Stress Lives in the Body

by Lara Land | May 9, 2022 | LAND BLOG, LARA LAND

Anyone who has ever worked as a personal trainer, yoga teacher, or even a waiter or waitress at a restaurant, knows that stress lives in the body. You can see it on the folks you serve, burning off them like steam or in their frozen human-like expressions. I first understood that deep muscle release would result in an emotional outpouring during my time studying theater at Boston University where we would stretch our bodies and our release sounds from deep in our guts to get at old wounds and traumas. We probably should have had some boundaries and guidance in trauma sensitivity, but that’s another story.

I encountered this pattern of emotional release again when I began to work one on one with yoga clients in their homes or in studios, clubs and gyms like the Reebok Club, now Equinox, that were popular at that time. Some similar patterns would happen where clients would start to tell me their personal stories, sometimes interrupting whole sessions to “let stuff out”. It was the body talking.

In the safety of our established relationship and with the help of a little breathwork and movement they could let go of some things they were holding onto. I was lucky that I had some active listening training and I was also sure I was often outside my scope. Trauma informed yoga teacher, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, and Therapist, Hala Khouri has a similar story which she shared with me on the first episode of my new podcast, Beyond Trauma.

She blends modalities to best serve all the different nervous systems present in a yoga room. I really appreciated her wisdom in how to show up as a trauma informed yoga teacher and create a space safe as possible for everyone and her clarity around the variety of supports that can work together to promote well-being for an individual.

All yoga teachers and especially those who seek to be trauma informed will benefit from Hala’s tips around collective care and weaving in more than just yoga asana in the yoga room.

Check out this inaugural episode today on iTunes or Spotify and check out Three and a Half Acres Trauma Informed Yoga Teacher Training here!

Unfocused: How zoning out could help you make your next best discovery

by Lara Land | May 2, 2022 | LAND BLOG, LARA LAND

How to focus better and longer is the subject of many conversations in this era of smartphones and other devices stealing our attention every few seconds. We are cautioned, and rightfully so, that we need to turn off devices, silent notifications and learn to concentrate on the task we are engaged in, or problem we are attempting to solve. Many of us, especially folks with trauma, have trouble concentrating for very long.

It’s parents and teachers’ common concern about their kids, calling on children to “pay attention” when they stare out the window or fidget at their desk. However, as we can see examples of so many times even though we often ignore or override them, our bodies know first and often best what we need to succeed.

Plugging away at a problem may just be the opposite of what we need to solve it.

Every go to sleep with a problem in mind you need to solve and wake up with it all figured out? Turns out our brains love soft focus and often need us to relax and open up to do what they do best.

How do we do this?

Taking a thirty minute walk, going to a yoga class or stepping away to read something unrelated from a physical book are all good ways to relax our brains and let the answers flow to us but may sometimes feel too time consuming.

Here’s another option…Relax your eyes.

They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, but they are probably more likened to the windows to the brain. When we are doing work at a computer or on our phones as so many of us spend most our days doing, they are focused tightly to one spot. This narrow focus has its place but is unnatural in our evolutionary history to hold for so long.

You can switch the state of your mind and body quickly by switching your visual focus to a softer, broader focus. Try it now. Look straight ahead. Now without moving your eyes, relax your gaze and take all of your scope of vision to the ends of your periphery with our moving the eyes or straining. Do this for a few minutes and you will reset your nervous system, engaging its calming parasympathetic branch.

This wide relaxed gaze is the opposite of tunnel vision. It takes in your whole environment and tells your body you are aware and safe, a perfect exercise for reducing stress and the impacts of trauma.

This is the place from which we can make better informed decisions and find creative answers to problems we most likely would not have discovered from zoning in. We are, quite literally, taking it all in.

This gaze happens naturally when we are relaxed, but the great thing is we can bring the relaxed state on by taking it purposefully, state shifting into a more open state. Anyone can do this.

If you are a trauma informed yoga teacher, you may want to use this at some points in your class. Where the eyes are looking in each pose is a central part to our teaching. Considering how you can cue for a softer and wider gaze may just be what’s missing in helping your yoga students to step into that chill, open minded state.

You might just be helping them to see the big picture and make a real transformation in their lives.

CATSKILLS

by Lara Land | Apr 26, 2022 | COURSES, CURRENT RETREATS, RETREATS

Catskills

Thimo and Lara have combined over 35 years of experience in yoga, meditation and mindfulness practices. Their certifications include Vinyasa and Ashtanga Yoga, Trauma Sensitive Yoga and Mindfulness, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Chair Yoga, traditional Buddhist Meditation and Life-Coaching and as well they are certified Fasting Guides. Together Thimo’s German roots, and Lara’s New York City vibes bring a balance of energy which allows them to easily connect with practitioners of all levels and interests. Their reverence for nature has made the Catskills a natural home for them and is the inspiration for their present endeavours.

Thimo and Lara host a variety of in person Catskills offerings including classes, workshops, and retreats ranging from one hour to week long experiences.

Sessions include:

yoga
meditation
mindfulness practice
personal coaching
nature immersion
forest therapy
fasting & cleansing
yoga philosophy
early buddhist teachings
guided mindful outdoor hikes & walks

Classes can be combined to create unique experiences for both groups and individuals at varying levels and experiences including pure beginners.

Request Information

Inquire here to set up your experience.

STREAMSIDE YOGA

Yoga classes are ongoing Tuesdays 9:15am-10:30am

Suggested donation is $20 due by 3pm Monday before class

Ashtanga is a powerful style of yoga that involves matching the movement of the breath with the movement in and out of postures. We use a set sequence of poses which we build upon as we grow together and which can be adapted to any level and ability. In this weekly class Lara emphasizes the three-pointed focus of breath, gaze, and posture and suggests ways for using this focus to transform the practice into a moving meditation. Prepare to sweat if you want to or move more slowly and have any pose modified to meet your needs.

Testimonials

Thimo is an extraordinary person. He is real, wise, knowledgeable and teaches with care, openness, courage and humility. He is what he is teaches. I felt known and seen as well as valued and respected.

- Ines M

In Lara Land, I have experienced, when I needed it the most, an individual who is passionate about yoga, passionate about her dedication to teaching and unstoppable in a way that goes beyond yoga. She has a passion for the local community, a passion for sharing her talents and yoga all over the world.

- Sonya C

Healing Trauma with Nature

by Lara Land | Apr 25, 2022 | LAND BLOG, LARA LAND

Many of us have struggled with traumatic stress since the pandemic arrived in 2020 and even before that with our increasingly screen based, sedentary lives, so unnatural to our systems. I, myself, even though I had an over two decade long yoga practice found that I was often at capacity for what my nervous system could handle.

It was the incorporation of mindful nature immersion that allowed and continues to allow my body to regulate and thrive.

As a start, you can spend more time in nature, by moving your coffee break, a phone call, or any regular activity to the outside.

Learning how to be with and communicate with nature goes further and is a practice. It’s not just getting outside, but being there, in nature with purpose and practices which open you up to all the benefits it can offer.

On nature immersion yoga retreats, students are guided through awakening their senses and reconnecting with the earth. Talks and meditations which call us into the elements and heighten the experience of nature so it’s as technicolor as any screen out there and more so. We hold space and allow for the release of stress and calibration we all desire. You will find your sleep is deeper allowing for the healing your body desires.

The next retreat of this nature is this summer. You can check out the details here.

Healing Trauma with Nature - Thimo resting under a tree

How to apologize

by Lara Land | Apr 18, 2022 | LAND BLOG, LARA LAND

One of the things we have to start learning as yoga teachers, trauma informed yoga teachers, and humans is that we don’t know everything. Specifically, we can’t know another’s experience, which means we have to trust them when they tell us how they feel.

If you are a yoga teacher and especially a trauma informed yoga teacher and a student tells you that something you did offended them it’s important to hear that and repair that even if it was not your intention to do harm.

There are many factors which cause us to explain away, dismiss, and take way too personally feedback from others. For me, it has always been my perfectionism that got in the way. Releasing that need and knowing that it is impossible to get things right all the time has allowed me to become more vulnerable and available to hear when I’ve harmed someone and get invested in how I can make it right. I don’t take it to mean I’m a bad person. I don’t take it to mean anything about me. I immediately look to how I can make things better for them.

Recently I had the opportunity to be on the other side. I was hurt by a friend who made reference to a murderer of my ancestors in a positive way. The incident made me red hot inside and a great wave came up through my body urging me to walk away. Because I’m familiar with my body’s stress response reactions, I was able to feel those sensations and hold enough space for them that I could stay. My ability to remain in the room allowed me to receive the support from other friends who surrounded me and to be present for my embarrassed friend’s apology.

It is not always the case that we should stay when our body is screaming “leave”. Sometimes getting out of a potentially dangerous situation is the absolute right move. I happened to be safe enough and have enough capacity to stay.

How to apologize… If you cause harm, here’s what you can do:

1. Listen carefully and hear what the harmed person is sharing with you. They are giving you an opportunity to understand something you may not have known about.
2. Make sure you get what they are saying. If you don’t, you may want to reflect on and educate yourself on what mistake you have made. Do not ask them to do that for you.
3. Apologize specifically for what you have done and without any excuses.
4. Commit to what you can do to repair the relationship and avoid the same mistake going forward.

Number 5 can be tricky…

5. Be open to the possibility that your apology may not be accepted.

Part of getting over our perfectionism is getting that that not everything gets resolved or gets forgiven and forgotten in our timeline. A true apology expects nothing in return. As hard as it is, we may need to be okay with open endings.

Practice working with feelings of being harmed with this meditation.