Corporate Yoga

If you, your colleagues or employees ever experience:

· the stressful tension of a deadline at work
· energy slumps in the afternoon
· trouble sleeping due to a racing, anxious mind before bed
· soreness in your back, neck, wrists and shoulders from working at a computer
· lack of motivation and inspiration
· frequent illness caused by stress or burnout

you could be affecting not only your own health, but your company’s bottom line. This is why Vital Signs Yoga/Fitness is bringing yoga to corporations, so you and your company can stay happy, healthy and productive .

The Benefits of Yoga at Work:
A recent evaluation of 16 studies reporting on cost/benefit ratios from workplace health promotion programs showed an average return of $5.93 per $1.00 invested (American Journal of Health Promotion).

That means that for every dollar a company puts into the health of its employees, it gets a nearly 600% return! Now that’s persuasive math.

Yoga:
· Provides practical tools for reducing stress and anxiety
· Boosts the immune system and improves overall health, resulting in less sick-days
· Improves energy, mental focus and clarity
· Increases motivation, positive thinking patterns and productivity
· Boosts morale and confidence
· Reduces back, neck and shoulder pain
· Improves breathing and reduces headaches
· Builds teamwork and positive relationships

Take action and take care of yourself and your business it’s a win for everyone.
If space is an issue you can try chair yoga in the boardroom.

A local studio space can be rented and incorporated to accommodate your space issues as well. Vital Signs can take care of all the details of setting it up for your convenience.

Rates and package deals are flexible and open for discussion.

Take action and take care of yourself and your business, it’s a win for everyone.

Are you a small company with less than 10 employees?
Are you interested in offering the benefits of yoga to your employees on a weekly basis?

Email me with your questions I’d love to hear from you! deb@vitalsignsfitness.com

What is Yoga Nidra?

Do you want to break through unconscious blocks and resistances that create tension and anxiety; wasted time and efforts only to end up right back where you started?   Do you want to find a deeper source for creative endevours?  Does your child have a learning problem, or perhaps you want to enhance your childs learning capabilities.   

Yoga Nidra  is a guided meditation that is practiced in Savasana, designed to be used after an abbreviated yoga practice.  It takes you to a state between sleep and dream also known as the hypagogic. We generally pass through this state before sleep for no longer than five minutes. Characterized by alpha brain wave frequency of 7-12c.p.s., yoga nidra trains us to lengthen the time we spend in this state. In this threshold of consciousness we have the ability to tap into the sub and unconscious, both of which govern our behavior.

Yoga nidra is derived from an ancient Tantric technique called nyasa. Nysasa, practitioners would hold awareness on particular parts of the body for prolonged periods of time to bring heightened consciousness to the body. Yoga nidra nysasa, is used to rotate awareness through the body, to both relax it and bring consciousness. Once deeply relaxed, pairing of opposites and visualizations are used specifically to clear the subconscious and unconscious from blocks/resistances and limiting beliefs. This deeper relaxation, creates greater receptivity to first cleanse and purify and then to develop and enhance memory, increase knowledge and creativity; to transform one’s nature.

Most of us are habitually tense, and we lack awareness of our own inner tensions. Even when we sleep our thought and worries continue to play out in our minds. We all know that feeling of waking up exhausted. To truly relax we need to release these inner tensions which govern our behavior.

Yoga Nidra benefits:

Physical/ muscular tension which accumulate in the body, nervous system and endocrine system, are released through the rotation of consciousness through the body.

Emotional tensions caused by dualities in our lives: love/hate, success/failure, happiness/unhappiness. These are more difficult to be aware of. Through the pairing of opposites such as heavy/light, hot/cold/ happy/sad, we balance the left and right side of the brain and release conflicting emotional tension.

Mental tensions accumulate from excess mental activity and life experiences. Often when we think we’re angry we presume it has to do with our external circumstances but more often it has to do with past impressions from experiences(of which we have forgotten or have little or no awareness) they are held in the sub and unconscious mind. In yoga nidra we release this mental tension through rapid visualizations.

By penetrating deeper recesses of mind we can release these blocks, and resistances thereby opening consciousness to receptivity of higher knowledge and enhanced learning abilities.

9 steps of Yoga Nidra

1. Ekagrata (one pointed focus)

• We plant an image on the screen of the mind anchoring the mind.

2. Asana with nyasa- premeditative asanas

• Releases tension from physical body including breath, muscles and joints (every joint is a chakra)
• Releases energetic blocks in body to allow energy to move more freely
• Mind becomes less reactive
• Creates new neural pathways
• Combined with nyasa focuses mind.

3. Pratyhara letting mind move from sound to sound externally and internally

• draws senses inward, separating consciousness from body

4. Rotation of awareness through body

• clears conscious mind
• relaxes physical body.

5. Nirodha- Counting breath backward from 11 to 1 or 54 to 1

• deprograms the mind
• brings mind into the present moment

6. Pairing of Opposites hot/cold, heavy/light, happy/sad.

• clears sub/unconscious mind
• releases emotional tension

7. Rapid Visualization – fast moving visuals

• clears sub/unconscious mind
• relaxes mind purging it of painful memories
• develops awareness of the big self
• induces mental relaxation.

8. Long Visualization which expands awareness

Frees one of being trapped from boundaries of time and form (maya)

9. Samkalpa –is the resolve, determination and good intention that resonates precisely in your core and aligns with your essence. It is fluid enough to insinuate itself through the semi conscious patterns of self sabotage, wounded self’s objections and ego discontent. It is a will power that is flexible enough to account for changing circumstances as the sankalpa begins to manifest in your inner and outer world. Yet it is precise enough not to be diverted by the core negative beliefs that stand against it.

Email me with your questions I’d love to hear from you!   deb@vitalsignsfitness.com

The Transformation

The Transformation

What my life lesson was from the ‘trauma’ of my 8 yrs old self.

 Re the incident (see about Deb bio)

First I learned that I had a very keen intuitive sense. I could have easily fallen into the seductions and allowed for this event to happen.  But  I intuited that Dad knew what he was doing was wrong and responded to that, and ran away.  I myself had no idea what he was doing was wrong, so I learned to trust my intuition.   For that I am grateful.

I’m also grateful that Dad gave me a ‘choice’…. by seducing me instead of brutally forcing himself on me sexually.  I believe under the circumstances he did the best he could to protect me.

Re the beatings

They were painful and punishing but I survived, them and they motivated me to build a strong body in order to ‘protect myself’.  This incentive kept me very healthy and  fit.  Eventually leading me on a natural career path that came from a love of what I did. 

I learned that I was powerful and could inspire and influence people in a very positive way. This passion eventually lead me to yoga, meditation, and spirituality which has further inspired me to fulfill and live my highest purpose.

I also learned that I am my own source for love…once I found love for myself I found love for others and attracted love to me instead of searching outwardly for what I needed inwardly.

The experience

This experience gave me an opportunity to effectively use this experience to help others.     My purpose is to help and inspire others with their pain and trauma to assist them in learning their lessons intended from the universe. (instead of falling into the endless abyss of self despair and pain.)

The insights:

I learned compassion first for myself, for all the crazy fears and defenses I had built around me in order to stay  ‘safe’ and ‘good’. 

An example of how my fears and defenses manifested:

Because Dad was authority who also berated and beat me… he instilled in me the (false belief) that all authority was bad and that I was a ‘bad’ …”evil seductress…etc”  Consciously I knew this wasn’t true but 85% of our actions are ruled by the unconscious holds!   The conscious mind maybe 15% doesn’t stand a chance of  overriding this false belief system.  So with any authority(bosses, teachers) I became self righteously indignant believing their intention was to take advantage of me. 

The self righteousness was I soon realized was also a shield to protect me from being discovered from the truly ‘bad’ person I really was!

Though I pushed authority away it also made me fiercely independent and kept me working successfully as an entrepreneur, …of course I could never have a boss! until the transformation!

More Gratitudes

Universe blessed me with this experience so I could learn forgiveness,  for myself and then for Dad.  As I consciously worked on forgiveness, one morning upon waking, he came to me as a young boy and I saw his pain.  He was hurting and afraid and I recognized that young boy in my older Dad.  I was profoundly touched and found forgiveness and compassion, reverence and respect, knowing and understanding that he did his best.

And Insights:

As I grew older I witnessed my fathers demise, his uncontrolled ways and how it undermined his health with diabetes, then dialysis and a myriad of other dis-eases and he taught me the importance of health and its maintenance, so much so that I became a health advocate.

I am grateful for the amazing family I have that my father sired.  I have an amazing relationship with all 9 of them and how I  love them all dearly. 

I am also grateful for my husband who  loves and embraces me and my family and helped me process the death of my Dad and my transformation.

About Addiction:

Addiction is just an misguided way of keeping the pain and frustrations at bay, a misguided way of avoiding dealing with the issue.  It’s a dead end though, because it resolves nothing but does create a second problem on top of the first.  So homey don’t go there!  If you are there give it up! You won’t transcend until you give up the addiction. 

Save your life, your future, the wellbeing of you and those around you.   Take responsibility and show up for yourself.  Feel free to email me for an appt and a free exploratory conversation. 

The light in me bows and honors the light in you.  Shanti  xo Deb

 Email me with your questions I’d love to hear from you! deb@vitalsignsfitness.com

Acid Alkaline Balance

Over 80 years ago, in 1931, Otto Warburg was awarded the Nobel prize for his discovery that cancer is caused by weakened cell respiration due to lack of oxygen at the cellular level.
Damaged cell respiration causes fermentation (otherwise known as death, or the deterioration of something that was once living). Fermentation results in acidity/the promotion of an acidic environment; therefore in order to counteract and even completely reverse cancer, we must ALKALIZE our bodies.
That’s it. Piece of cake. No cutting or splicing of the human body, no chemo, no terror, no hair loss., no funerals… nada. All it involves is proper care and maintenance of our bodies.
So how do we alkalize?
By oxygenating!
This can be done via yoga/deep breathing/meditation, exercising, eating foods that are alkalizing or oxygenating (both words are pretty much synonymous). Even thinking happy, positive thoughts has been shown to alleviate stress, and thereby reduce the amount of cellular fermentation.

Some cool facts:
–We gain weight and because what we eat is TOXIC–or has a high levels of acid. This explains why so many people diet but do not lose weight. The body creates fat cells to store acid and other toxins. For instance, almonds have 79% fat, whereas pork only has 58%. The difference between the two is that pork, as with all meats, is literally dead. When anything is in a state of death or decay it holds an acidifying effect on its environment as it breaks down. Pork in particular is at -38 on the pH scale, whereas almonds are at +3.42.
–Acidifying factors include hearing, thinking, or saying harsh/bitter/angry words; being in a traffic jam; feeling jealous or vengeful; over working; over-exercising; eating acidifying foods; inhaling, or being exposed to acidifying chemicals; and using electronics for too long (tvs, radios, computers, phones etc). This basically includes anything that reduces the amount of oxygen being delivered to the body (especially being in a stressful or fearful situation–wherein humans subconsciously begin to breath shallowly).
–Alkalizing factors include drinking fresh, pure water; breathing deeply; smiling or laughing; eating dark, leafy greens; eating citrus fruits; being in nature, singing or listening to/playing music, and thinking positive thoughts.

Email me with your questions I’d love to hear from you! deb@vitalsignsfitness.com

The Shariras, and their Importance

Yoga has identified three bodies(shariras) for the maintenance of good health, each level requires awareness and connection to stay in harmony and a state of well-being.

Sthula Sharira – Gross or Physical Body

Is the outer-most, the mortal physical frame. Unhealthy choices, eventually lead to a weakened body, lowered immunity and, finally, disease. Consequences of our actions are not manifest immediately. There may well be a time lag, but eventually, we reap the fruits of what we have sown.  The signs and symptoms of disharmoney remain subtle until they break.

Sukshma Sharira – Subtle or Pranic Body

Includes the individual mind and ‘intuitive’ mind, that exists within the physical body.  All of what we percieve from daily life feeds this level of our being affecting our mind and intuition.

Karana Sharira – Causal Body

This is the causal essence, our central channel (shushumna nadi)  where shakti is released up through the vibrating chakras to shiva in the beyond, enlightenment for our absolute essence of our jiva (individual soul).

How Does The Philosophy Work?

The key feature of this philosophy is, all three bodies either act in harmony, or they are disconnected. When connections are blocked or unempowered then stress, conflict, confusion, disease and other afflictions manifest. Yoga opens pathways. As practice deepens we go progressively into deeper reactivation and harmonizing of this intricate network.

Since this is an intertwined system, all bodies connected to each other. The acts of the physical body are influenced by the more subtle functioning of the energy body (Sukshma Sharira) as well as the quality of the passages to the causal body (Karana Sharira) and vice versa. In other words there exists a two way street between all three bodies.

In the beginning hatha yoga practices to tones up the muscles and internal organs. Then, through the practice or pranayama, we become aware of the subtleties of the Pranic body and start to cleanse the nadis (energy channels) of which there are 72,000. In so doing, we reactivate the dormant circuits. They align more harmoniously via breath regulation. And, we are purified,activated and empowered.

When we meditate, we start from the subtle body. This allows us to clear out the most subtle pathways that lead to and from the causal body, as the connections between the subtle body and the causal body are cleansed, harmony and attunement between the bodies flows naturally without effort, will, or decision.

Email me with your questions I’d love to hear from you! deb@vitalsignsfitness.com