What is Reiki Energy Healing and Do I Need it?

Here at Society Yoga, we are expanding our offerings to include Reiki energy healing. That probably has a nice ring to it, but if you’re new to it, you might be thinking what the heck is that?

Here, we’ll teach you all about Reiki, as well as what to expect from your Reiki energy healing experience at Society Yoga in downtown Lafayette, Indiana.

What is Reiki Energy Healing?

Reiki, pronounced “rey-key” is a Japanese word comprised of two parts. Rei means soul, spirit, “atmosphere of the Divine,” or “wisdom and knowledge of all the Universe.” Essentially, it is the wisdom or energy from the Source, or God, whatever you may call the higher power that guides us. Ki, also known as Prana, or life force in yoga or Chi in Chinese. It is the energy of life that exists within all living things, be it plants, animals, or humans.  

Reiki energy healing (just Reiki for short) is a specific kind of energy healing that originated in Japan after it was discovered by a Buddhist priest named Mikao Usui. Reiki is a safe, non-invasive system for balancing, harmonizing and promoting healing holistically to a person–body, mind, and soul. Reiki is also great for increasing and improving personal and spiritual growth and awareness.

During a Reiki session, a practitioner uses healing spiritual energy from the universe to encourage healing within themselves or a client. They do this, usually, by gently laying their hands in specific areas around the body. Optionally, the practitioner may hover their hands a few inches above the body for any reason including tender spots due to injury, or the personal comfort levels of the client or the practitioner. There is no pressure applied, nor manipulation of the soft tissues of the body. Reiki is not a massage, and clients stay fully clothed except for removing their coats and shoes or anything else necessary to feel comfortable. There is no touching of private or intimate areas, and the hands are kept relatively still once placed in each position. 

It’s also important to note that Reiki practitioners are not healers and Reiki does not heal you. Instead, Reiki encourages you to heal yourself through natural body processes. Ultimately, you are your own healer. Reiki just stimulates whatever processes you need for that healing.

How was Reiki Discovered?

Reiki is a bit of a mystery as it has been passed down as an oral tradition. There is much debate, but the story originally told in the West goes something like this–Dr. Mikao Usui was a teacher who taught and believed in the bible stories in which Jesus healed the sick and broken. 

Puzzled, his students asked how Jesus healed, and if they could be taught to learn to heal as well. Realizing he could not teach his students what they seek, he dedicated the rest of his life to discovering how religious figures like Jesus and the Buddha healed the sick. Dr. Usui ended up in a Zen Buddhist monastery where he was advised that meditation was the only way to discover that which he sought. Desperate, Usui engaged in an extreme, 21-day fast where the goal was to either achieve spiritual enlightenment–or die. 

At the end of his fast, Usui reported seeing a great light, a Reiki, above him. He saw the symbols of Reiki and came to deeply understand them, and through this encounter, was blessed with the ability to heal himself and others. He spent the rest of his life passing what he’d learned on to others, so that they may share the blessing. 

Who Can Offer Reiki Energy Healing?

Reiki is available to any and everyone, as it is the essence of the higher consciousness that guides all of us. Someone who practices Reiki healing has worked with a Reiki Master and ultimately become “attuned” to the Reiki energy, but nothing new is gifted to the practitioner. Essentially, the new Reiki practitioner has a channel re-opened within them so that they can now channel Reiki to themselves and others.

There are three levels of Reiki attunement:

• Level One, or First Degree

• Level Two, or Second Degree, and

• Level Three, or Reiki Master

Through each level, the new Reiki practitioner receives an attunement from the Reiki Master, opening the same channel so that Reiki may flow more freely and powerfully. 

What are the Benefits of Reiki?

If you’ve read this far and are thinking that all of this sounds rather “woo woo,” and a bit too out there for you, you are not alone! In fact, before I was introduced to and fully experienced Reiki, I was of the same mindset. However, seeing and feeling is a whole different ball game. 

Additionally, I’d like to point out the power of the placebo effect on its own! Our minds are wildly powerful, and if you believe a Reiki session will heal you, that only adds to the potential benefits. In my personal opinion, if it leads to healing, who cares if it was simply the placebo?

However, if that’s not enough for you there are also some interesting studies proving the benefits and potential of Reiki energy healing. Check out this peer-review study; Reiki is Better than Placebo and Has Broad Potential as a Complementary Health Therapy.

This study reviewed 13 suitable studies carried out between 1998 and 2016 and found “reasonably strong evidence for Reiki being more effective than placebo, suggesting that Reiki attunement leads to a quantifiable increase in healing ability.”

It is important, however, to understand that healing happens on multiple levels in many different ways. Healing can be:

• Physical

• Spiritual

• Emotional

• Energetic

• Awareness

 Additionally, all Reiki works with our own highest consciousness, for our highest good. Sometimes, this means that an ailment or sickness will carry on if that is a part of your path. So we should never expect miracles to happen from a single Reiki session. Miracles are certainly possible, but their unlikelihood is exactly what makes them a miracle. 

Some of the immediate benefits of a Reiki session include:

• Profound relaxation

• Improved sleep

• Reduced pain

• Reduced tension and anxiety

• Improved mood and lessened depression symptoms

• Increased quality of life

Are there Risks of Reiki Energy Healing?

Reiki is very safe, as long as you are working with a legitimate Reiki practitioner–someone who has trained with a Reiki Master and had attunements. There are no known contraindications, as Reiki is guided by a benevolent higher power in conjunction with your own higher consciousness and can only work in your best interest.

You may, however, experience a brief increase in any symptoms you had previously been experiencing following your Reiki session. It is also possible, if profound healing or energetic shifting occurs during your session, that you may suddenly come down with cold-like symptoms even if you had not previously had symptoms. This is a natural side effect that can (but won’t always) happen, and should usually resolve within a few days. 

Common Reiki Misconceptions

Reiki is not something that comes from the practitioner. As a receiver, you are not taking any “energy” or anything else from the practitioner. The Reiki practitioner is not becoming energetically “drained” from carrying out a session. In fact, quite the opposite, the Reiki practitioner actually receives healing benefits while acting as a channel for a client.

There is also no energy transfer from client to client, even if the practitioner happens to do Reiki on someone else directly before or after your session. 

Lastly, Reiki is not religious. It is a spiritual practice that can be used and applied to anyone regardless of their beliefs. 

What to Expect for Your Reiki Session at Society Yoga in Downtown Lafayette, Indiana

When you book your Reiki session with me (Katie Schopp), you can expect to come to Society Yoga sometime between classes. We will set up on a mat in the studio using bolsters or blocks to get comfortable. The room will still be warm, so be sure to dress accordingly but know that it’s entirely possible to feel chilly and different points when we’re working with energy. 

I’ll start by asking if there are any places (outside of the obvious) that you do not want to be touched or anything you feel I should know before we begin. When we are ready, we’ll get started and I’ll invite you to close your eyes, focus on your breath, and try to relax as much as possible. I will set my hands in specific places on your head, shoulders, arms, hands, knees, lower legs, and feet and hold them there for anywhere between two and five minutes, sometimes staying longer if I feel the need. I may also hover my hands a few inches over your heart and belly. If you are uncomfortable with touch and would like me to hover my hands for the entire session, I will be happy to do that for you. If drawn to, I may ask you to turn on your side or belly so I can work on the backs of your shoulders and mid back as well. 

Please be aware that it is totally normal to not feel anything, or to feel heat, cold, tingles, or muscle jerks as I move across your physical and energetic body. It’s also very normal to have emotions bubble up, including laughing, crying, or even feeling more complex emotions like guilt, or anger. This is all part of the process. A session could last anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes.  

Afterward, some people may want to chat about their session and something that came up for them, or what they experienced. Some people may want to hear if I felt anything of note, and some people may not want to share at all. Whatever category you find yourself in, I will always respect and honor your wishes. 

In the immediate aftermath of your session, you should feel very relaxed. Some people feel energized while some feel very sleepy and ready for a nap. It’s possible in the hours or days following your Reiki session that any symptoms you had previously been experiencing slightly worsen before they get better. It’s also possible you develop a bit of a cold within the next several days as I mentioned before. Additionally, you should also be prepared to have no noticeable side effects. Some things take multiple Reiki sessions to work through, and some people may just not be sensitive to the effects in the aftermath. 

It’s also possible that days or even weeks down the line you suddenly have a new awareness about a situation or problem in your life.

If you are interested in a Reiki session with me, please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions or to book. I can’t wait to work with you!

Namaste.

What to Expect for Your First Hot Yoga Class

So, you keep hearing about hot yoga and all the benefits and it sounds like a really good time, but whenever you think about signing up you end up letting your anxiety get the best of you. Sound familiar? Well, if that’s the case, you’re not alone! Many of us started in your exact position–with nerves about trying something new. This blog is meant to serve as a guide, to ease your anxiety and help you feel confident when walking into Society Yoga (or any hot yoga studio!) for the first time.

What is Hot Yoga?

First, let’s talk about what hot yoga is. Hot yoga, as you may have guessed, is simply yoga postures performed in a heated room. Temperatures could range anywhere from 90-105 degrees Fahrenheit. 

There are countless styles of hatha yoga (tip: we’re always talking about hatha yoga if we are talking about the physical practice of yoga). Hatha yoga can range from power vinyasa, which is flowing from pose to pose while linking your movement with your breath, to yin or restorative yoga where you are passively holding the postures for several minutes.

Your specific hot yoga experience will depend on the studio and style of yoga class you select!

What is Hot Yoga like at Society Yoga in Lafayette, Indiana?

Society Yoga is a boutique yoga studio located in downtown Lafayette, Indiana. We are a hot yoga studio where the majority of our classes are performed in our lovely heated studio. As we said above, your experience will depend on which style class you select. Our heated class menu includes:

Power Heated

Society Sculpt

Society Yoga Burn

Rise and Shine

Yin

Society Core

Society Tone

Sunday Service

Happy Hour Power

We also have the following non-heated yoga class options (for your future reference!):

Restorative

Gentle Yoga

For a detailed description of our class offerings, click here. For this blog’s purposes, we’re going to talk specifically about power heated yoga because it is one of the more physically demanding classes we offer, and thus, the one you may feel the most nervous about.

What are the Benefits of Hot Yoga, Anyway?

Before we go any further, let’s talk about why you would even want to do hot yoga in the first place! Anyone who has experienced a power heated class will tell you there’s something wonderfully invigorating about the sweaty mess you become during a power heated class. When you’ve been asked to push yourself in the heat and sweated more than you ever have then at last, you reach your final resting pose, this incredible inner peace emerges from somewhere deep within. It’s truly unlike anything you’ve felt before.

However, beyond that, there are several well-researched benefits of hot yoga! On top of a whole host of benefits specific to yoga in general, the benefits of hot yoga include:

1. Improved flexibility

It’s well known that you can get a better stretch when your muscles are warm versus when they are cold. You can compare it to a rubberband that’s been stretched and released several times versus one that’s never been stretched respectively. 

With hot yoga, we’re building heat within our bodies, moving in and out of various dynamic stretches, in an already heated environment. This allows for the greatest opening of the larger muscle groups so that you can experience increased flexibility and range of motion. 

Studies have found that after eight weeks of consistent hot yoga practice, participants increased the flexibility of their backs, shoulders, and hamstrings more than the control group.

2. Increased caloric burn

Yoga, especially vinyasa yoga, how reached peak popularity in the western world mainly because of the workout. It’s no secret that many people first walk into a yoga studio looking for another way to burn calories.

If you’re most interested in burning as many calories as you can, hot yoga is the best option. Increased temperatures mean increased sweat–emphasis on the increased. This demand increases the healthy stress on your heart and your lungs, resulting in more calories burned.

One study found that hot power yoga practitioners, on average, burn between 330 and 460 calories in a 90-minute class–and no shade to the research, but come to Society’s Sunday Service and you’re likely to burn anywhere from 300-600 calories in a 75-minute class!

3. Increased lung capacity

Yoga in general can improve the lung’s capacity, but as with caloric burn, hot yoga can prove even more effective. One limb of yoga is pranayama, the control of prana or life force in the body. This is often translated to “breath control” and while that’s part of it, it does not fully encapsulate what pranayama is. However, for our purposes here, breathing is what we’re focused on.

Specific breath techniques in a regular yoga practice can improve lung efficiency. Add a heated environment, and you’re increasing demand on the lungs because you’re increasing the heart and respiratory rates. This translates to benefits to your lung capacity over time.

4. Reduced symptoms of depression

People often turn to yoga to support their mental health, sometimes not until they’ve already bottomed out on their symptoms. There are many ways yoga can help reduce symptoms of depression including physical exercise, and meditation pieces. There’s also the empowerment of a yoga practice.

This study found that an eight-week session of hot yoga reduced the following depressive symptoms in women:

Pessimissim

Self-criticism

Low cognitive function

Poor quality of life

5. Improved heart health

Last on our list, hot yoga can improve overall heart health. For the same reasons hot yoga provides even more benefits to calorie burn and lung capacity, hot yoga can improve heart health even more than a regular yoga practice.

Practice Hot Yoga, but Be Aware of these Risks

Hot yoga truly has so many benefits, even beyond this short list. However, there are some increased risks you should be aware of. They include:

1. Dehydration

2. Heat Stroke

3. Danger to a pregnancy

4. Risk to specific health conditions

Any exercise program carries some inherent risks, and when you add a heated room into the equation, it does tend to increase those risks. As with any new exercise regimen, you should check with your doctor if you have any specific concerns or doubts that you can tolerate the heat. 

Of course, there are things you can do to minimize your risk of dehydration and heat stroke, and we’ll cover those later on in this article. 

What to Expect for Hot Yoga at Society Yoga

When you walk into Society Yoga in downtown Lafayette, Indiana, you can expect to be greeted by a friendly face, taught how to sign in at our iPad, and given a brief tour of the space including where to drop your things and fill your water bottle or visit the bathroom. We also have towels and yoga mats to rent or purchase if you’re brand new to your practice and don’t yet have these essentials!

When you’re ready, you’ll head through the double doors of the studio and find your place. We have props like straps and blocks to make your practice more accessible to you, so you’ll want to grab those first thing! We always say that it’s better to have the props and not need them rather than need them and not have them.

Before class begins, you can rest peacefully on your mat in the heat, or engage with our lovely community. Some of our long-term members will be more than willing to chat and make you feel comfortable. 

Class will always start on time, and you can expect a message while you rest, followed by a guided warm-up. When you’re nice and warm, you can expect the music to get a little louder and the flow to pick up the pace a bit. Your yoga teacher will guide you expertly through upbeat, flowy postures while also empowering you to take what feels good in your body and leave out anything that doesn’t.

You’ll flow through several rounds of various sun salutation variations, including balancing poses, and opportunities to try and play with more advanced postures and inversions. You’ll be extremely sweaty and nice and loose by this point, and when we’re finished flowing, you’ll have the opportunity to get the most out of the heat while you sink into several slower poses for deep stretching and cooling down. 

Lastly, you’ll get to experience that deep inner peace we mentioned earlier–Savasana. Savasana is the Sanskrit term for corpse pose–a reclined, lying position reserved for the final posture in yoga classes. It is a time to allow all the energy you’ve built and released through your practice to reintegrate and it’s a beautiful, beautiful piece of yoga. This is the part that may stand out the most to you if you’re new to your yoga practice, and we encourage you to give it a try even if you’re not so sure! You don’t have to do anything–just take rest.

After class, you can expect a slow and sweaty exit and a brief check-in with the teacher to get your thoughts!

How to Prepare for Hot Yoga at Society Yoga

Now that you know what to expect, there are a couple of great steps you can take to prepare your body and mind for your first hot yoga experience.

1. Hydrate!

Beginning the day before, it’s smart to start being mindful of your hydration levels. It’s a good idea to be optimally hydrated before you even set foot in a heated studio! If you can, aim for anywhere between two liters and one gallon of water the day prior. 

If you’re taking a morning class, prioritize drinking at least a whole glass of water before you get to the studio, and ensure you bring your water bottle with you. Don’t worry if you forget your bottle, though, because we also sell water at the front desk. 

Don’t be afraid to stop at any time during class to grab a drink of water, or exit the studio to refill your bottle at our water filling station. 

After class, it may be wise to grab an electrolyte tablet to add to your water, or a sports drink to replenish those vital minerals that may have been depleted in your sweat.

2. Eat!

Some people can’t eat before they work out, and you may have to do some trial and error to find out what works for your body. However, for feeling and performing your best during a physically demanding class in the heat, you may want to eat a small meal consisting of mostly carbs one to two hours before class. 

At the very least, try a banana or an orange on your drive! Don’t eat too much or too dense of a meal too close to class time, otherwise, you’re likely to suffer some digestive upset. 

Afterward, make sure you refuel your body with some protein and carbs so that you stay feeling well through the rest of your day.

3. Get there early!

Especially when you’re new, you may find it eases your anxiety to plan to arrive at the studio 10-20 minutes early. This is especially true if you haven’t signed up online before class. 

Arriving early will ensure you’re not the last to arrive to a packed class and give you plenty of time to set up your mat and any props you may want. It will also give you the chance for the instructor to briefly introduce themselves to you.

4. Listen to your inner wisdom and your body!

Lastly, as always in yoga, this practice is individual and special to you. You should try to tune in and listen to what your body is trying to tell you–whether that’s sinking in a little bit deeper to the pose or pulling back significantly compared to the pace of the class. Everyone is on their own yoga journey and we hope that you will honor your body on and off the mat–this is a zero-judgment zone, so you might even see people resting on their backs while everyone else flows!

Anytime you need a drink, take it, and if you are new to the heat, you may need to rest your body in child’s pose to catch your breath. Rest assured that even if the heat gets to you in your first couple of classes, it doesn’t take long for your body to adjust to the heat and soon you’ll be able to keep flowing.

Now that you (hopefully) feel more empowered to walk through our doors and join your first hot yoga class, you should also know that if you have any questions or concerns you can send us an email at info@society-yoga.com, or stop in to see us in between class times so that you can meet our instructors and feel even more comfortable. You are welcome and wanted here! We can’t wait to meet you!

Namaste. 

A Yogic Approach to Dieting: Intuitive Eating

We are very aware that many people use yoga, especially hot yoga, as a means to burn tons of calories to help them in their efforts of losing weight. While we’re honored to be a part of your journey, no matter what that entails, it’s our hope that after you’ve visited our space in downtown Lafayette, Indiana a couple of times, you’ll realize that there is so much more to yoga than an incredible workout, and you’ll start to grow a new appreciation for your body. 

But it’s hard to get away from this obsession with shrinking our bodies–in today’s culture, we place a huge emphasis on appearance. It’s not a new phenomenon, but the availability of the internet and influencers exacerbating and fueling this obsession with aesthetics has led to an out-of-control issue for people young and old. It’s an obsession that’s very much alive and well in the yoga community. We can’t stop thinking about what we eat (or don’t eat) regarding the way we look.

As a society, our obsession with looking a certain way has led to an unhealthy obsession with dieting to achieve our desired body. We place too much emphasis on eating minimal calories to shrink the number on the scale and not enough on what food actually is. Food is a life-sustaining substance that contains everyday essential macro and micronutrients, such as:

• Calories

• Proteins

• Fats

• Carbohydrates

• Vitamins

• Minerals

In yoga philosophy, food is also a means of increasing prana, or our life force. 

Many factors can contribute to eating problems and eating disorders, including other mental health issues, extreme satiation of processed foods that make it more challenging to enjoy real food from nature, and physical addiction to food.

To be clear, you don’t have to be clinically diagnosed with an eating disorder to struggle with food. This document should not serve as a diagnostic tool. If you suspect you are battling with disordered eating, you should consult your primary care physician or a therapist that specializes in eating disorders.

Dieting is Not the Answer

To combat our addictions with food and the weight gain that often comes hand in hand with it, we’ve become utterly obsessed with dieting. The problem with that is dieting doesn’t work. No matter what diet you try, you’re highly likely to gain the weight back, and potentially even more.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with tracking things like your protein, carbs, and fats or even keeping a general log of your calories. The problem comes when we become so preoccupied with our eating habits that it takes away from our lives. Dieting mentality can be a slippery slope, and when you’re obsessed with tracking every morsel of food for the protein and calorie count, it becomes a dauntingly massive task.

On top of the time and effort that go into tracking everything from your protein down to your calories, dieting at its core makes you feel restricted, and restriction is not a sustainable place to exist.

When diets fail, several negative things happen to your mind and your body.

1. Self-blame and self-doubt

2. Frustration and desperation that leads to binge eating

3. The gut microbiome changes and contributes to rapidly regaining weight when the diet relapses

Your body grows accustomed to the foods you regularly consume. When you go on a diet and begin consuming higher amounts of whole foods, proteins, vitamins, and other nutrients, your body adjusts. Then, when you fall off the diet wagon and eat nothing but highly processed foods, your body will struggle each time you make these drastic changes.

For these reasons and many more, people engage in what’s called yo-yo dieting. A vicious, hard-to-break cycle of restrictive dieting, losing weight, diet failure, gaining weight, and continue… forever. No one actively tries to yo-yo diet, and each time we begin a diet, we tend to think of it as a change we will make for the rest of our lives–if only we can maintain our willpower! By the time we realize that restrictive dieting and counting every protein gram and calorie cannot create lasting change, we are twisted tighter into a messy relationship with food that’s tied to our mental health and needs some serious untangling to heal.

So, what is the answer to healing our diet culture and, in turn, our relationship with food? As with other complex issues with multiple influencing factors, the answer is not a simple one. We can’t just quit counting calories and expect everything to be as it should. What works for some people might not work for you. However, intuitive eating might be an excellent place to begin, and at the very least, a guilt-free way to enjoy food as a part of your life. After all, you’ll be eating food for the rest of your life. Do you really want to carry guilt surrounding that fact for the rest of your life, too? Where you feel guilt and shame, it is difficult to feel free. When you don’t feel free, it’s difficult to be genuinely happy. True health and well-being are about more than your weight. It’s about your happiness, too.

Intuitive eating also happens to be a great way to bring your yoga practice off the mat and apply it in a way that can benefit your wellness even further. We talk often about listening to your body at Society Yoga. Mostly, referring to your physical practice on the mat, however, listening to your body and what it needs from you can grow to be a vital part of your self-care and your commitment to wellness. Obviously, we need to eat. So how can we do that in the most loving and compassionate way?

What is Intuitive Eating and How is it “Yogic?”

Intuitive eating is an approach to food and nutrition developed by two registered dieticians in 1995. Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch created a framework for non-dieting as a means to optimal health and wellness.

The idea is that from birth, humans are intuitive eaters. Young children are great examples of savoring food yet stopping when they feel full, but something happens as we age. Influences from the adults in our lives and society weigh on us, teaching us to use restrictive measures and food rules.

“Clean your plate” teaches us to eat the food that’s in front of us instead of what our body tells us we need.

“No dessert if you misbehave” teaches us that food is a reward and gets taken away if we don’t act a certain way.

Certain foods are “good” or “bad” for us leads to internalized feelings of regret and shame or pride surrounding food.

All these factors can lead to sticky relationships with food that make us struggle to maintain a healthy body weight and optimal overall health. Intuitive eating is about getting back to that natural state of truly hearing your body when it tells you you’re hungry, and when you need more calories or more protein, for example. On the flip side, intuitive eating is also about truly hearing your body when it tells you it’s had enough.

Suppose we can get back to listening to what our bodies are telling us. In that case, we don’t have to worry about counting macros to ensure we hit our protein goals or taking vitamins and minerals to combat the damage from processed foods.

Intuitive eating focuses on re-learning our body’s internal cues for our hunger, fullness, and satisfaction. Our bodies are smarter than we give them credit for, and if we can genuinely tune in, our bodies will tell us through our cravings when we require more protein, more vitamins, or even more antioxidants. How very yogic is that!?

While the science of food cravings is a complex one, there is evidence that certain vitamin deficiencies link to food cravings, and people report being able to instinctively know if they need more protein or other macro or micronutrients. Even if you’re not in tune with your cravings, you might suddenly find yourself craving fruits or a beverage rich in antioxidants and other vitamins and minerals.

Benefits of Intuitive Eating: The Science

Intuitive eating might sound like living in woo-woo yoga land. How can one eat whatever he or she wants and still be healthy? How can you be sure you’re getting adequate protein, carbs, and calories if you don’t keep track of what you’re consuming? The proof is in the pudding, and there are over 100 scientific research studies that prove intuitive eating is associated with:

• Improved self-esteem

• Improved body image

• Increased overall happiness and satisfaction

• More optimism

• Better coping mechanisms

• Lower BMIs (body mass index)

• Better cholesterol levels

• Less emotional eating

• Less disordered eating habits

It may sound scary. Giving your cravings free reign and allowing yourself to have all those “forbidden” foods. What will happen to your body? Well, you will likely find that when you stop restricting and allow yourself to fully enjoy any food you want, the food will gradually lose its power over you. Soon, you’ll find you’re able to bake brownies without crushing the whole pan in two days all because the food magically no longer has a hold over you. 

If you commit to the principles of intuitive eating, you will not be eating ultra-processed “junk” food all day every day. It just naturally tapers off, and what a beautiful concept. We can enjoy these sweet treats (one of life’s simple pleasures) on occasion without bingeing, and without becoming completely overcome with guilt afterward. So, how can you get started with a more yogic way of eating?

Ten Principles of Intuitive Eating

There are ten guiding factors for intuitive eating, and they’re rather straightforward.

Reject Dieting Mentality

Rule number one: No more dieting. Dieting culture and the dieting industry are not permanent solutions, but of course, they don’t present that way. Diet culture presents short-term solutions in a way that makes you believe when you fail, it is your fault. These feelings of failure surrounding food only further entangle into a tangly relationship with food and take us farther from our natural state of intuitively listening to our body.

In reality, the dieting world is a billion-dollar industry that thrives off of your failure. It’s time to tune that noise out.

Honor Your Hunger

Your body uses food to fuel your brain, your body processes, your movements, your healing, and your activity. Feeling hungry should be as emotionless as your car needing gas. Ignoring hunger cues triggers a primal survival instinct to overeat to pack on extra weight for a pending famine. Literally. Your brain, cells, and organs cannot understand you’re just trying to lose weight. Their only goal is survival, and they have the means to ensure that survival when they feel threatened.

When you ignore hunger cues and wait until you’re excessively hungry to give in, there is no more moderation and no more mindful eating. Instinct takes over, and you overeat. Once you’ve overeaten, you feel shame and frustration with yourself for not following your diet plan or for not having enough “willpower,” when really, your mission is doomed from conception. Thus, the cycle deepens.

By beginning to learn and honor your body’s first hunger cues, you resolve to make peace with your body and the food that sustains it. Yoga is a great tool to check in with your body and begin to re-learn all the cues it sends you.

Make Peace with Your Food

Resolve to begin thinking about food as food. Food is not “good” nor “bad” for you. Food is just food, and you are not good, nor bad, for eating certain foods.

Telling yourself that certain foods are bad, and that you shouldn’t eat them often leads to feeling deprived. Deprivation then builds to an irresistible craving, and when you finally submit, you binge and then suffer from extreme guilt–because what you did is “bad.”

When you give yourself permission to eat and enjoy all food, you are offering yourself a freedom you might never have experienced before. Let go of the shame and guilt that surrounds food.

Challenge and Ignore the Food Police

The “food police” are the voices that live within your mind telling you you’re good for eating one thing and bad for eating another. Actively correcting the thoughts that pop into your mind about what you should or shouldn’t be eating is the best way to chase away the food police and get back to your freedom surrounding food. This step will take time and practice to master. 

Additionally, when you walk this path you may encounter food police in the form of well-intentioned friends and loved ones. They may comment on their own food and bodies, or yours. Setting appropriate boundaries with others may be the most challenging piece here, and again, it will take time and practice to master. 

Rediscover Food Satisfaction

Diet culture has transferred so much food shame that even when we do “give in” and binge on the foods we’ve been restricting, we can’t even fully enjoy the moment. We’re too consumed by guilt in the back of our minds. Too often, we don’t truly taste and enjoy our foods, but that is a part of the experience! Instead of shoveling food down, set aside all distractions and mindfully eat and enjoy your food. Tasting and enjoying the foods you enjoy come hand in hand with noticing when you’re full, satisfied, and content.

Try a yogic exercise in mindful eating: Choose anything, usually, you will see something like a grape or another piece of fruit mentioned for this exercise. Eliminate distractions by putting your phone away and turning off the TV. Then for the entire experience–placing the food to your lips, slowly chewing and tasting, to swallowing, you stay completely present. Eventually, you’ll do this with all your food! What a beautifully yogic way to savor foods, especially those favorite treats.

Feel and Honor Your Fullness

Feeling your fullness and respecting it comes with rebuilding your trust in your body and yourself. Your body needs your trust that you will give it the foods it desires. Listen and observe the signs that you are reaching a comfortable level of fullness. Mindfully eating allows for pausing and considering how each bite is tasting and your current level of fullness. If it helps, remind yourself that you can always have more tomorrow!

Give Yourself Grace and Kindness without Relying on Food

Unfortunately, anxieties, loneliness, anger, and boredom are all a part of life. Whether you have an anxiety disorder or not, everyone can benefit from learning coping mechanisms to handle complex emotions without pacifying themselves with food.

Food does not fix our anxieties and emotions; it merely offers a very temporary band-aid and often adds guilt and shame to whatever you were experiencing beforehand. Allow yourself to feel your emotions but not be controlled by them. You owe it to yourself to heal the sources of your emotional pains, and with healing, you will experience more freedom around food. Yet another place where yoga can offer time and space for you to explore, feel, heal, and release.

Respect and Accept Your Body

Accept and respect your body as it is. Rejecting diet culture means realizing and understanding that you are worthy of love and respect, especially from yourself, regardless of your body’s size or shape. Society’s standards of beauty and what your body should look like are irrelevant. Just as you must accept your hunger and your fullness, you must accept your body. It is the only one you’ve got.

This is challenging work, but practicing positive self-talk daily can slowly build up your respect and love for yourself, and if you haven’t noticed, at Society Yoga, we’re really good at hyping you up… so much so that you might begin to start hyping yourself up!

Feel the Benefits of Your Movement

Begin to shift your focus from “having” to exercise to burn calories to exercising for the positive physical and mental effects. Moving your body makes you feel energized and releases feel-good endorphins.

Like forcing yourself to eat with rigid guidelines leads to feeling restricted, so does forcing yourself to exercise to change your body. Move because it feels good, it’s good for you, and you enjoy it. Experiment with different activities and find something you enjoy doing that keeps you active. You’re likely here because you love the physical practice of yoga, and that’s great! Don’t be afraid to supplement that movement with more–walks, runs, tennis, and strength training are all excellent ways to honor your body with movement.

Honor Your Health and Wellbeing Through Your Food Choices

Lastly, honor your health and your body by making food choices that are nutrient-dense and that you genuinely enjoy. Let go of the idea that having an “unhealthy” meal or snack is somehow detrimental to your plans. Consistency is what matters, and it’s easier to maintain when you’re not restricting yourself. Use mindfulness to begin to connect how your body feels with the food choices you’ve made that day or the day before. When you become in tune with intuitive eating, naturally you’re going to rely more heavily on the more nutrient-dense options and turn to those less nutrient-dense foods only when you want (and will savor) a little treat! 

Is Intuitive Eating the Same as Mindful Eating?

Mindful eating is often a term that people use interchangeably with intuitive eating. Mindful eating is also about paying attention to your body’s cues, honoring your hunger, and savoring your food. It is, essentially, the mindful eating exercise mentioned above.

Through mindful eating, you will eventually be able to pick up on your body’s cues and indications you require more calories, protein, micronutrients, water, and more.

Eating mindfully is very much a part of intuitive eating, however, the term intuitive eating embodies more than just eating. The active rejection of diet culture, and warm acceptance of your body as it is, is the main distinction between simply mindful eating and intuitive eating.

A Note About Supplements and Intuitive Eating

One of the main goals of intuitive eating is to trust your body and stop thinking about foods as “good” or “bad.” However, it’s important to point out that there are differences in nutritional profiles of real, whole foods, and processed food. Focusing on nutrient-dense foods with the macro and micronutrients like proteins, carbs, vitamins, and antioxidants necessary to life is important.

Supplements are not a one-size-fits-all fix to nutrition and eating habits. Supplements are helpful tools to reach nutritional goals that people sometimes struggle with. For example, for people who don’t enjoy eating protein from meat, protein supplements are a helpful replacement. There are many protein supplements to choose from, from various sources like whey protein to vegan alternative protein supplements.

Even an intuitive eating master may struggle to eat seven servings of fruits and vegetables a day and therefore, lack certain vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Vitamin supplements and antioxidant supplements can bridge those gaps. Multi-vitamins are a great place to begin when looking to buy some insurance on your vitamin and mineral consumption. 

 How to Get Started with Intuitive Eating

There are many free online resources that will help you get started on your intuitive eating journey, along with many books available at your local library or for purchase. It can also be beneficial to learn some basics about nutrition to learn which foods are rich in protein, carbs, vitamins, antioxidants, etcetera. You might also be interested in learning in general how much protein you require, the daily recommended amounts of vitamins, and what antioxidants do for your body.

Through intuitive eating, you will take your yoga practice off your mat and use it in a way that will benefit you for the rest of your life. You will be able to find peace and freedom in food, and you will likely naturally reach a happy and healthy body weight and composition. On top of that, you will give your body the nutrients like proteins, carbs, calories, vitamins, minerals, and more that it desperately needs and craves. More than that, you will feel much happier and have a better overall feeling of well-being.

Blindfolded Hot Yoga: 3 Reasons you Should Try Eyes Wide Shut

Many people begin their yoga practice as a means of exercising, moving their body, and maybe even reaching some health and fitness goals. However, when you begin practicing, usually it doesn’t take long before you’re diving deeper into all that yoga has to offer. 

It’s hard to deny there’s something different about yoga. You’ll find an increased emphasis on your breathing during the physical practice, sure, and maybe more emphasis on accepting your body, honoring your limits, and not comparing yourself to others. But it goes even deeper than that. Asana, or the physical postures, is just one small piece of yoga. The other aspects of yoga include:

• Yamas (social guidelines)

• Niyamas (personal observances)

• Asana (postures)

• Pranayama (harnessing breath power)

• Pratyahara (sensory withdrawal)

• Dharana (concentration)

• Dhyana (meditation), and

• Samadhi (union with the divine)

We’ll dive into each of these limbs of yoga in future blogs, but for now let’s talk about how Eyes Wide Shut, or blindfolded yoga can help you dive deeper into your personal yoga practice beginning with what it is.

What is Eyes Wide Shut Blindfolded Yoga?

As you might have guessed, blindfolded yoga is the physical postures performed with the eyes shut. You can simply keep your eyes closed through practice, or use a physical blindfold to prevent you from peeking. 

At Society Yoga, you’ll experience all the signature elements you’ve likely come to expect from us:

• Powerful and inspirational messages

• Skilled teachers

• Intentional flows

• Heated studio

• Atmospheric lighting, and

• Powerful music

At Eyes Wide Shut, you’ll also be invited to dive deeper into your body and mind. This specialty class will be slower and more intentional than our Power Heated classes, similar to our Power Burn classes where poses are held a little bit longer so that you can fully experience them.

What are the Benefits of Eyes Wide Shut Yoga?

If the idea of flowing through yoga poses with your eyes blindfolded is a bit out of your comfort zone, you are not alone. But don’t count it out just yet. Here are three top reasons you should give yoga with a blindfold a try:

1. Eyes Wide Shut is a Unique Opportunity to Experience Pratyahara

Pratyahara means to withdrawal the senses. To travel inward, we have to stop paying as much attention to the thousands of pieces of data our sensory organs deliver to our brains every minute. It’s about tuning into your soul and out of your human experience. 

However, sensory withdrawal is a difficult thing to experience in our busy day to day lives. Sure, you can meditate daily or try float therapy, but it takes conscious effort to experience tuning out of your sensory world.

Blindfolded yoga offers another way to experience sensory withdrawal. Removing your vision from the equation and practicing yoga, whether you’re new to the physical practice or not, presents a unique opportunity to be in your mind in a totally different way. 

2. Blindfolded Yoga can Increase Body Awareness

While pratyahara is about reducing the noise from our senses, Eyes Wide Shut yoga can also help you to better connect with your body. Our eyes, obviously, play a huge part of our brain’s understanding of our positioning in space. However, there is more to it that just what we see. There’s also the under-awknowledged fact that we often don’t see ourselves clearly without biases, and we, of course, cannot see inside our bodies.

One of the other pieces in our brain’s understanding of our body’s existence is through proprioception. Proprioception refers to tiny receptors in our fascia, muscles, joints, and tendons that provide feedback about our bodies from the position, down to what’s going on internally. 

Proprioception is one of those things that we all have, but whether or not we’re tuned in is a completely different story. Fortunately, like most things in life, proprioception can improve with time and practice. That’s one reason yin-style yoga practices like Yin and Restorative Yoga are so important. However, blindfolded Eyes Wide Shut yoga is another way to tune in and tune up those proprioceptor organs. You can gain a better sense of what’s happening inside your body while you flow without your sense of sight.

3. Eyes Wide Shut Offers a Chance to Learn More about Yourself

As with all yoga, Eyes Wide Shut offers yet another unique experience for you to explore yourself and learn more about who you are and what makes you tick. Does the idea of flowing without your eyes make you feel powerless? Take a moment to ask yourself why.

When you get to this specialty class, you’ll have time and space to notice emotions, thoughts, stories, and maybe even anxieties come up. Rather than being overcome by them, maybe you can take time to observe and become inquisitive about why you may be feeling these things. 

If nothing else, blindfolded yoga may be a once-in-a-lifetime experience and there really is no better way to get to know yourself than to experience something new–especially if that something is very much out of your comfort zone!

When and Where Can I Experience Hot Yoga with a Blindfold?

Our first Eyes Wide Shut specialty class is February 26th at 4:30 p.m. at Society Yoga in Lafayette, Indiana. This is a 75-minute class where the first 5 minutes or so will be reserved for a brief explanation, followed by 60 minutes of intentionally flowing. Afterward, you’ll have time to reflect and debrief with the instructor, Kate, and enjoy an (included) Vybes CBD-infused wellness drink.

You won’t want to miss this class! If you’re interested, we encourage you to book your spot ASAP, as space is limited to allow for ample room to flow while blindfolded.

Meditation is Great, But Have You Heard About the Benefits of Yoga Nidra?

Yoga Nidra has been mentioned more than a few times as of late at Society Yoga. You may have been introduced to this technique in one of our Yin yoga classes, or you might have heard it mentioned regarding our Restore Your Soul specialty class coming up.

If so, you might wonder what the heck it is, and why you would want to try. So, let’s break it down!

What is Yoga Nidra?

Yoga Nidra, also known as yogic sleep or sleepless sleep, is an ancient, guided meditation technique designed to take you deep into your subconscious mind essentially experiencing sleep without sleeping.

Yoga Nidra is associated with delta brainwaves, whereas many other meditative and relaxed states are associated with theta and alpha brainwaves. The result is a profoundly restful state between waking and sleep, or sleeping while maintaining inner awareness or consciousness. 

This state, in modern science, is known as the hypnagogic state. It’s that place just before you fall asleep, where you might experience dream-like auditory or visual experiences. It’s a mental state of increased creativity. In fact, big names in history like Thomas Edison utilized the hypnogogic state for some of his most innovative ideas! He would rest in a chair, holding metal balls in his hand above a bowl. If he drifted off to sleep, he'd drop the balls making a noise that woke him back up so he could continue to explore this mental place as a part of his creative process.

Phases of Yoga Nidra

There are several phases of a Yoga Nidra practice, which is one reason this method is best utilized when you can be guided–whether by a live teacher, or a recording. The phases include:

1. A resolve to stay awake

2. An affirmation, known as a sankalpa

3. Rotation of consciousness through the body

4. Awareness of the energetic body through the breath

5. Awareness of sense through polarities

6. Awareness of emotions

7. Awareness of thoughts

8. Mental imagery

9. Awareness of bliss

10. Pure awareness as the witness

11. Re-affirming the sankalpa

12. Coming back to a normal state of wakefulness

How to Experience Yoga Nidra

As mentioned, Yoga Nidra is best experienced when you can be guided through a situation in which you feel safe and secure. This could be with a trusted teacher or through a recording.

For many meditative techniques, sitting is recommended to reduce the chance of drifting off to sleep. For Yoga Nidra, however, we want to be lying down, as comfortable as possible. It’s recommended that you find savasana, using modifications to make it as comfortable as can be. It’s a good idea to ensure your clothing is comfortable and not too tight, and use a blanket to keep you warm and cozy.

Benefits of Yoga Nidra

Yoga Nidra is extremely well-researched, and the benefits that are scientifically proven are astounding. They include:

• Improved cognitive function, including memory, problem-solving, learning capacity, and creativity

• Reduced perceived stress and tension

• Reduced insomnia and fatigue

• Improved immune function

• Reduced symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, headaches, and cravings

• Relief from chronic pain

• Reduced impact of trauma and addiction

• Improved meditation including observing emotions without being overcome, releasing repressed information, and a greater sense of knowing one’s self

• Increased sense of well-being and joy

Is Yoga Nidra Safe?

There are no universal truths, but Yoga Nidra, like all meditation, is extremely safe. Though, if you have any questions regarding the suitability for meditation (including Yoga Nidra) for you, you should consult with your general physician or a mental health professional. 

Who is Yoga Nidra For?

I love Yoga Nidra for any and everyone. It’s excellent for people new to meditation or those who claim to “hate” meditating. This is because you are guided through the entire session with very little time to get frustrated by a rouge, untrained mind. 

I also love Yoga Nidra for experienced meditators as well. Even if you already have a daily meditation practice, Yoga Nidra can lead to a new depth or a deeper meditative experience than you might typically achieve.

Yoga Nidra is also excellent for anyone battling with a mental health condition like anxiety, depression, panic disorder, insomnia, or PTSD because this technique is shown to help reduce symptoms (though I certainly don’t recommend quitting all other forms of treatment without the guidance of a trusted professional).

Additionally, anyone needing to manage the stress that comes with modern life can benefit from a regular Yoga Nidra practice. 

Upcoming Opportunities to Experience Yoga Nidra

You can get little tastes of Yoga Nidra in our Yin yoga and Restorative yoga classes where there is more of an emphasis on mindfulness than in some of our faster-paced, hot yoga classes. You can also check out our Restore Your Soul specialty class coming up on Sunday, February 5th. This event is 60 minutes of restorative yoga, ending with 30 minutes of Yoga Nidra. It’s going to be incredible! You can book here.

Namaste!

I Already Do Yin, Do I Really Need Restorative Yoga?

By now, you’ve likely heard the hype–Society Yoga has added Restorative Yoga to our class offerings on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and 10:15 a.m. and people are raving. But if you aren’t familiar, you might wonder what Restorative is and if you need it. This is especially true if you already do Yin Yoga!

So, let’s discuss the differences and similarities between Yin and Restorative Yoga. 

What is Yin Yoga?

Yin Yoga has been on Society Yoga’s list of class offerings since the very beginning. The name Yin comes from the yin and yang philosophy. It’s an ancient Eastern philosophy that brings awareness to opposing, opposite forces and their interdependence. Think: you can’t have light without dark, or the good without the bad. 

As it relates to yoga, yang styles represent vinyasa style classes, like: 

• Power Yoga

• Sculpt

• Yoga Burn

• Gentle Yoga 

Anything focused on flowing and moving, and linking movements of the body through postures with breathing are energetic yang-style classes. On the other hand, yin-style yoga classes represent stillness and static holds.

Until recently, Yin Yoga was the only yin-style offering at Society Yoga. It is a practice in which we hold various poses for anywhere between 3-7 minutes. As time goes on, practitioners find that they may be able to sink deeper into the pose allowing the stress of the pose to move beyond the larger muscle groups and into the deep fascia and various connective tissues in the joints. There are many benefits of Yin Yoga not only for the body but also the mind, as staying in these poses has a tendency to stir up mental and emotional static.

Traditionally, Yin Yoga focuses primarily on the hips and spine. However, at Society Yoga, we place equal emphasis on the upper body as well. This is because most of us have posture problems with disastrous health repercussions. 

What is Restorative Yoga?

On the surface, Restorative Yoga seems very similar to Yin. It is, after all, a yin-style class that is slow-moving and relaxing. But Restorative has evolved from B.K.S. Iyengar-style yoga–the father of props. 

Where Yin practices focus on a deep sensation with the goal of reaching the connective tissues deep within the muscles and joints, Restorative Yoga looks for the biggest passive opening of the muscles, with the goal of activating the parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system.

Using bolsters, blocks, straps, and blankets, we build the floor up to the body to support each part in various positions where we hold for 5-20 minutes each. While it might sound boring to visit a yoga class where you stay in one well-supported pose for 20 minutes, at Society Yoga, we start the class with a guided meditation and continue throughout the class. This creates a really unique and special class with many benefits. 

The Similarities Between Restorative and Yin Yoga

By now, maybe you can see that there are some similarities between Yin and Restorative Yoga, including:

• An emphasis on meditation

• Holding poses for longer

• Mental and physical benefits

However, you might start to notice some key differences between the two styles as well.

The Differences Between Yin and Restorative

It could be said that Restorative Yoga is like Yin, minus the intensity. Some of the other differences between Restorative Yoga at Society Yoga include:

• Longer holds

• More emphasis on meditation throughout the practice

• Relaxing music and healing frequencies

• More props

• Passive stretches

The Benefits of Restorative Yoga

There are truly countless benefits to yoga in general, and Restorative Yoga is no exception. Along with the typical benefits you might find in a yoga class, Restorative offers the benefits of meditation as well. 

When we talk about the yin and yang philosophy, we can also apply it to factors like lifestyle. The average person today lives a very go-go-go style life. That’s to say, life is very yang. It is necessary to find some stillness, or yin, to make for a more healthful and well-rounded life.

You can find this yin in a meditative practice, certainly. You can also find it in a Yin Yoga practice, but while this is a practice you can find peace and stillness with, Restorative Yoga may be even better for finding the yin to your yang.

That’s because Restorative asks you not to push into discomfort and stay there, like Yin, it asks you to relax with as much support as possible. It also asks you to move if you do experience discomfort, so you can limit distractions and stay in a meditative state. 

Some other benefits of a Restorative Yoga practice include:

• Boosting the immune system

• Promoting relaxation

• Promoting deep healing 

• Reducing pain

• Improving sleep quality

• Enhancing mood

• More

Who Can Benefit from Restorative Yoga?

Anyone and everyone can benefit from a regular Restorative Yoga practice. It is especially great for anyone who is:

• Pregnant

• Physically limited

• Highly stressed

• Healing physically, mentally, or emotionally

• Interested in deepening their yoga practice beyond asanas

• Ready for a deep meditative practice

• Searching to learn more about themself

Here’s what to Expect when you Come to Restorative at Society Yoga

When you visit Society Yoga for the Restorative Yoga experience, you can expect to walk into the studio and receive a warm welcome. You can bring your own mat or conveniently rent one from the front desk. 

After you drop off your things, you’ll enter the studio to find a spot already set with all the props you will need for your practice, including blocks and bolsters. You’ll simply add your mat and sit or lie down and begin to relax. The studio is kept between 80-90 degrees, as Restorative is one of our non-heated class options. Gentle lyrical music may be playing until class starts.

When the class begins, we will switch to instrumental music or healing frequencies. You’ll be guided through a beginning meditation and hold poses for several minutes. As poses switch, you’ll be encouraged to move your props to support your body as much as possible and then directed to use your breath to release and built up tension.

We’ll end the class with a short Savasana and then you’ll be on your way feeling relaxed and with a deep internal peace that will last you all day. 

We can’t wait to practice with you! Namaste.