Can you remember as a child your mom or dad asking you to stand with your back to a wall, then they took a pencil and made a mark at your head level to measure how much you had grown. Your personal growth chart on the wall marked year after year with your name and date displayed.
As we age at some point we stop growing, maybe in those last teenage years we seem to come to a stop. This is the height I will be for the rest of my life. However as we age the fact is that we also begin to shrink. As we move through our adult lives our movements and activities play a role on our height through the functions of our bones and muscles. Maybe at some point we begin to feel a tightening, shortness which can also result in pain in our bodies.
We seek out something to help relive this pain and tightness, some go to doctors, chiropractors and massage therapists looking for the magic pill to help lessen the pain. Some also find Yoga or a form of stretching to find relief. Yoga is one of the fastest growing industries in North America. Yoga has been around much longer than that. It is more a way of life than a new form of exercise in the health and wellness industry.
Yoga can be the missing link to help support our bodies and minds as we age. We can continue to experience growth rather than shrink. The physical practice of yoga helps to keep the body strong, lengthen and begin to reverse the aging process.
One practice in particular is the working on a yoga wall through a practice technique called Spinal Rejuvenation. This practice specifically targets the muscles and tissues that support the spinal column. Using a sling to support the pelvis you hang in spinal traction, which begins to create space and a lengthen effect around the spinal verabra. This in its self can lessen the pressure of gravity on the spine in the opposite direction. The practice of Spinal Rejuvenation is a sequence of postures to move the spine through its full range of motion.
If you are someone who has experienced back pain or continue to feel the shrinking effect from life, give this practice a try. You will be gifted the ability to experience growth once again in body and mind. Let’s take a measurement together, once again stand with your back to the wall make a mark. Return this mark after your class and see and feel for yourself growth once again
By Cheri DeMenna