate older man who works as a psychotherapist. He has a number of physical problems I’ve been helping him with, though I’ve also tried to help him with his insomnia (he tends to be somewhat anxious). It’s very rewarding to teach him as he says he always feels better, both physically and emotionally, after our sessions. 

Although we’ve been focusing on core strength lately, he showed up saying, “I really need to work on stress management today!” He explained that due to the divisive election, his therapy sessions in Berkeley, California, had been particularly stressful for him, as all his clients needed to talk about it. So election discussion for him was going on all day long, every day! And of course he had no choice but to let his clients talk about whatever they needed to. But his stress levels were worse than usual, and his blood pressure levels had actually gone up! 

Well, as many of you may know by now, stress management is one of my areas of expertise, so I immediately came up with a new sequence for him. Since he tends toward anxiety, I knew that restorative yoga, meditation, and breath work wouldn’t be that good for him (he gets anxious attending to his breath), so I said, “We’ll do a supported inversion practice today.” (See All About Supported Inversions for information on these poses and Why You Should Love Your Baroreceptors for why they work.) 

I’ll give you the sequence at the end of this post. But the thing I really wanted to share with you is that as he started to do the sequence, and it was obvious to both of us that he was starting to relax, I said to him, “Please don’t feel guilty about taking this time to relax and restore yourself. It will not only be beneficial for you, but it will allow you to do a better job in the important work you do.”

And he smiled at me and replied, “So it’s like ‘Put on your own oxygen mask first’?” 

“Yes, that’s it!” I said. So the takeaway from that is that doing what you need to stay calm, clear, and focused isn’t an indulgence; it’s the best way to keep yourself strong for the work you are committed to, whether it’s political action, volunteering for your favorite cause, or caring for a loved one. 

As Richard went through the practice, I kept checking in with him how he was feeling and which poses were working for him. I know from experience that everyone is different in which poses they enjoy, probably depending on physical issue and body types (and who knows what else). I wanted to make sure that if poses wasn’t helping, he should come out. And if a pose was really working well, I’d leave him in it longer. To my great surprise, a pose I’d never taught him before, Supported Bridge pose with Straight Legs, felt absolutely wonderful to him! (I thought maybe because he has back issues he wouldn’t enjoy it.) So we both learned something important. And though my plan was to have him stay in that pose for 5 minutes, I asked him if he wanted another 5, and he said, yes, please! (I photographed him in the pose so he could easily recreate the propping we used at home.) 

So the takeaway from that is that if you’re doing supported inverted poses (or restorative poses for that matter), it’s worth experimenting with them all because you really never know which one is going to be the most effective for you. Just go in with an open mind, and be willing to come out of the poses that don’t actually help.

If you have the time and want to share what you do to stay calm and focused during challenging times, please leave a comment! 

Richard’s Supported Inversion Sequence  

I told him if he does this sequence (or any of the poses) at home to listen to relaxing music to take his mind off his anxious thoughts.

1. Reclined Leg Stretch version 1, to stretch the legs for the Supported Downward-Facing Dog pose and Supported Standing Forward Bends. 1.5 minutes each side.

2. Half Downward-Facing Dog pose, classic version, to stretch the shoulders and lengthen the torso to prepare for the same supported inverted poses. 1.5 minutes (with me assisting)

3. Supported Downward-Facing Dog pose, with head on a bolster plus blanket (he is on the stiff side) and a strap around the arms. For 2 minutes (this was challenging for him so I had him come out early.)

4. Standing Forward Bend, version 4, forearms and head on a chair seat). For 3 minutes (he loves this).

5. Widespread Standing Forward Bend, forearms and head on a chair seat. For 3 minutes (new to him, but he enjoyed it).

6. Supported Bridge Pose with straight legs. For 10 minutes.

6. Easy Inverted Pose. For 10 minutes. With a body scan spoken by me.

Yes, this sequence really helped him!

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Guides On Starting Your Own Pilates Studio

By Thomas Fisher

Due to poor feeding habits, people are most likely to get issues related to their health. This has brought about a lot of problems to these individuals. When starting your own Pilates studio, you need to bear in mind some factors for effectiveness. The studio should be equipped with all the required apparatus that are required for proper exercises. These are necessary for ensuring that you improve on physical strength, flexibility, and posture.

First, ensure that all the workers in your firm have sufficient knowledge on what is provided in the studio. This aids in ensuring that they can answer any question that is posed to them by clients. When they are asked about the importance of such an area, they can be able to answer all of them. Therefore, ensure that you enlighten all the workers in the firm so as they can effectively market the services.

Inform the public concerning the benefits associated with such activities. It is necessary to educate potential clients on the most beneficial activities to engage in. This aids in making sure that they understand the importance of these services to themselves. It is important to deliver all the relevant information so that people can attain the right services. Adverts can be made to expose the information widely.

External marketing can also be done to boost the population in a studio. An expert can be sent to a school to aid in marketing the services offered. He or she must ensure that they convince the learners about the benefits of these services. This is a good avenue in which the learner can convince the parent to go and test the benefits of such services.

To create unity in such an area, one can come up with special classes for various people. Individuals who practice same activities can be kept in specialized areas.Children can be grouped in one class and therefore end up enjoying being together. On the other hand, men and women can be put in separate rooms so as to bond more easily.

The geographical location of the studio matters a lot. To attract enough income, one must be able to effectively look at an excellent location. There is a need to consider the amount of income the people in such a place earns. There is a need to strategically locate your business. Ensure that the charges imposed are favorable to all the people in a given area.

On the other hand, you need to motivate your clients. This can be achieved by rewarding loyal clients. Those individuals who do not miss the sessions can be rewarded so as to add morale onto them. This is important as they can develop a liking of these sessions so as they can achieve better results. You can offer these people some reduced fee to enter the studio, and this can encourage more people to be active.

People need to keep fit by ensuring that their bodies are healthy. In many cases, one can enroll with a firm that is run by people with reputable characters. This aids in ensuring that all clients enjoy the right services with your firm. Therefore, ensure that you choose a good studio and get enrolled in it.

About the Author:

When you are searching for the facts about starting your own Pilates studio, come to our web pages online today. More details are available at http://www.imxpilatesstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Brochure.pdf now.