Dr. Stephanie Carter Kelley

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Find Comfort in the New Year

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We all need some comfort each day. But you FIRST need to realize that you are uncomfortable and ask yourself WHY. So many of us disconnect from what we feel each day in order to just survive. You may unconsciously find ways to create the comfort you so dearly NEED. From the first cup of coffee in the morning to foraging in the pantry at the end of the day, these subconscious actions don’t deal with the true source of discomfort and don’t really give us long lasting comfort.

So we must first deal with the discomfort, not avoid or keep pushing through discomfort in order to create lasting change for the better. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

  • When do you feel discomfort?

  • Where do you feel that discomfort in your body?

  • Is the discomfort a physical experience or does it correspond to emotional or mental discomfort?

  • What would directly affect the discomfort that you feel right now?

Because the primary goal of Yoga is to “yoke” our physical sensations with emotional and spiritual sensations, movement may help you find answers to the questions above. You can start on the floor with cat/cow creating gentle movement and exploring comfort vs discomfort. Most yoga classes progress to standing poses. So you’ll want to try those too.

In this video I will address 3 out of 4 of what I call the “Fundamental Four“ (here’s a handout for detailed cues). Fundamental because they are the standing poses performed in almost every yoga class. It is important that you are familiar and comfortable in these poses. My instruction will help you learn the poses and make them your own with both COMFORT and EASE.

Namaste,

Stephanie

P.S. Are ready to really find out the source of your low back pain? My 4 Module Online Course, Yoga for a Better Back, is a commitment to feeling better in the New Year. It takes 8-12 weeks to complete, but will give you a much better understanding of WHY your back hurts and HOW you can make lasting change.