Wto ben o d H it
Fitness From postures to boost your gut health to anti-anxiety flow, prescriptive yoga classes are healing Londoners, says Kate Wills
WE ALL know about the myriad benefits of yoga but gone are the days of a one-size-fits-all practice. Forget flexibility and looking good in leggings, a new wave of yoga classes is aimed at treating everything from IBS to insomnia, with studios offering classes and workshops to target specific health issues. So whether you want to boost your immune system, unwind your “text neck” or sort out your digestion, there’s a mat for that...
You’ve got: insomnia
Yoga for Better Sleep at The Life Centre, Notting Hill and Islington (thelifecentre.com).
Lisa Sanfilippo is London’s leading expert on yoga for sleep — her workshops have been known to help life-long insomniacs finally get some shut-eye. “Over the past 15 years I’ve developed a sequence of poses, meditations and breathing exercises which release tension and settle the mind and body for sleep,” she says. And if you’re one of the one in three people in the UK who have sleep problems, you need to pick your yoga class wisely. “A strong vinyasa class late at night might make you feel tired but it will have the opposite effect once you’ve gone to bed,” explains Sanfilippo. “You need to calm the nervous system down and get it ready for rest.” For more information visit yogaforbettersleep.com.
Buddha Belly Breath
“Before bed, breathe smoothly and evenly. As you inhale, relax your lower belly and allow it to puff out gently. Making the exhalation longer than the inhale — say a count of four to the inhale of a count of three — taps into the rest-and-digest function of your nervous system.”
You’ve got: IBS
Love Your Belly at Triyoga, Camden (triyoga.co.uk). Whether you have a bit of a stomach upset, or a more serious condition such as IBD or post-operative bowel cancer, Tanya Goodman Bailey teaches yoga techniques and gives nutritional advice to manage digestive health. “For many people, gut issues are a stress response, and standard yoga practice with deep spinal twists can be too much,” she explains. “This is a very nurturing, healing practice which aims to reset the nervous system and bring digestion back to normal function. We learn about self-massage and acupressure as well as various poses that target the digestive organs, calm the mind and settle the belly. We also teach distraction exercises, craniosacral therapy and meditation, which are very effective forms of pain- management.”
For more information check out thebellylovemethod.com.
The Regulator “Do this once a day to set the rhythm of your digestion and help things along. Put your hands together, one in front of the other, palm touching