Integrative Yoga Therapy for Wellness

Presents:

"MOVEMENT THROUGH AWARENESS"

A new offering of Somatic experience, integrated with Therapeutic Yoga  techniques and the gentle easy Feldenkrais Method.  You will learn how to replace lifelong habits of your unique movements, with realignment and somatic awareness for healing and moving with ease and grace.  Discover, maybe for the first time, the "soma" being in the body, living in your body with less effort, ease, new found strengths and awareness. 

Private Sessions :  On Line or in your home

Class Sessions:  On Line

Class Option:  You and up to 4 friends in your home

Instructor:  Brenna Jacobson (C-IAYT) Certified Yoga Therapist

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

604-369-8785

I am happy to be including, the beautiful practice of Soma or Somatic Therapy into your experience. This practice can be blended with Therapeutic Yoga techniques or taken as a separate course of treatment.  I offer it On-Line for classes,  and I offer either On-Line or I will come to your home at no extra charge, for Private Sessions.

"Somatic" means what it feels like to be in your body.  These gentle easy movements will teach your brain to learn to relax your muscles through easy painfree movement.  Reminding your muscles that they need to flex, and reminding the body that it needs to bend, extend and twist is crucial in relieving muscle pain.  Simple movements, even when done while seated, refresh your brain.  The brain teaches our muscles to adapt while either sitting for long periods at a desk or in a car.  One example would be how working on a computer all day can contribue to tight back muscles which contribute to carpal tunnel syndrome, neck, shoulder and back pain.

Over the course of our lives , our muscles can become so tight due to stress experiences as a result of surgeries, accidents or ongoing stresses, that no matter what you do, massage or stretchng, those muscles won't relax for the long term.  The muscles become tight and painful and most people think this is the result of aging.  It is not.  It is referred to as Sensory Motor Amnesia, and it happens to everyone, regardless of age.  Sensory Motor Amnesia simply means that the brain, the control centre for the muscles, has taught those muscles to stay tight, and has simply forgotten how to relax them. 

It is important to understand that the brain controls the muscles, so just as the brain teaches us how to ride a bike, swing a golf club or dance the tango, so to can it teach us to hold ourselves tightly in response to stress, for instance the need to sit for long hours or ride in a car.  Even if one part of our body, your shoulders or your hips for example, are painful, there is always a full body pattern of contraction that occurs and makes it difficult to relax that part of the body.  You will also learn 360^o breathing, which tremendously enhances your sense of your unique body.  Breathing is one of the ways in which we can make movement easier or harder, it makes a huge difference to incorporate the breath in a positive way to decrease physical effort to move.

Somatic movements will help you relax these patterns.  They are simple and will teach your muscles to lengthen without stretching.  When you stretch, you pull the muscle into the length you would like it to have, but this can cause the muscle to tighten back against this.

You will learn something that cats and dogs do when they come up from a rest.  You will contract into the tight muscle first, then slowly lengthen.  This is called Pandiculation.  You will learn how to take your muscles off of cruise control, then lengthen and relax only as far as is comfortable.  The concept isn't about having long muscles, it's about having relaxed and easy to move muscles.  If you have read the previous Blog on the Feldenkrais Method, you may begin to hear similarities.  

Anything you do consistently becomes a habit, for your muscles and your movement.   Sitting for long hours , slouching, or arching your back trying to sit straight to correct the slouching.  Habits Can Be Reversed!

These gentle movements are the key to reversing pain in the body, Be patient as you learn, and experience your body become more self-correcting, more balanced, and the muscles more relaxed.  It all comes back to finding ways to  step out of your habits, and explore the possibilities. 

New Item - Feldenkrais Method

This beautiful practice can be studied on it's own or blended with Therapeutic Yoga and Somatic Therapy

Offered via Internet for group sessions, and Internet or home visits by me to your home at no extra charge for Private Sessions

Feldenkrais Method, how do you pronounce it, and what does it mean?

Pronounced Feldencrise, is the name given to a practice of experiencing  "awareness through movement", and the name of the originator of this practice Moshe Feldenkrais.

The Practice is based on the principle that we all need to have habits, to have patterns, to have an acquired sense of self that we identify with.  We need to give ourselves a sense that we are whole.  If we learn to sense our tonic state, meaning the minimal amount of muscular tone that we need to have to be upright in the world of gravity, if we can have that quality, in a particular moment, then we're not bound by our "muscular habit", the way we know ourselves, our muscular preferences, what is familiar. Essentially, as long as our pathway is one of continual maintenance of a sense of safety, and sense of one's self, we are not going to give up behaviors unless there is something better to replace it.

So, what do we do with "Awaremess Through Movement"?  We begin to discriminate.  What do you descriminate?  Not your normal habits, on the contrary, we descriminate the differences, in sensation and the way in which you initiate movement.  Moshe taught that the most important thing that happens in a class is not the movements themselves, but "what did you notice"? What did you find out about yourself that was new?

We are exploring possibilities, of how we habitually move within our body, while breaking movements down into the smallest segments, experiencing and being curious about what other parts are involved, and what we can do with that through exploration of whether these things make movement easier, or are they unecessary and something to get rid of.  A part of this learning process is not just acknowledging, but feeling and knowing that due to our life styles and habits formed from early on, and effects of events through the years, we have adapted to make things work by using those habits, and what feels normal for you, and as a result, have formed an  image and sense of our body, and of who we are based on that.

So, the point is that until we can recognize the nature of our habits, step back and outside of those habits, we aren't able to free ourselves from our conditioning and patterns of anxiety and insecurity.  It's the process of keeping things as simple as possible, experiencing that simplicity, and learning that there  other ways of doing things.

The dance is in discriminating the differences in the sensation and the way in which you initiate the movement.  Without complicating this idea, this discriminatory process, inhibits the normal flow of the thinking process.  It brings composure and quiet to the limbic system, you will experience profound change in the story about you and your body, that the mind is maintaining.  What happens as a result, is that as the wholeness of a sensation and movements takes place, your entire system reaches a level of integration and synthesis that is greater than where you came from.

In the words of Victor Frankl:  "Between stimulus and response there is a space.  In that space is our power to choose our response.  In our response lies our growth and our freedom". 

Every time you dance and play between sensation and movement, you are in a space where you can choose your own way.  It's a profound micro-second of time, that very gradually, very easily, we can widen.  There is a quietness here, in this space, that is not the conditioning that you or I experience in this world, where you can choose your way in any given set of circumstances.

 Healthy means people can restore their physical integrity, recover their emotional dignity, and become healthy.  Healthy means you have the internal means to meet ongoing changes in the world and sense that you have the resources to meet those needs.  This can transform your life by finding a way to care for yourself, rather than focusing on supporting the accumulated sense and image of yourself.

The Feldenkraise Method can be a means to that end. 

All current and new programs are now offered On Line,  or  In-Home Visits in your home

Welcome to Summer 2020!   Many of us are focused on moving more, getting outdoors and enjoying all that summer has to offer. My focus during the Lock Down has been on educating myself in order to continue to work with each and every one of you who have been without therapy for 2-3 months.

I have used this time expanding my knowledge to enhance what I can share with you on your healing journey. The focus is on learning about ourselves, our habits, and "Experimenting and Experiencing"- ways to make movement easier by doing less.

Now that we are adjusting to the new cautionary lifestyle of COVID-19, the key words are "safe", "getting used to new ways", and "replacing old habits with new ones". 

I am so proud of all of you for taking good care of yourselves and families through this challenging time.  So, my job now is to continue with cautionary practices, and help keep us and our families safe. 

I am now teaching On-Line, those of you who are participating are enjoying and getting more familiar with it.  The safest way for us moving forward to post-COVID 19, is clearly for me to continue to provide you On-Line classes only.  For Private clients, as well as On-Line sessions, I will offer in-home visits, at no extra charge.   We will all be following the precautions and guidlines posted on my Blog below under "Informed Consent - COVID-19" as suggested by Work Safe B.C.

I am happy to announce some additions to your therapy practices, which I can either blend with your Therapeutic Yoga techniques, or you can study as separate lessons.

Previous Offerings are all still available:  Group or Private Sessions

• Yoga Therapy
• Pre-Post Natal
• Pelvic Rehabilitation
• Restorative
• Mindful Meditation.
• Breathwork
• Pre-Post Op Therapy

New Offerings - I am excited to introduce the following practices, designed to help us become aware of old habits and exploring new possibilities

Feldenkrais Method -  can be studied alone or in conjunction with Therapeutic Yoga

Somatic Therapy -      can be studied alone or in conjunction with Therapeutic Yoga

For more informtion on these please see  the Blogs

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This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Integrative Yoga Therapy For Wellness

INFORMED CONSENT FOR IN-PERSON SERVICES DURING COVID-19 PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS

This document contains important information about our decision (yours and mine) to resume in-person services in the light of the COVID-19 public health crisis.  Please read this carefully and let me know if you have any questions.  When you sign this document, it will be an official agreement between us.

Decision to Meet Face-to-Face

We have agreed to meet in person for some or all future sessions.  If there is a resurgence of the pandemic or if other health concerns arise however, I may require that we meet via telehealth.  If you have concerns about meeting through telehealth, we will talk about it first and try to address any issues.  You understand that if I believe it is necessary, I may determine that we return to telehealth for everyone's well-being, if you decide at any time that you would feel safer staying with, or returning to, telehealth services, I will respect that decision, as long as it is feasible and clinically appropriate.  Reimbursement for telephealth , is between you, and per your insurance provider.

Risks of Opting for In-Person Services
You understand that by my coming to your home, I am assuming the risk of exposure to the coronavirus.  This risk may increase if I have to travel by public transportation, as opposed to in my private vehicle.

Your Responsibility to Minimize Your Exposure
To obtain services in person, you agree to take certain precautions which will help keep everyone (you, me, our families, and other clients, safer from exposure, sickness and possible death.  If you do not adhere to these safeguards, it may result in our starting/returning to a telehealth arrangement.  Initial each to indicate that you understand and agree to these actions:

• You will only keep your in-person appointment if you are symptom free_____
• If you have a fever, or if your temperature is elevated (100 farenheit or more), or if you have other symptoms of the coronavirus, you agree to cancel the appointment or proceed using telehealth.  If you wish to cancel for this reason, I won't charge you a cancellation fee_____
• You and I agree that I will not appear earlier than 5 minutes before our appointment time____
• You will wash your hands or use alcohol-based sanitizer before I enter you home____
• You will adhere to the safe distancing precaution of 6 ft in our practice room____
• You and I will both wear a mask throuhout our session____
• You will keep a minimum distance of 3-6 feet (1-2m.), and there will be no physical contact____
• You will try not to touch your face or eyes with your hands.  If you do, you will immediately wash or sanitize your hands____
• If you have a child, you will make sure that your child follows a hand washing and sanitizing protocol____
• Your child will stay in a separate room from the practice room____
• You will take steps between appointments to minimize your exposure to COVID____
• If your job exposes you to people who are infected, you will immediately let me know____
• If your commute or other responsibilities or activities put you in close contact with others (beyond your family), you will let me know____
• If a resident of your home tests positive for the infection, you will immediately let me know and we will then (begin)resume treatment via telehealth__

 I may change the above precautions if additional local, state, or federal orders or guidelines are published.  If that happens, we will talk about any necessary changes.

My Committment to Minimize Exposure

My practice has taken steps to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus in my home and I have posted my efforts on my website.  Please let me know if you have any questions about these efforts.

If You or I are Sick
You understand that I am committed to keeping you, me, and all of our families safe from the spread of this virus.  If I show up for an appointment and I believe that you have a fever or other symptoms, or believe you have been exposed, I will leave your home immediately.  We can follow up with services by telehealth as appropriate.  If I or a family member test positive for the coronavirus, I will notify you so that you can take appropriate precautions.

Your Confidentiality in the Case of Infection

If you have tested positive for the coronavirus, I may be required to notify local health authorities.  If I have to report this, I will only providce the minimum informtion necessary for their data collection and will not go into any details about the reason(s) for our visits.  By signing this form, you are agreeing that I may do so without an additional signed release.

Informed Consent:  This agreement supplements the general informed consent/business agreement that we agreed to at the start of our work together.

Your signature below shows that you agree to these terms and conditions.

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Client                                                                           Date

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Yoga Therapist                                                              Date

Brenna Jacobson (C-IAYT)            tel:  604-369-8785       This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.integrativeyoga.ca