Party tricks and inversions: Better living through upside down yoga with Ariel Howland

Ariel Howland spent 25 years as a dancer but the practice of yoga helped her build a true relationship with her body.  Dance was using her body as a form of expression, yoga was actually getting inside her and getting in touch with her body.

She’s been teaching yoga for 10 years and has a degree in somatics which enables her to to help people work with their emotional and physical bodies.

How does what we experience emotionally manifest itself in a physical capacity?  Our bodies acquire stories as a result of our day to day experiences.  There’s a relationship between our emotional body and our physical body.

Many people live in such a fast paced culture that they don’t have time to breathe.  We’re over stimulated, always moving forward, moving to the next thing, trying to get more.  We get separated from our friends and families. This experience can lead to a natural fight or flight response.  Your body reflects this by tensing up and sinking down inside as you hide from all the stress.  Bringing awareness to what’s going on can help change your emotional and physical state in a positive way.

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Yoga helps us to breathe and to inhabit our bodies more which helps our nervous system

To inhabit your body means that your structural system (your bones) are going to be straighter, your tissues around your bones are going to be more aligned and you’re going to be breathing properly

Her upcoming inversion workshop is called, “Practicing Right Side Up and Upside Down,” and focuses on how to actually do an inverted Vinyassa, go upside down and then flowing upside down.  You’ll learn lots of yogi party tricks including scissors pose, crippled sage, and chin press.

Watch the end of the video for Ariel’s impressive demonstration.

GET THE WORKSHOP DETAILS ON FINDMEFIT

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