Eight-Week Pain Management Yoga Course

I have been reflecting a lot on how I can bring my Yoga and Shamanic practise back to teaching others and so I am now in the process of creating a Pain Management Yoga Course.

This course has been birthed from my present experiences of life. I understand first hand how it feels to live with chronic pain and so this is something that is driven with total empathy, compassion and understanding. Living the experience of pain I feel into my personal Yoga practise, into what feels uncomfortable and what brings about a sense of comfort. While I know that we are all so uniquely different, our bodies experience pain on many different levels and in many different ways, we do all have nervous systems and more often than that not these nervous systems of ours need regulating to bring about a sense of calm and relief. And guess what? Yoga has been scientifically proven to positively impact our Parasympathetic Nervous System, which is the Rest and Digest part of ourselves.

This course is designed to encourage the mind and body to find ease and contentment. Through gentle Asana, Pranayama and Guided Meditation the focus will on be-friending the pain and discomfort. Through Individual Practice and Collective group work a space will be created to feel into the hard edges of ourselves with an approach to soften them.

Often we fight pain, we feel anger and annoyance towards it which leads to more tension, frustration and discomfort; within this space we will learn to find a softness towards the discomfort. Over the years my practise has stepped towards discomfort which can lead to a beautiful balance of contentment. Although finding this equilibrium can be a challenge, it is not impossible, and through the practise of Yoga and Mindfulness it is achievable.

These classes will be designed to honour and create space for pain, discomfort and fatigue whether that comes within the mind or the body. They will be inclusive of every body. They will be inclusive of every ability. They will welcome you as you are.

Pain can be isolating, cause deep loneliness, lack of sleep, social and financial struggles, difficulties with relationships, challenges with motivation, fear of movement, fear of stillness… I want to create a space where all these elements are welcome, that we acknowledge its okay to feel these things and we gently step towards the discomfort.. because stepping towards the discomfort we give it love, kindness, softness and reassurance.

Yoga and Shamanic practices are incredible tools to manage the daily life of pain, discomfort and dis-ease.. and I feel it deep within me that it is my duty to share with others how comfort can be found in discomfort.
Yoga and Shamanic practices are incredible tools to manage the daily life of pain, discomfort and dis-ease.. and I feel it deep within me that it is my duty to share with others how comfort can be found in discomfort.

Creating spaces that feel safe and honouring of what we bring as individuals is paramount to me. Over the course of the eight-weeks I will guide you on a journey of self exploration, to become friends with your pain, to learn that pain does not dominate or rule the mind and body and to learn ways to ease the discomfort from practising Yoga with a Shamanic and Mindfulness approach.

The classes will be shaped to all ages and abilities, to varying pain levels and conditions.  I will however stipulate the ability to get on the floor will be crucial as we will be doing floor work. Perhaps  I will design a non-floor orientated program for the future but for now I will stick to this.

My ideas flow from the heart, driven by my own guides and intuition, so I greatly trust in the flow of this.

For now, preparations, planning and designing are well underway to create a dynamic, versatile and inclusive eight-week Yoga program for Pain Management in Devon!