Yoga Room Anxiety

by | Sep 5, 2018 | New this month

“So what happened?”

I asked one of my private clients who has registered to try out a class and never showed up for it.

She sighed…

 “Well, I drove to the studio, and then sat in the car for a while…
I felt so anxious, I just couldn’t make myself join the class.”

You may think that with the soaring popularity of yoga this situation is quite unusual; but actually, yoga class anxiety happens way more often than you’d imagine.

Showing up for a new yoga class can feel intimidating for anyone; it is especially true for folk who live with chronic illness, persistent pain, and movement limitations.

When your nervous system is SO sensitive that even the most innocuous occurrences fasten your heartbeat, and even the lightest touch makes you yelp, a new and unfamiliar situation can heighten tension and pain perception – in other words, deliver the exact opposite of what we are hoping to get from a yoga class.
Now picture yourself practicing with a group of complete strangers week after week after week …

Feeling at ease in our bodies and with our practice takes time; spending this time with same group of people week after week after week builds connection and camaraderie.  Connection and camaraderie are the very building blocks of that ease. They are also the building blocks of our many success stories…

Whenever we have a chance to connect with others on a deeper level – when we feel seen, heard, understood and accepted just the way we are (yes, warts and all!) – and when we are immersed in the community of like-minded individuals our brain produces more endorphins. Endorphins are natural pain reducing substances, so the pain FADES AWAY.

For those of us (yes, yours truly included!) who come to yoga to find healing, the familiarity, that sense of ease and connectedness are of utmost importance: ease is what allows the hyper-sensitive, hyper-vigilant nervous system let its guard down.

So we can sigh.
Soften.
Relax; fully, utterly. Many of us no longer know what that feels like…
To let go of stresses that we carry knowingly and unknowingly.
To just BE…

It is somewhere between improbable and impossible to stop feeling self-conscious, and settle into the utter relaxation and state of being-ness in a drop-in class… Registered sessions deliver a whole host of other benefits, way too numerous to list here.

Hey, my name is Julia

Living with chronic pain has taught me to look for solutions in unlikely places –  places where most people see only problems.

Over the years I’ve gotten to be pretty good at this problem-solving and silver-lining finding thing.

So good that I felt compelled to share what I’ve learned and help others to find their sea legs while navigating, living, and winning their battle with chronic pain.

Hey, my name is Julia

Living with chronic pain has taught me to look for solutions in unlikely places –  places where most people see only problems.

Over the years I’ve gotten to be pretty good at this problem-solving and silver-lining finding thing.

So good that I felt compelled to share what I’ve learned and help others to find their sea legs while navigating, living, and winning their battle with chronic pain.