Trisoma Yoga

"It's okay to wiggle and sway™"

...because the focus is to intently feel the body flowing smoothly with intent while warming the joints and muscles in QiGong style, and then progressing through poses modified to the student's condition and choice at the time, and allowing pauses, modified stretches, jiggling and wiggling, shaking out hands, Cobbler Wobbler™^[3], etc.; naturally slowing the breath with no chanting. Typically ending with supine lying pose option. Wearing loose clothing, and bringing your mat or large towel, the location may be a room, studio, park or beach. Music is optional. Yoga provides many benefits, including, according to the Mayo Clinic, helping with:

• Stress management and relaxation. While you shouldn't expect yoga to cure you, it can help some health conditions when combined with treatment recommended by your doctor.
• Increased flexibility. Increased range of motion means you're less likely to injure yourself in other physical endeavors or in your daily activities.
• Management of chronic health conditions. The breathing and relaxation methods used in yoga might help you if you have asthma, carpal tunnel syndrome, depression, low back pain, multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis of the knees or memory problems. Yoga can also be helpful when combined with other treatments for heart disease and high blood pressure. Yoga has helped reduce cardiovascular disease rates and blood pressure levels.
• Sleep better at night. Increasing circulation, spending energy and relaxation help people sleep.
• Weight loss. Yoga burns calories and can calm your appetite (and sugar cravings).
• Balance. Proprioception and coordination play a bigger role in avoiding falls as we age.
• Improve cancer patient and caregiver quality of life.
• Alzheimer's and other caregiver stress and fatigue, boosting their mood and improving their ability to cope and manage stress.
• as well as risks, such as vertebral compression fractures.

Beginning a session

at any time of day, the student should be aware of any part of the body that needs extra care, and if there are questions, should inform the instructor so that modification may be suggested and explained. A session typically begins with a Taichicise™ standing warm up, with tai ji and qi gong type movements with limited range to warm up the muscles and joints and to increase circulation, and change student's focus from the external to the internal if indoors; or if outdoors, an emphasis on concordance, omneity and integrity with the natural surroundings.

The main portion

of the yoga session is "mountains and valleys" (per YogaFit^®) progressing into stretching and strength poses of varying difficulty appropriate to the students, where levels of physical and mental exertion increase and work the body and mind. Modifications are encouraged, as well as rolling shoulders, gently flexing necks, flexing wrists, shaking hands, etc.

The final phase

of the session is stretching on the floor, ending in sitting or laying poses, to reach deepening relaxation and parasympathetic dominance. The last pose is typically the corpse pose, for maybe 3-4 minutes, after which students are encouraged to begin moving slowly with fingers and toes, hands and feet, and then further proximally, until slowly rising and later drink water. At the end of a yoga class, you should feel invigorated, yet relaxed and calmed. If this isn't the case, talk to your instructor.

Breathing should become slow and smooth,

not forced, as higher breathing rate and less CO₂ in blood actually decreases oxygenation of tissues due to the Bohr effect.^[5] Thus beware of some instructors who teach students that Pranayama is to breathe deeply and forcefully, such that their yoga classes sound like an aerospace wind tunnel, with students huffing and puffing as through they were following Lance Armstrong in the Pyrenees. Such exsufflation is a recipe for high blood pressure, cellular malmetabolism and other maladies.

There are many types of "yoga breath", and fallacies abound about their meanings and physiology. True pranayama breathing involves a goal of increasing the duration of the breath retention.^[6] Ujjayi breath is also frequently taught as an audible "rushing" of air, however ujjayi breathing by an experienced practitioner is soundless, smooth and slow. Have you ever seen a Buddhist monk panting? Have you noticed that healthy older people do not breathe noticeably, nor with an open mouth? (Click here for more information on breathing, and then ask your doctor.)

Body Awareness

is an essential part of getting more out of yoga. Stop trying and forcing; just relax and feel. Meditation is a great tool, but this modality is about meditation in motion, including Qi Gong elements and fitness moves, with optional unforced pauses, and avoiding ascetic fundamentalism. Instead of jumping and flinging around as in calithenics, or just moving to the next pose, the instructor will help guide transitions between poses. Concentrate with every motion on what each part of your body is doing, and respond with intention. Lengthening the spine, spreading the fingers wide, raising the lower ribs, puling up the crown of the head. Notice where tensions remain, and focus release there. Modifications, substitutions, moving fingers and toes, rotating arm, swinging hips, wiggling and swaying are encouraged at the student's discretion. Ideally, you will forget what happened an hour before your session, and will be entranced into a partially meditative state, allowing your body to concentrate on its condition and reset connections with the nervous system. The converse of this would be, for example, running on a treadmill while reading a magazine, which may degrade your muscle response while associating increased heart rate with reading.

Yoga, derived from the Sanskrit root yuj, "to control", "to yoke", or "to unite", [1] is a group of ancient spiritual practices (tapas, sutras, etc.) originating in India, concentrating on aspects such as meditation, abstinence and poses. Trisoma Yoga is a modern exercise format based on yoga that uses various poses, transitions between poses and awareness of breath and body to build strength, endurance, balance, control, awareness, flexibility and relaxation. There is no competition involved, and it is understood that variance in strength and flexibility is normal and not necessarily associated with health or beneficial results.

YogaFit® Certified Yoga Instructor

Paul Svacina was trained by YogaFit® which combines fitness moves with traditional asana postures in a vinyasa (flowing series of poses) yoga style, both being beginner-friendly formats, which can also challenge more experienced students. It is similar to "power yoga", using English names for poses, with no "oming" nor chanting as included in some traditional yoga practices (such as Kundalini yoga). Tools are optional, but Trisoma prefers simplicity, to keep concentration on the body. The student should not be uncomfortable in any poses, but should expect deep stretching and a revitalizing workout.