YogaSol & Sol Therapies

YogaSol & Sol Therapies

Michael’s Yoga Story

Here is one of our Dedicated Yogi’s sharing his story of his body and mind since starting a regular Yoga Practice.

My yoga story. I’d like to think the story so far is just beginning.

I’ve had an interest in yoga for a long time and dabbled in it over the years using DVDs and such, but it never became a practice. From the bits and pieces I tried, I could feel it was good for me but lacked the motivation to keep it going regularly.

When YogaSol opened, I thought I would try out a class and see what it was like. I was a bit nervous as I have some long term injuries that would restrict some movements (frozen shoulder and weak ligaments around the knees), so I went for a gentle beginners class. Some things I could do, some things I couldn’t, some things I could almost do. It was wonderful to find out that there was no pressure to do anything that was beyond me, and there were always options if a pose was not within my grasp. I’ve found if I work within my abilities, improvement would eventually follow.

After a few weeks, I found it was much easier cultivating a regular practice by going to classes rather than the sporadic, self-motivated practice I tried at home. So I decided to make a commitment for 12 months to get to class at least 3 times a week, I’m now just over 2 months into that commitment.

What has changed:
Better movement. I have more flexibility in my shoulder and more strength in my knees. I’m not doing shoulder stands or getting to 90 degrees through the knees in Goddess (God) pose, and my downward dog may need a trip to the vet, but I feel I’m making progress and am positive I will get there in time. I would love to be able to get into a full plough pose someday.
Clearer mind. Yoga has been a great way to get better at staying present. With challenging poses, I’m learning to cultivate mindfulness through the pose and what it is doing to my body. The more challenging poses are great at bringing your awareness to the moment. This has also had an effect on other aspects of my life. I’ve started meditating in the mornings, have better concentration at work and feel calmer when dealing with the world.
Improved health. It’s funny how when you start looking after yourself in one aspect of your life, you feel motivated to clean up other parts. My diet has greatly improved in the last couple of months, cutting out virtually all processed foods and cooking a lot more at home, I’ve even lost a few kilos. Although the weight loss is a pleasant byproduct, I don’t think it’s as important as the other consequences of feeling healthier, stronger and more energetic.
My wife has also joined me in my practice. We both lead busy lives and it can be a challenge coordinating the time to practice together, but when we can manage it, it’s great if we can both get to a class and do something together that’s just for us. I think Yoga Nidra may be our favourite class to do together.

I’m looking forward how far I can progress over the next 10 months and beyond, not just in yoga, but in the other parts of my life that yoga has inspired me to improve. I really want to try Hot Vinyasa but still feel a little intimidated in doing an advanced class, I will endeavour to “man-up” soon.

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Our Solian Stories

Here is the first of our Yoga Sol Stories.
 
This new feature will be a chance for you to tell your story to help inspire others who may be struggling or to give you a platform to feel pride and satisfaction in all your efforts and your achievements, not just in Yoga Asana but how Yoga has effected you as a person.
Sarah is our first ‘Solian’ to share her amazing story of regaining her health and managing chronic pain.
 
I first met Claire from Yogasol in April 2014. At the time I was 25 years old but the first time I met her I told her “I feel like a 25 year old stuck in the body of an 80 year old!”
I had been having health problems for more than 5 years. After a back injury, a neck injury, one surgery and being misdiagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and hashimoto’s Thyroiditis when I was 19, I was fed up with the medical system and the countless doctors who had failed to help me.
 
I had seen dozens of doctors and specialists who couldn’t offer me anything to improve my day to day quality of life. I spent a few years feeling totally disheartened that, despite my young age and all the time, energy and money that I had spent, I didn’t really have control over my health and I felt like rubbish every day.
 
My chiropractor recommended I try yoga and gave me Claire’s number. I was hesitant as I had been to one yoga class in a gym years earlier and I found it to be intimidating and hard.
 
Claire was the first person who really listened to my health problems and actually understood what was happening in my body. She told me she was going to teach me how to sit, stand and walk from scratch. I was surprised at the level of knowledge of anatomy that she had and she guided me to slowly and gently re-train the way I lived my life through yoga.
 
Three years later, I cannot even to begin to describe how different my life is thanks to yoga. While my health problems didn’t magically disappear, my day to day quality of life is so much better and I feel like my own age.
 
Through yoga I have the tools to manage my health in a gentle and loving way. I wake up every day feeling like, although my health and body are not perfect, that I can live my life to its fullest and I have control of my health.
 
The knock on benefits to my mental health, personal relationships, work performance and overall happiness have been bigger that the physical improvements.
 
It sounds cliché to say, but yoga truly did change my life.
 
My greatest yoga achievement has been earlier this year when I completed my first headstand. For someone who has had chronic back and neck problems and an RSI injury in both wrists, to stand
on my head was something I never thought would be possible!
sarah handstand

Naturopathy

What is Naturopathy?

Naturopathy is a holistic approach to wellness based on the body’s ability to heal itself given the right conditions. Naturopathy is based on treating the person as a whole through nutrition, herbs and lifestyle.

The 6 fundamental principles of Naturopathic Medicine which I practice:

  1. The healing Power of Nature – Trust in the body inherent nature to heal itself.
  2. Identify and Treat the Causes – Look beyond the symptoms to the underlying cause.
  3. First do No Harm – Utilise the most natural, least invasive and least toxic therapies.
  4. Doctor as Teacher – Educate patients in the steps to achieving and maintaining
  5. Treat the Whole Person – View the body as an integrated whole in all its physical and spiritual dimensions
  6. Preventions – Focus on overall health, wellness and disease prevention

Why naturopathy?

Herbal medicine is amazing…….when given in the correct form and dosage herbal medicines are powerful, highly effective and safe. I love that I can make an individualised herbal formula for client’s treatment and seeing the results.

I believe in prevention of disease through healthy eating and regular exercise. When we are leading an 80/20% lifestyle (80% healthy and 20% foods and drinks in moderation) we start to feel better and are happy within ourselves.

Best of all I love helping people feel better about themselves by educating them on how to achieve overall improvement on their health and wellbeing.

What brought you to work as an Naturopath?

I have always had a passion for food but it wasn’t until my late 20’s I realized how important healthy eating was. I began to educate myself on using food as medicine to help manage my own medical conditions. After achieving great results, I gained a thirst for knowledge and enrolled at Australian Institute of Applied Science to become a Nutritionist, whilst there I was introduced to herbal medicine and there began my passion for herbal medicine. Armed with the knowledge that herbal medicine can make a huge difference when treating clients, I decided to become a Naturopath and I have not looked back.

Is there a specific area of health that you have a passion for?

My passion in Naturopathy (apart from food) is helping others with Stress and Anxiety. I personally have dealt with anxiety and it is something I will have to manage for the rest of my life. Different situations or in times of stress can accelerate my anxiety but I’m now equipped with the right tools to help me deal with this.

Stress and anxiety is something we all have to deal with at some point in our lives and it can vary dramatically between individuals. It is important to not underestimate the impact that stress can have on our physical and mental wellbeing.  Chronic stress affects every system in the body and if left untreated can increase the risk of potential health consequences.

As a Naturopath I am blessed to work with nutritional and herbal medicine which can greatly benefit those with anxiety or stress. Once Stress and anxiety is under control it will have a flow on effect such as:

  • Improved mental wellbeing and mood
  • Enhanced sleeping patterns
  • Increased energy levels
  • Improved health on digestive function, cardiovascular function (heart rate and blood pressure) and balancing your hormones.

 

3 Greatest dietary Tips for improving sleep and Stress levels.

  1. Eat a healthy diet ensuring you are getting enough nutrients and minerals to help your body manage stress.
  2. Sleep and stress are very interrelated – Stress can cause sleep problems and lack of sleep can exacerbate stress. It is important to get quality sleep help our body renew and repair, without this we can become lethargic and it affects our whole body. Best advice is to establish a night time sleep routine to assist with your sleep onset and avoid caffeinated products from the afternoon onwards.
  3. Practice breathing techniques for when stressed – Yoga and meditation is great for this.

3 Greatest Tips for improving our immunity through the flu season.

 

Eat a well balanced wholefood diet that includes these immune building foods. Think soups, stews, casseroles and bone broth. Be creative and add them to other meals you cook regularly.

 

  1. Eat Mushrooms – Mushrooms in particular shiitake, maitake, and reishi mushrooms appear to give the biggest immunity boost. Studies show an increase in white blood cell activity which helps fight infection. Mushroom are also rich in protein, fiber, vitamin C, B vitamins, calcium, and other minerals.
  2. Garlic – Garlic is fantastic for your immune system as it an antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal. Virus, bacteria and fungus cannot build up resistance to garlic unlike some antibiotics.
  3. Fresh fruit and vegetables high in vitamin C – Kiwi fruit, berries, citrus fruits, dark leafy green vegetables, pineapples, papaya and tomato.

As a Naturopath I have access to an amazing range of professional liquid herbs, probiotics and nutritional products that can really help boost your immune system for this winter.

How do we book an appointment with you and what should we expect to happen within our appointment time?

You can book an appointment through my website. Here is the link https://www.happyhealthyliving.net.au/book-online alternatively you can call me directly on 0405 148 343.

 

What to Expect:

You should allow between 1hr to 1.5hrs for your initial consult. During this time a detailed health history will be taken. We will also discuss various body systems which enables us to get a complete picture of what is happening in your body so we can individualise a treatment plan for you

All consults are individualised and therefore may include:

 

  • Iridology
  • Tongue and nail analysis
  • Blood pressure assessment
  • Zinc talley test
  • pH urine test
  • *Additional pathology tests may be required and are an extra cost.

Treatment Plan:

Your individualised treatment plan will include specific dietary advice, lifestyle recommendations and suggested nutrients and herbal medicine (if required) to help improve your health.

As your Naturopath, I will be there to support, guide and educate you on becoming the very best version of you.

 

Can we claim with our health insurance?

Yes, consultation fees are claimable through most private health funds. Please check with your provider.

 

Meditation Made Easy

We’ve all heard of the benefits of meditation – reduced stress levels, improved concentration, lower blood pressure.

But why does it seem that Meditation is a chore, or that it is difficult to achieve the quiet silent mind we are told is required to be good at meditation.

What if meditation were as easy as thinking of something you loved to do and diving deep into that experience; as simple as drinking your favourite beverage or eating a sweet chocolate; as full of wonder as looking at the night sky; as natural as enjoying being yourself.

We all have a natural meditation style that fits us like a glove and all we need to do to reap the benefits of meditation is to find our own gateways.

In this six week course we will explore various ways into meditation and develop a practice that will have you looking forward to your meditation time, reaping the benefits of a fuller, richer life of wonder and delight.

Thursday July 13th to Thursday August 17th

7-8pm

Limited Numbers so bookings essentail.

6 weeks cost $120 Bring a friend for 1/2 price $180 for 2 people

Please Book online

Lorraine Lea linen fundraiser for Kids with Cancer

Lorraine Lea’s annual Party for Kids with Cancer® campaign returns for another year and is on track to reach an impressive accumulated fundraising total of $1 million dollars over 5 years for long-term charity partner Camp Quality Australia.

The official partnership between Lorraine Lea and Camp Quality commenced in 2013 and throughout this time, Lorraine Lea has raised more than $875,000 for the children’s cancer organisation.

Each year, more than 1,400 Lorraine Lea Independent Stylists and hundreds of dedicated party hosts nationwide generously donate the Party Profits and Host Rewards they earn to help give children impacted by cancer every opportunity to thrive.

From this party, 100% of all the stylist income will be donated to kids with cancer via https://p4kwc-2017.everydayhero.com/au/glamour-glitz

This includes any sales of products made on the day or prior via Claire, plus any bookings made by people unable to attend on the day. Add this to the gold coin donations, and together we can make a difference!