Ease back challenges with beginners yoga & yoga Nidra practices in-person and online with Gail
Permission granted by Dr. Timothy McCall to share this pdf.
Here is the link to this PDF and the scientific studies supporting the health conditions helped by yoga.
I teach weekly gentle yoga for low back care classes for the Veterans Yoga Project. Book my class on Wednesdays to get some sweet relief of easing back pain.
https://veteransyogaproject.org/vyp-classes to get a free account and book a class.
Balanced Rock at Big Bend National Park.
Bit of a hike with walking sticks.
Had a bit of hip/back pain, but well worth the journey. Of course, going up was easier than coming down!
During spring break a few years back, we booked so late, we had to stay in Marfa, Texas. Which turned out to be delightful!
What journeys are you doing for self-discovery, and self-help? Why not try a yoga class? I teach an in-person class on Fridays at LakeSide Event Center in Beaumont Texas. Pretty nice price point too. Only $4 if you are a non-resident of Beaumont. I have several of my students follow me from Jefferson Mid-County come to this class.
A wonderful facility. Clean, and spacious, with a skate park, and a neat lake to stroll around.
Plus the beginners class I teach is an adaptive yoga class. If you need to stay seated, I give you all the poses seated on the chair or standing behind a chair. I also teach you how to get down to the floor with the chair, and get back up off the floor with the chair. This class is geared towards beginners.
I occasionally either at the beginning of class or afterward do an indoor walking short workout, that folks seem to like. And if you laugh at my jokes, we sometimes do a seated cardio dance fitness routine. Y’all just need to check it out!
#balancedrock #stonegate #bigbendnationalpark
Discover how to ease back pain with beginners gentle yoga with Veterans Yoga Project Teacher, Gail Pickens-Barger.
Grab an online account.
Book a class.
Online Yoga Studio at Veterans Yoga Project on Wellness Living Studio Platform.
Nidra sleep? Add these Yoga Nidra practices to your nightly routine!
Benefits of Yoga Nidra.
Great for Beginners to meditate, those of us needing guided rest for better sleep, easing of pain, and more.
So just to provide a little bit of context, and a little bit of predictability, our Yoga Nidra or our Guided Rest Practice is a form of guided meditation. Still, there is nothing for you to do, except to listen and follow the guidance of the teacher’s voice.
Aside from being relaxing, restorative, and restful, studies have shown that yoga Nidra can also:
Create an account and book a class on Veterans Yoga Project Online Yoga Studio.
Playlists:
Yoga Nidra Meditation Videos:
Rain Sounds for Sleeping Videos:
Easing into sleep with Soothing Rain Videos and Yoga Nidra Meditation Practices:
Join Gail Pickens-Barger, on the 10th of November at 10AM to 11AM Central Time, LIVE on Zoom for this ONE-hour Chair Yoga Class to benefit Veterans Yoga Project Gratitude Week (8AM PT | 11AM ET).
Need Yoga Nidra Resources? I have three Yoga Nidra’s to put onto your playlist. Enjoy
October I Yoga Nidra – 43 Minutes
https://youtu.be/jOcW1yPoyP8
October II Yoga Nidra – 42 Minutes
https://youtu.be/e5k0Znceldc
October III Yoga Nidra – 42 Minutes
https://youtu.be/bix-O8cytPM
Gentle Yoga for Healthy Backs – Beginners Yoga on Veterans Yoga Project Online Studio Site
Studies show that yoga is effective in assisting with lowering back pain.
National Institutes of Health – article on Yoga eases moderate to severe chronic low back pain
Boston University study finds it’s as good as physical therapy for relieving lower back pain
NPR – National Public Radio reports – study finds yoga can help back pain, but keep it gentle with these poses, as heard on Morning Edition.
There are even some guides in this article!
Science Daily Reports – Yoga helps back pain among veterans! –
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170725154211.htm
Time Magazine states Yoga works as well as physical therapy for Back Pain –
http://time.com/4825261/back-pain-yoga-physical-therapy/
Consumer Reports – Try Yoga for Back Pain
New Back Pain Guidelines from Consumer Reports – https://www.consumerreports.org/back-pain/new-back-pain-guidelines/
Original article HERE
Q: One of your readers left a comment on Baxter’s post Friday Q&A: Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICD) and Yoga about a Facebook group for people who do yoga with pacemakers or ICDs. Can you tell me more about it?
A: For the answer to this question, I turned to the founder of the Yoga for Pacemakers & ICDs Facebook Group, Gail Pickens-Barger. —Nina
A: My cardiologist and I had been watching my slow heart rate for a number of years, and once my numbers got to be more than three seconds between heart beats, I was a candidate for pacemaker insertion. I had my pacemaker implantation in May of 2013. I was taking a break for the summer from teaching my regular yoga class at the gym, but continued to teach my adaptive chair yoga class for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society at the church.
I went on the hunt to find other people who had this surgery and were yoga practitioners and/or teachers. After searching the internet, I came across a yoga therapist who works with the Dr. Dean Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease. She had an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) implantation (see LINK). After her surgery, she actually kept up her vigorous flow yoga practice, complete with weight-bearing arm balances. She went on to tell me that one day she was receiving little shocks as she was resting in Child’s pose. She knew that this wasn’t the normal thing to be happening and promptly went to the hospital. She found out then that she had pulled out the leads to her ICD with her continued flow practice and had to have the leads into her ICD replaced. Her advice to me was to avoid weight-bearing yoga poses where you take your arms behind your back (extension), such as Bow pose, Camel pose, Dancer’s pose, and Upward Plank pose.
She also took out the arm balances from her personal practice. Since that time, I did meet a very young lady at one of my recent yoga trainings, and due to her age, she had her ICD placed below her rib cage. Her challenges will be different due to the placement.
After my surgery, over the summer of 2013, I continued to teach the adaptive chair yoga classes. Prior to the surgery, in the adaptive chair yoga class, we’d do 20 minutes of yoga, then about 20-25 minutes of seated dance fitness, sometimes with light weights or not, and then additional balance poses, cool down, and meditative contemplation guided relaxation. After the surgery, I took the seated dance fitness and weights out of the adaptive chair yoga class. (It wasn’t until the fall, that I added those elements back in). And two two weeks after getting out of my arm sling, I went back to teaching my other classes. But I could not do my full range of motion on my left side for over a year.
Then in September of 2014 I created the Yoga for Pacemaker & ICDs Facebook group. I decided to this because I love to share what I learn—I give out handouts all the time in my chair yoga classes, and in the gentle beginning classes that I teach—and I figured that there would be people out there like me, who were looking for resources to help them on their path of continuing their physical practice of yoga. I had my daughter, Amber Barger (and she was a recent graduate of a 200 hour teacher training program) demonstrate the yoga poses with the modifications that I have found to be helpful in my practice and those photos are on the Facebook page.
Yoga teachers and practitioners alike are in the Facebook group, and we get into discussions about alternative ways to do poses. Lately there has been much discussion about Plough pose, Shoulderstand, Legs Up the Wall pose and just in general being inverted in poses.
For me, personally, I have rarely included Shoulderstand, Handstand, Forearm balances, or Plough pose in my practice, so giving those up as not been an issue for me. However, I do like to be inverted. I’ll do Legs on the Chair, Legs on the Resist-a-Ball, and Legs up the Wall. I more recently have purchased a Gravity Pal reclined bench, to allow me to rest in an inclined position. In that position, my pacemaker shifts a bit towards my collarbone, as it does in Downward-Facing Dog pose, but it doesn’t seem to affect it. However, for my beginner clients I have them do Half Downward-Facing Dog pose at the wall instead. And for my chair clients, I have them stand behind the chair and use the top of the chair for their hands in Downward-Facing Dog pose.
For more information like this, come join me on Facebook! Go tohttps://www.facebook.com/groups/691963750892696/ and click the Join Group button and I’ll add you to the group.
—Gail
Gail Pickens-Barger, E-RYT 200, LVCYT, CRYT, YogaKiddos®, Get Fit Where You Sit® Fitness Teacher is a retired IT professional who started teaching yoga in 2001. A graduate of YogaFit International Training System, she currently teaches Beginners Yoga, Kids Yoga, and Adaptive Chair Yoga for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in the Nederland, Texas area. She also has experience teaching prenatal yoga, and teaches yoga privately in people’s homes to help them with their issues of osteoporosis and osteopenia, using Dr. Loren Fishman’s YogaUOnline course, his books, and his DVD’s to assist folks in becoming stronger and more independent in their active older years. You can find her at yogawithgaileee.com or contact her at 409-727-3177.
WEDNESDAYS at 12:30 PM CST – Join VYP yoga teacher, Gail Pickens-Barger, for 60-minute gentle yoga practice for easing back pain. Gail incorporates all five mind-body tools of VYP Mindful Resilience: Breathing, Meditation, Mindful Movement, Guided Rest, and Gratitude.
These tools help us breathe easily, focus clearly, move freely, rest deeply, and remember what is working in our lives. As a result, we become more resilient in the face of both ordinary and extraordinary challenges.
To help ease any regulars into classes, please invite them to
A) create a Wellness Living account with us,
B) visit the Classes page on our VYP website to see an integrated look at what we are offering online both daily and weekly, and/or
C) stayed tuned online with us through social media for announcements.
Here is the direct link for the VYP page resource with our classes:
https://veteransyogaproject.org/vyp-classes/
$5 | 45 Minute Beginners Yoga Class | Back Pack Food Item | Wednesdays at Wesley UMC/Nederland, Tx.
Look for the Pop-topped individual items
Questions? Complaints? Comments? Complements? Let me know.
If you have chronic neck or back pain…
If you carry stress in your neck and shoulders (not that any of us do…!)
If you wake up feeling listless and sore, wondering what is going on with your body anyway…
Discover the natural, safe, and enjoyable way to get relief from the above, as well as achieve the following benefits:
…cope better with stress, both daily annoyances and monumental life changes.
…feel happier and more energized.
…increase physical strength and flexibility, no matter what your age or physical condition.
…feel more creative – and like you have more time for your creative projects.
…feel relaxed and at-ease in your body and in your life.
People you know may be amazed at the transformation in you.
They’ll want to know the secret.
It’s not a pill…or a drink….
In fact, it’s not a gimmick at all.
It’s just that you’ve discovered the ancient secret that has relieved pain and stress for millions of people.
It’s yoga.
You may have a picture of yoga as a bunch of hyper-thin women doing crazy bendy pretzel poses in tight clothing.
Nope.
Physical yoga is instead a combination of physical stretching, strengthening and toning poses, breathing techniques, and deep relaxation practices that are accessible to everyone and every-body.
It’s a system of healing the body that has worked for thousands of years.
You’ll feel the benefits after just a few sessions. Sessions are available either in a class setting or privately in your own home, whichever is a better fit for your lifestyle.
For more information, contact Gail Pickens-Barger at Yoga with Gail, 409-727-3177
or visit us at www.yogawithgaileee.com
Got your yoga classes and locations listed here! My classes and schedule don’t fit everyone’s schedule, so I thought I’d list out all the yoga that I know of here in Mid-County. (Beaumont & Orange listings at the end of this post.) Summer/Fall 2022
Starting 2022: Beginners Yoga on Tuesday night in Nederland, Texas. $10 held at Wesley UMC/Nederland, Tx. 6:00 PM CT. Call Gail for additional information, or just show up with a yoga mat, a couple minutes prior to class starting. 409-727-3177.
Wednesdays: 12:30 PM CT. Free Yoga on Veterans Yoga Project Online Yoga Studio. Taught by local teacher, Gail Pickens-Barger. A Beginners’ Gentle Yoga for low back care class. Great for beginners and those with back challenges. Linke below for getting a free account, then book the class. https://veteransyogaproject.org/vyp-classes
Fridays: 10:30 AM at Lakeside Best Years Senior Citizen Center. Yoga. 60 minute class. Free for Beaumont residents, come a bit early if you are not a member of the center, to register. $4 fee for non-residents, and come a bit early to register. Please wear a mask into the facility and into the yoga room. Once you are stationed six feet apart, you have permission to take off your mask.
Nederland, Texas
Yoga Private lessons available
upon request
409-727-3177
yogawithgaileee@gmail.com
https://yogawithgaileee.com
Exygon Health and Fitness
1001 Nederland Avenue, Ned. Tx
409-729-2592
Bring a yoga mat. $15 drop-in fee, included with monthly membership.
http://exygon.com/
PowerHouse Gym in Port Neches
Monday & Wednesday 6:30 PM $10 drop-in fee, comes with membership
Hatha Yoga Class
YMCA of Port Arthur
6760 9th Avenue, Port Arthur, Tx 77642
409-962-6644
Yoga Tuesday/Thursday at 10:00 AM
Friday – 10:00 AM – SilverSneakers YogaStretch
$15 drop-in fee, included with monthly membership
http://ymcasetx.org/health-well-being-fitness/
Individuals:
Gail Pickens-Barger – Private Yoga instruction in your home or place of business, 409-727-3177 or Contact Gail
Great infographic by Angela Moorad from OMazingKids Yoga
Free Beginners Yoga Class on Wednesday at 10:30AM PT | 12:30AM CT | 1:30PM ET
We invite you to VYP’s Gentle Yoga class every Wednesday at 10:30am PT | 12:30pm CT | 1:30pm ET with VYP Teacher, Gail P-B. The focus for this Gentle Yoga class is to help manage lower back pain.
Save your spot here: https://veteransyogaproject.org/vyp-classes/
Created a new #ChairYogaDance routine to #thatthat by #PSY #Suga of #BTS Get your cardio fitness in, even seated on the chair. Inspired by PSY & Suga’s song and music video. Thank you!
Hello all!
Here are this past week’s Yoga Nidra Guided Rest and Relaxation Practices that I conducted for Veterans Yoga Project.
Wednesdays is a 30-minute practice.
Sundays is a 49-minute practice including setting intentions, benefits of Yoga Nidra Practice, along with Richard Miller’s iRest poem.
After doing the practices, I’d appreciate a filling out the survey. The things I’m always interested in are if your pain level is less, and your anxiety or stress levels are lessened.
Thank you, and I hope this is helpful to have additional access to these practices.
Gail Pickens-Barger
Survey:
30 Minute Practice of Yoga Nidra
48 Minute Practice of Yoga Nidra
Again, to start off this conversation, I only teach three public classes a week. So I try to keep in the know of what is also out there besides what I offer.
Port Neches: Arata teaches two classes over at the PowerHouse Gym. Check out their schedule for drop-in fees, dates, and times. You might be able to get a guest pass to check out the class. Arata has just recently received his Veterans Yoga Project training and is excited to help our local veterans. Go check him out!
Port Neches Library: Free chair yoga by one of my students, Ms. Carol. Wednesdays at 2 PM.
Port Arthur: YMCA of SETX. Pam teaches three yoga classes during the day at the “Y”. Two are mat yoga classes, and the third one is the Silver Sneakers Yoga Stretch class. There is a new young lady also teaching a meditation class on Saturdays. Check out their online schedule for details.
Port Arthur Library. In the past prior to covid, one of our local yoga Kemetic Yoga Teachers, Tiffany taught this class. Make inquires again to yoga at the library!
Nederland: Gail Pickens-Barger (me) – The third week of March, I am going back to teaching in-person Gentle Yoga for Beginners: 6 PM Tuesdays at Wesley United Methodist Church in Nederland, Texas (no yoga 2nd Tuesdays, Aggie Moms meet then, so I will teach this class online that day). I teach a once-a-month online yoga class through Veterans Yoga Project on Second Tuesdays. Online I teach every Wednesday, a free yoga class for the Veterans Yoga Project, and Friday’s teaching in Beaumont at LakeSide Event Center.
Nederland: HotWorks: Behind the Schooner restaurant. Go check out their website for details.
Nederland/Port Neches: We have several new instructors, who have received their teacher training that lives in Mid-County. Be on the lookout for their classes at the CrossFit locations here in Mid-County
Nederland – Exygon Health and Wellness Center. Mike and Doneene teach yoga on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Additionally, there is choreographed yoga, BodyFlow that Lori teaches Mondays & Wednesdays. Additionally, there are several BodyFlow classes during the day. BodyFlow is also offered at the Beaumont Exygon. Again, go to their website to find out class times. BRING a YOGA MAT!. You can also get a three-day guest pass, or go check out their classes during launch week.
Orangefield, Texas – YogaVibe Studio – Lauren Cowart has this great yoga studio offering a variety of yoga classes and varied instructors.
Events: Cattail Marsh in Beaumont, Texas. Saturday Yoga. Check the Facebook page for registration.
Events: Barefoot Yoga. A twice-three times a year yoga festival is held on the lawn at the Event Center, Downtown Beaumont. Look this one up on Facebook.
Events: 5 Under Golf Center Yoga. On Saturdays once a month, various yoga teachers teach on the driving range over on Hwy 90/College Street. Look at SETX Events for dates/times/prices
Events: Goat Yoga. Held as a fundraiser in the late fall. Put on by the Nederland Recreation Center.
Events: International Kids Yoga Day – with Gail Pickens-Barger. First Fridays in April.
Events: Veterans Gratitude Week during two weeks in November. Fundraiser yoga for the Veterans Yoga Project
Events: Yoga at the Port Neches Brewery
Events: No Longer Limited Duty Yoga provided by Veterans Yoga Project local instructors. Free for participants. Gail and Arata teach these classes.
Events: Country Club Yoga. Yoga at the Brentwood Country club in Beaumont. Again, look thoroughly at the Facebook page to find events.
Events: SouthEast Texas Yoga Festival – put on by Celeste Robles. A yearly event of an intense three days of yoga.
Beyond Triangle Therapeutic Fitness – in Beaumont, Texas with a couple of yoga classes on their group exercise schedule.
Beaumont Power Yoga – Nicole runs this studio with a lot of class times and teachers. Again, go check them out! When I first moved to the area it was American Power Yoga.
Exygon in Beaumont with their BodyFlow choreographed classes.
Fe-SIO Relax and Stretch Studio in Beaumont, Texas. Go check out Erin, Sara, Melissa and more with their yoga classes and events!
Health and Wellness Center in Beaumont, both pilates, body focus, and yoga.
LakeSide Event Center – Best Years Senior Citizen Center. Both Celeste, Trisha, and I teach yoga/stretching classes for the City of Beaumont. Plus there is Tai Chi here, in addition to Zumba Gold! You’ll find the activity schedule on the Facebook page.
Lamar University – Yoga classes are regularly held at the Shelia Umphrey Rec Center!
Love Yoga Beaumont Studio – great teachers, great selection of classes.
Sound of Soul Yoga – with Ellen Aldrich – Check out her studio
Worlds Gym in Beaumont
Church Yoga at Unity Church, Trinity Methodist Church – Beaumont Texas.
And for a bit of travel, yoga in Sulfer, Lake Charles. Some great teachers and studios!
Teaching three public beginners yoga classes a week during the month of March 2022.
As I am getting deeper and deeper into one of the books that we are to read for the YogaTherapy course, I am amazed at all the benefits of a regular yoga practice can do for folks. And I’m a yoga teacher. (The more you teach yoga, it seems the more you want to know….and need to know!)
Please read on for more information about “Yoga as Medicine” book (excellent!)by Timothy McCall, M.D. http://www.drmccall.com/ ~Gail Pickens-Barger
Yoga appears to be effective in the treatment of a wide variety of health conditions. In Timothy McCall, M.D. Book, “Yoga As Medicine”, he goes on to say: We’ll be reviewing the scientific evidence later but, for now, let’s see what people who’ve tried therapeutic yoga have to say. In 1983 – 84, the London-based Yoga Biomedical Trust, run by Robin Monro, PhD, surveyed twenty-seven hundred(2,700) people, most between the ages of thirty-one and sixty, who used yoga therapeutically. To be included, participants had to have practiced yoga for at least two hours a week for a year or longer. Though the number of people with some of the conditions in question was small, the results (see the table below, and in Dr. McCall’s book, Table 1.1) were impressive:
The lowest success rate in the survey was for women with “menstrual problems,” two out of three of whom found that yoga helped.
Table 1.1 Conditions Improved by Yoga, Self-Reported
Medical Condition Number of Percentage Helped People Reporting By Yoga Alcoholism 24 100% Anxiety 838 94% Arthritis & Rheumatic Disorders 589 90% Asthma or Bronchitis 226 88% Back Disorders 1,142 98% Cancer 29 90% Diabetes 10 80% Duodenal Ulcers 40 90% Heart Disease 50 94% Hemorrhoids 391 88% High Blood Pressure 150 84% Insomnia 542 82% Menopausal Disorders 247 83% Menstrual Problems 317 68% Migraine 464 80% Neurological & Neuromuscular Diseases 112 96% Obesity 240 74% Premenstrual Syndrome 848 77% Smoking 219 74%
Source: The Yoga Biomedical Trust, London
Imagine how much you’d be hearing about a new drug that could accomplish even a fraction of this. Nevertheless, (it is Dr. Timothy McCall’s)it’s my experience that few in the medical community or the general public have any conception of what yoga has to offer. Part of the problem, (Dr. McCall) I’m convinced, is that many people who could benefit from yoga shy away due to misconceptions about what it is and isn’t, or who can do it and who shouldn’t.
Those subjects to be addressed in a different post.
Here is a NEW link about the 117 conditions benefited by Yoga by Dr. Timothy McCall!
117 Health Conditions Helped By Yoga!
Enjoy the updated info!
Interesting Study: New Study Adds Growing Evidence that Yoga and Meditation Can Reduce Chronic Pain. I can attest to that study, as it has helped me with my chronic back pain!
The study echoes previous findings on the benefits of yoga and meditation for chronic pain published in 2016 in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association.
“The bottom line is that patients are seeking new ways to cope with chronic pain and effective non-pharmaceutical treatments are available,” says Dr. Marske. “Our findings show meditation and yoga can be a viable option for people seeking relief from chronic pain.”
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201001133227.htm
Typatone! Here’s what Gentle Yoga for Low Back Care with Gail, sounds like!
http://typatone.com/m/5jsjAbO5ze
You’ll need:
Create an aromatherapy inhaler stick! On the go use, of your favorite essential oils.
I like to do separate ones for Lavender, Wild Orange and Peppermint.
Drop 15 drops onto a cotton wick, insert and shut into the aromatherapy tube, label your stick and use!
My favorites, that your yoga person in your life, probably does not have and would REALLY appreciate are the following:
Yoga is gaining popularity. The number of American yoga practitioners has
Yoga Journal & Yoga Alliance Study in 2016
increased to over 36 million in 2016, up from 20.4 million in 2012. 28% of all
Americans have participated in a yoga class at some point in their lives.
Yoga is for everybody. There are more male and older practitioners than ever
Yoga Journal & Yoga Alliance Study in 2016
before (approximately 10 million male practitioners and almost 14 million
practitioners over the age of 50 – up from about 4 million men and 4 million 55+
year olds in 2012).
Yoga supports the economy. Yoga practitioners report spending over $16 billion
Yoga Journal & Yoga Alliance Study in 2016
on yoga clothing, equipment, classes and accessories in the last year, up from
$10 billion in 2012.
Yoga is appealing. 34% of Americans say they are somewhat or very likely to
Yoga Journal & Yoga Alliance Study in 2016
practice yoga in the next 12 months – equal to more than 80 million Americans.
Reasons cited include flexibility, stress relief and fitness.
Come try a free yoga class with me. I teach this class live on Wednesdays at 1 PM Central Time. Click on the above button to claim a free Mindbody online account, then “book” the class that I teach on Wednesdays.
Don’t worry, if you cannot make the live class, you can get a link to our current recorded yoga classes. I have about 10 yoga for healthy back classes in the studio!
Questions? Complaints? Comments? Complements? I want to know!
I subscribe to Experience Life Magazine. One of the better overall health and fitness magazines out there. I posted about this article a bit back on my Facebook Newstream.
Exercise: A Promising Factor for Protecting Against COVID
A regular fitness routine may help protect those diagnosed with COVID against hospitalization and even death.
Exercise: A Promising Factor for Protecting Against COVID
Source: Exercise: A Promising Factor for Protecting Against COVID
During the pandemic, I turned to YouTube and walking outdoors for that little extra push of getting my 150 minutes in each week.
Here’s my list of favorite YouTubers, plus a sample of their workouts.
My top indoor cardio workouts
Course I love me some yoga too!
A new report by Kaiser Permanente and UC San Diego says people who exercise regularly have less severe outcomes of COVID-19 infections.
Here’s the video links to try for yourself!
Four different videos on Dr. Oz’s website to enjoy!
1. Basic Flow Yoga with Steve Ross from Maha Yoga.
2. Energizing Yoga with Steve Ross from Maha Yoga.
3. Strength and Balance Yoga with Steve Ross from Maha Yoga.
4. Relaxation Yoga with Steve Ross from Maha Yoga
My music playlist from when Steve Ross did the Oprah’s Oxygen TV Channel – Inhale – Enjoy the list!
Great Yoga Mat Bag Tutorial. It is like a large long tote bag! Scroll down a bit, since it is on the Archive website.
You can catch these 
patterns on sale from various places, JoAnns, Hancocks, Hobby Lobby. Sign up for the newsletters, or read the weekly ads online.
So here are the Yoga Clothing/Props patterns that I have…there may be more…
McCall’s MP260 or M4606- including yoga mat bag & Blanket. Two tops, two length jackets, and yoga pant. Still for sale on Ebay.
McCall’s M5664 – Halter Yoga Top, Cap, Sleeveless Shell, Yoga Jacket, Crop and Long Yoga Pant. On McCall’s website, out of print, but you probably can find it in the stores still.
McCall’s 4261 – Sports Bra Top, Long Sleeved Top, Long Skirt (?), Mat Bag, Crop and Long Yoga Pant and Yoga Jacket. (Girl standing in Tree pose.)
New place for yoga clothes ==> Little Rag A Muffin Site
From Simplicity:
Simplicity 3583 – Yoga Accessories: Strap, Eyebag, Mat Bag, Meditation pillow, Zafu, Neck/knee roll and Bolster.
Kwik Sew – Known for a lot of dancer type clothing, and now Yoga/Pilates patterns.
Kwik Sew 3497 – Variations on yoga tops.
Kwik Sew
3498 – “Girls” yoga pants!
Kwik Sew 3115 – Spaghetti Strap Yoga Top, Shell Top, Capri, and Long Yoga Pant.
Kwik Sew 2723 – Racer Back Yoga Top, Boy Shorts, Runners Shorts and Jazzy Yoga Pants.
Kwik Sew 2632 – Long-Sleeved Tied Top (dancer inspired), Leotard & Long Jazzy Yoga Pant.
Kwik Sew 2722 – Unitard with either spaghetti straps or keyhole back. Short or Pant Length.
Oh, yeah, the only thing I’ve made is a large and small bolster, yoga mat bag, eye pillow, blanket and lots of zafu’s!!!
I’ve got a short list of the Top 5 things you can do – to ease back pain – It’s Yoga.
Contact Me to help you find a solution to easing your back pain. It’s Yoga! Gail Pickens-Barger 409-727-3177.
Sign up for a Free Yoga Class for Gentle Yoga for Low Back Care on Mindbody Online through the Veterans Yoga Project. It’s Free!
Wednesdays at 1 PM CST Time.
StarFruit ZaZen Zafu ZaButton Meditation Cushion! Cool.
Look what my mom made me after I took a photo of one at Lex Gillan’s Advance Yoga training in 2013. Cool!
#privateyoga
#privateyogawithgaileee
#IlovewhatIdo
#privatelesson4yoga
#1-409-727-3177
You know Simplicity pattern company (which you can find at Hobby Lobby, JoAnns Fabrics and online) has come out with patterns for making bolsters, cushions, yoga mat bags and such, but there is a wealth of info out there on the web to help you make your own yoga props.
I made my yoga mat bag out of upholstery material. I didn’t need to use any lining material because my upholstery fabric was very thick.
Yoga Mat Bag Tutorial, like a long tote bag. I made this one.
Some of the websites that listed how to make the seated meditation pillows are no longer on the web, so I’ve included the instructions onto this page. Here’s a little PDF I created based on these long ago lost internet instructions. Sewing a Meditation Cushion
Whether you’re looking for some comfortable, casual seating or want to make your meditation sessions more pleasant, a zafu and zabuton are wonderful things to have around the house. Zafu and zabuton are traditional Japanese cushions used for meditation; the zafu is a circular pillow with pleated sides, and the zabuton is pretty much just a large, flat pillow. You can order them online for $40+ each, but it’s cheaper and more satisfying to make your own at home.
(I don’t have the best meditation posture, but you get the idea of how the cushions work. The zabuton is a little small for me, because this is one I made for a friend who’s shorter than I am.)
The zafu elevates and cushions the pelvis, and the zabuton cushions the knees and ankles. This position facilitates better posture, eases joint and back pain, and may help one achieve deeper longer meditation sessions. As long as you’re making one set, why not make two? Keep the extra set for guests, give it to a friend who meditates or has back problems, or donate it to your local Zen center or Buddhist temple.
About the materials: I chose to use a cotton/polyester blend for these because it’s cheap and easy to clean with a wet rag; these aren’t something you can just throw in the washing machine. When I’m more settled in my meditation practice, I’ll probably make another set out of some heavy silk, perhaps adding some colorful embroidery or sashiko stitching.
As for filler, I used organic pillow-grade buckwheat hulls for the zafu and plain ol’ polyester stuffing for the zabuton. Kapok would be a better choice for both, but it’s fairly expensive.
Click below for full instructions on how to make the zafu and zabuton.
Zafu
Materials:
Sewing a Meditation Cushion. That’s what I started with, but I had to tweak it a little for my own use. I recommend downloading it even if you’re going to use my instructions, as the illustrations in the PDF are quite helpful.
Cut a strip of fabric 65″ x 7″ (there are a few extra inches in the length for fudging purposes.) Cut two circles 13″ in diameter – I used a 13″ round serving plate for my template, but you could also make from cardboard using a compass and a pencil.
Pleat the long strip of fabric: measure 4.5″ inches from one end and mark. Make two more marks 3/4″ from the first. Measuring from your center mark, repeat the process every 4″ until you have 14 pleats marked. Fold, iron, and pin the pleats (since the iron setting for polyester blends usually isn’t high enough for steam, use a water spray bottle for best results.)
On the end, you started pleating at, fold back the fabric 1/2″ and iron. Begin pinning the strip of fabric around one of the fabric circles. When you get to the end, you’ll have a few extra inches of fabric. Fold back and iron. Pin your zipper in place on the folded ends of the fabric, making sure to cut and secure the zipper at least 1″ away from the top and bottom of the fabric to allow room for sewing. Use the sewing machine and a zipper foot to sew the zipper in place; hand-stitch the remaining seam of the side strip width. Trim the extra fabric behind the zipper.
Using the sewing machine, stitch the side fabric strip to the first circle of fabric with a 3/8″ seam allowance. Then pin and sew to the second circle. Trim the extra thread, remove any remaining pins, and turn the pillow.
Stuff as much buckwheat hull as you can into the pillow. This is a little tricky, as buckwheat hulls are tiny and quite devious. Also, they really hurt under bare feet. Fill it as much as you can, shake it down, and fill some more. I used almost all of the 5 lbs. of buckwheat hulls I purchased. Once it’s full, try it out. You may find that you’d be more comfortable with more or less filling – hence the zipper. (And, I’ll admit, I’m terrible at blindstitching. The zipper is my way of cheating.)
If you want to make your circles a different diameter, here is how you calculate where to place your pleats and how long a strip of fabric you need: Multiply the diameter of your fabric circle by pi (3.14159.) This will give you the circumference; for a 13″ diameter, I got a 40.84″ circumference. Add 1″ for the zipper seams (=41.84″.) For 14 pleats, each 3/4″ and using 1 1/2″ of fabric, add 21″ (=62.84″.) Add a couple of inches for fudging purposes, so you’ll be sure not to run out of fabric and have to start all over again (=65″.)
To determine where to put your pleats, take the length of your fabric strip, minus the 1″ of seam allowance and 2″ or so for fudging allowance (in my case, 62″.) Divide by 15 (=4.13″.) Round off as best as you can (=4″.) Remember to add your 1/2″ seam allowance for the measurement before the first pleat (=4 1/2″.)
Zabuton
Materials:
Cut two rectangles of fabric, 32 1/2″ x 27 1/2″ (if you’re over 6′ tall, add a few inches to both dimensions. You need it to be big enough to accommodate you when sitting cross legged with your knees comfortably cushioned on the zabuton.) Note: Cutting a straight line that long can be difficult. In order to make sure that my cuts are indeed straight, and that I end up with 90o angles, I use the pulled thread method for cutting straight lines in the fabric.
Pin the rectangles together and stitch around the edges with a 3/8″ seam allowance, leaving an opening about 4″ wide on one side for turning and stuffing. Make sure to backstitch at the corners and on both sides of the opening. If you like, you can stitch a small curve on the edges or add a rise, but it’s not necessary.
Turn and stuff. A word about polyester stuffing: it’s tempting to just grab wads of stuffing and jam it in there without a care in the world, but you’ll end up with a lumpy, unusable pillow. Take the time to do it right. Grab a handful of stuffing and pinch off little pieces. You can make a big pile of pinched stuffing and then stuff the pillow by the handful. You’ll use a lot less stuffing this way, and your zabuton will be nice and fluffy – not lumpy.
Once the zabuton is stuffed to your liking (I stuffed to about a 2″ rise,) stitch the opening shut. To keep the stuffing from shifting about too much, tuft the zabuton. I added four tufts, each about 8″ from the corners toward the center of the pillow. To tuft, take a sewing needle and an 18″ length of thread. Double your thread and pierce both layers of the pillow; pull the needle through, but leave a few inches of thread on top. Bring the needle back through both layers of pillow near the first stitch. Pull both ends of the thread tight and tie it off carefully. Clip the extra thread. And you’re done!
Other links for sewing up your yoga props
List of Sewing Patterns for Yoga Clothing and Sewing Yoga Gear
Sew your own Yoga Mat Bag Sewing Instructions
Here are some of the things I’ve used my Singer Featherweight 221 and my Pfaff Sewing Machine for yoga gear.
I used the tutorials listed on my site for making these #zafu #meditationpillows
#sewyogagear
#zafumeditation
#yogamatbag
#yogawithgail
#lovewhatido
#yogagear
#diyyogaprops
Yoga Mat Bag How To DIY instructions.
This project uses Amy Butler’s Love fabric collection and knew it would be perfect for our yoga tote. Updated: I’ve taken off the instructions on this post as the original instructions here as it is finally back out there on the web.
Our generously-sized bag will hold your mat, towel, yoga chimes and more. We recommend choosing a heavier-weight fabric for the bag so it’s sturdier and wears well. Amy Butler’s Love collection has several home decor weights from which to choose. Your lining can be regular weight. I used upholstery fabric, and I didn’t have to use a liner fabric when I made this bag.
Contributors Project Design: Alicia Thommas and Sample Creation: Jacqueline Smerek
Love this pattern. Had to find it off of Archive.org to get the instructions!
Like my little Singer Featherweight 221? Go on over to my Featherweight Site at:
Sara Varona, of BuildYourYogaBusiness.com created this sequence to assist in easing your lower and upper back pain. She gave me permission to post it on my display at my recent Yoga Booth at a Health Fair.
She also shows on her website, the different things that she does in helping a client in their private yoga practice. Here is her video listed at the end of this specific ezine going through the poses pictured on the right.
I took lots of notes, taught these sequences to my various yoga classes, and people noticed how much better their backs felt after going through the sequences. It is a 40 minute google video, to get your pen an pencil ready, take notes, practice and come back and back to this wonderful sequence of yoga poses.
The model in the photos is one of my daughters. She is in the process of training to be a yoga teacher. She is already a wonderful Ballet teacher. She has also taught tap, modern, jazz and creative dance.
Enjoy!
Count on Yoga. Looking for a reason to start practicing (or restart your practice)?
1. Flex Time.
Improved flexibility is one of the most obvious benefits of yoga. During your first class, you probably won’t be able to touch your toes, never mind do a back bend. But if you stick with it, you’ll notice a gradual loosening, and eventually, seemingly impossible poses will become possible. You’ll probably notice that aches and pains start to disappear. That’s no coincidence. Tight hips can strain the knee joint due to improper alignment of the thigh and shinbones. Tight hamstrings can lead to a flattening of the lumbar spine, which can cause back pain. And inflexibility in muscles and connective tissues, such as fascia and ligaments, can cause poor posture.
2. Bone Zone.
It’s well documented that weight-bearing exercise strengthens bones and helps ward off osteoporosis. Many postures in yoga require that you lift your own weight. And some, like Downward- and Upward-Facing Dog, help strengthen the arm bones, which are particularly vulnerable to osteoporosis fractures. In an unpublished study conducted at California State University, Los Angeles, yoga practice increased bone density in the vertrebrae. Yoga’s ability to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol may help keep calcium in the bones.
3. Worry Thwarts.
Yoga lowers cortisol levels. If that doesn’t sound like much, consider these facts. Normally, the adrenal glands secrete cortisol in response to an acute crisis, which temporarily boosts immune function. If your cortisol levels stay high even after the crisis, they can compromise the immune system. Temporary boosts of cortisol help with long-term memory, but chronically high levels undermine memory and may lead to permanent changes in the brain. Plus, excessive cortisol has been linked with major depression, osteoporosis (it extracts calcium and other minerals from bones and interferes with the laying down of new bone), high blood pressure, and insulin resistance. In rats, high cortisol levels lead to what researchers call “food-seeking behavior” (the kind that drives you to eat when you’re upset, angry, or stressed). The body takes those extra calories and distributes them as fat in the abdomen, contributing to weight gain and the risk of diabetes and heart attack.
4. Breathing Room.
Yogis tend to take fewer breaths of greater volume, which is both calming and more efficient. A 1998 study published in The Lancet taught a yogic technique known as “complete breathing” to people with lung problems due to congestive heart failure. After one month, their average respiratory rate decreased from 13.4 breaths per minute to 7.6. Meanwhile, their exercise capacity increased significantly, as did the oxygen saturation of their blood. In addition, yoga has been shown to improve various measures of lung function, including the maximum volume of the breath and the efficiency of the exhalation.
5. Pain Drain.
Yoga can ease your pain. According to several studies, yoga postures (asana), meditiation, or a combination of the two, reduced pain in people with arthritis, back pain, fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other chronic conditions. When you relieve your pain, your mood improves, you’re more inclined to be active, and you don’t need as much medication.
6. Connective Tissue.
As you read all the ways yoga improves your health, you probably notice a lot of overlap. That’s because they are intensely interwoven. Change your posture and you change the way you breathe. Change your breathing and you change you nervous system. This is one of the great lessons of yoga: Everything is connected – your hipbone to your anklebone, you to your community, your community to the world. Such interconnection is vital to yoga. This holistic system simultaneously taps into many mechanisms that have self-perpetuating and even multiplicative effects. Synergy may be the most important way of all that yoga heals.
7. Joint Account.
Each time you practice yoga, you take your joints through their full range of motion. This can help prevent degenerative arthritis or mitigate disability by “squeezing and soaking” areas of cartilage that normally aren’t used. Joint cartilage is like sponge; it receives fresh nutrients only when its fluid is squeezed out and a new supply can be soaked up. Without proper sustenance, neglected cartilage can eventually wear out like worn-out brake pads, exposing the underlying bone.
8. Flow Chart.
Yoga gets your blood flowing. More specifically, the relaxation exercises you learn in yoga can help your circulation, especially in your hands and feet. Yoga also gets more oxygen to your cells, which function better as a result. Twisting poses are thought to wring out venous blood from internal organs and allow oxygenated blood to flow in once the twist is released. Inverted poses, such as Down Ward Facing Dog, Standing Straddle Splits, Headstand, Handstand and Shoulderstand, encourages venous blood from the legs and pelvis to flow back to the heart, where it can be pumped to the lungs to be freshly oxygenated. Yoga also boosts levels of hemoglobin and red blood cells, which carry oxygen to the tissues. And it thins the blood by making platelets less sticky and by cutting the level of clot-promoting proteins in the blood. This can lead to a decrease in heart attacks and strokes since blood clots are often the cause of these killers.
9. Heart Start.
When you regularly get your heart rate into the aerobic range, you can lower your risk of heart attack and relieve depression. While not all yoga is aerobic, if you do it vigorously or take flow or Ashtanga classes, it can boost your heart rate into the aerobic range. But even yoga exercises that don’t get your heart rate up that high can improve cardiovascular conditioning. Studies have found that yoga practice lowers the resting heart rate, increases endurance, and can improve your maximum uptake of oxygen during exercise – all reflections of improving aerobic conditioning.
10. Strength Test.
Strong muscles do more than look good. They also protect us from such conditions as arthritis and back pain, and help prevent falls. And when you build strength through yoga, you balance it with flexibility. If you just lifted weights, you might build strength at the expense of flexibility.
11. Spinal Rap.
Spinal disks – the shock absorbers between the vertebrae that can herniate and compress nerves – crave movement. That’s the only way they get their nutrients. If you’ve got a well-balanced asana practice with plently of backbends, forward bends, and twists, you’ll help keep your disks supple.
12. Standing Orders.
Your head is like a bowling ball – big, round, and heavy. When it’s balanced directly over an erect spine, it take much less work for your neck and back muscles to support it. Move it several inches forward, however, and you start to strain those muscles. Hold up that forward-leaning bowling ball for 8 or 12 hours a day and it’s no wonder you’re tired. And fatigue might not be your only problem. Poor posture can cause back, neck, and other muscle and joint problems. As you slump, your body may compensate by flattening the normal inward curves in your neck and lower back. This can cause pain and degenerative arthritis of the spine.
13. Sugar Show.
Yoga lowers blood sugar and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and boosts HDL (“good”) cholesterol. In people wit diabetes, yoga has been found to lower blood sugar in several ways: by lowering cortisol and adrenaline levels, encouraging weight loss, and improving sensitivity to the effects of insulin. Get your blood sugar levels down, and you decrease your risk of diabetic complications such as heart attack, kidney failure and blindness.
14. Space Place.
Regularly practicing yoga increases proprioception (the ability to feel what your body is doing and where it is in space) and improves balance. People with bad posture or dysfunctional movement patterns usually have poor proprioception, which has been linked to knee problems and back pain. Better balance could mean fewer falls. For the elderly, this translates into more independence and delayed admission to a nursing home or never entering one at all.
15. Loose Limbs.
Do you ever notice yourself holding the telephone or a steering wheel with a death grip or scrunching your face when staring at a computer screen? These unconscious habits can lead to chronic tension, muscle fatigue, and soreness in the wrists, arms, shoulders, neck, and face, which can increase stress and worsen your mood. As you practice yoga, you begin to notice where you hold tension: It might be in your tongue, your eyes, or the muscles of your face and neck. If you simple tune in and pay more attention to these areas, you may be able to relieve some tension.
To see all 38 ways yoga can improve your health and well-being click on over to the Yoga Journal Website. http://www.yogajournal.com/health/1634
Online Beginners Yoga with Gail — Work with me!
Tired of back pain?
Doctor says to try yoga?
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Hardest part sometimes is getting started. I can help you with that.
Contact Gail with this form, and I will arrange to talk to you about starting your journey into what yoga can do for you!
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What my students have to say….
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Veterans Yoga Project is an educational and advocacy organization dedicated to improving the health and well being of military veterans through yoga and meditation practice. Working in partnership with veterans, active-duty military personnel, student veteran organizations, and other non-profit organizations, Veterans Yoga Project supports recovery and promotes resilience among veterans who are living with post-traumatic stress or other trauma issues.
Each year, VYP hosts two annual fundraisers, VYP Gratitude Week and Light-A-Candle Memorial Day, supported by donations from yoga classes, individuals and organizations. Held the three weeks surrounding Veterans Day, VYP Gratitude Week encourages yoga studios to host donation-based classes to support veterans in a tangible way. In many cases, these classes have brought together veterans and civilians in an environment where veterans can share their military experience with their community.
While magnified by media reporting, only 30% of veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or trauma-related issues. Practicing yoga can undo the nervous system dysfunction that underlies PTSD symptoms.
Less than 1% of Americans have ever served their country, however, veterans experience a disproportionately high suicide rate. VYP Gratitude Week is a way for those who have not served to both give back to veterans in a tangible way and to better understand the challenges of military service.
Our goal for 2019 is to host 500+ classes in all 50 states. We can use all the help we can get to raise awareness and encourage participation.
How is the money raised from VYP Gratitude Week used?
Veterans Yoga Project is an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) charitable organization and depends upon the support of donors to take care of veterans in need. 100% of the proceeds will go to VYP’s mission to support recovery and resilience to our veterans, families and our communities.
Gail Pickens-Barger is a yoga teacher with over 20 years of teaching experience.
She first used yoga during the birth and pregnancy of her first child. Fifteen years later, became a yoga teacher. Gail’s 200 hours was through YogaFit International Training Systems, and more recently her 500-hour certificate was through Lex Gillan’s The Yoga Institute. Gail recently finished a Yoga Nidra course through Wise Owl Yoga and the Mindful Resilience for Trauma Recovery through the Veterans Yoga Project. Currently, Gail is studying to become a Low Back Care Yoga Teacher through the Yoga Vista Academy.
In addition to teaching a weekly beginner yoga class and a chair yoga class, Gail teaches a free Kids Yoga class to the Pre K class at her church and teaches Adaptive Yoga for Multiple Sclerosis for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Gail originally came into contact with the Veterans Yoga Project, after reading an article on Baxter Bell’s Yoga for Healthy Aging Website. In the article, it talked specifically about volunteering to provide a free yoga class for veterans and to raise funds to support the Veterans Yoga Project during Veterans Gratitude Week. Gail likes to do karma yoga for raising funds for local food missions, raised funds for church playground equipment, Girl Scouts and such, and the providing free class for veterans and raising funds seemed like a worthwhile effort.
So for the past five years, Gail has hosted several classes to benefit the Veterans Gratitude Week for VYP.
More recently Gail was contacted by the local VA to present chair yoga to the vets in the Beaumont/Orange Texas area. In doing so, Gail came into contact with Brianna Renner, who assisted her tremendously in providing a class format, that would present the 5 tools that VYP uses in providing classes.
Gail has gone onto doing the Mindful Resilience training provided by Veterans Yoga Project and hopes to in the near future provide a weekly class to area veterans.
Grace loves copying the poses from the cards from the Yoga Kit for Kids. Here is a slide show of the poses from Yoga Kit for Kids. Love it!
Yoga with Gail Pickens-Barger in Southeast Texas 
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