Groups
The pairing of a restorative yoga practice with group psychotherapy offers the opportunity to explore the intimate connection between mind and body. Often we compartmentalize the two and are not aware of their mutual impact on each other. Yoga helps us slow our breath, body, and mind, so that we are able to listen to what has always been present for us but is yet unnoticed.
How we act out physically and treat our bodies, from disregard and disconnection to annihilation and harm, and how our bodies respond to us, is the voice of a struggle that cannot be resolved until we give words to it and begin a process of self-reflection and healing through relationship.
Meditation and mindfulness practices help cultivate an ability to reflect on the self while reserving judgment or attachment. Through this we endeavor to create a space of gracious observance of our emotional state, taking in whatever is present to us as information pointing towards greater meaning.
Group meetings consist of two 45-minute sections. The first 45 minutes is a restorative yoga practice focusing on cultivating an awareness of your breath and body. Restorative yoga involves gentle stretching with breathing exercises designed to provide deep relaxation, calming and healing emotional imbalances, rejuvenate the body, and increase flexibility. By beginning with yoga we identify where you are storing tension in your body. Our bodies store memories and experiences our minds refuse. Using the breath as the point of connection between mind and body allows us to cultivate physical and mental space in order to become observers of ourselves.
We become witness to ourselves, and begin to give words to our internal experiences. The goal of the group is to address issues, concerns and struggles while caring for our bodies and developing a sense of integration between mind and body.
The second 45 minutes the group focuses on developing relationships with other group members to create a safe space in which to discuss areas of struggle, relational issues, and any feelings or experiences group members desire to discuss and explore in the healing context of safe, supportive relationships. Group discussion promotes healthy self-reflection because you have the benefit of other people's experiences of you, which they offer without judgment, but with honesty and care.
Individual yoga and therapy sessions are also available and follow the same structure as the group.