Visceral Yoga is fuses yogic principle and practice with osteopathic knowledge and technique.
One does not need to have previous yoga experience in order to get benefit from this practice. The postures are designed to simply and safely increase the range-of-motion and openness of various visceral articulations as well as to support the vitality and function of the organs themselves. Typically, yoga works with the organ system in a general way, visceral yoga aims to support this intention by working specifically with each organ and its articulations.
Visceral Yoga is Yoga for the Vital Organs. Without the ability of the organs to slide over each other you would not be able to do a simple forward bend or even walk without great difficulty. If the visceral organs are open and mobile in their articulations, fluid and resilient in their substance, then:
The specific organ will be more able to work and function properly without dysfunction or disease.
The muscular skeletal system of which the viscera are an integral part will be more agile and unrestricted in its capacity of movement with less pain and injury.
Limitations in your yoga practice may be overcome, as root causes of visceral restrictions are addressed in their structural reality.
The body and being will be able to move through time and space with more health and less degeneration.
Just like the knee or the spine, the visceral organs of the body have articulations complete with lubricating fluids, ligaments, and specific biomechanics. The liver for instance has eight articulations such as the heart, ribs, and right kidney to name a few. Each visceral articulation has a specific shape and range of motion that participate in the biomechanical integrity of the body’s structure.
Scar tissue, adhesions, organ compactions, disease, emotional and mechanical trauma can adversely effect the proper position, motion, and vitality of the various organs. Disease, dysfunction, and pain may sooner or later follow. Visceral Yoga is not a cure-all or a replacement for proper medical treatment. However, some of the benefits that practitioners have reported are:
Increase in energy
Better digestion and more regular elimination
Easeful breathing
Advances in the range-of-motion and alignment in their yoga postures.
It is time for people who are committed to health and life to take matters into their own hands… literally. Visceral Yoga empowers the individual to affect the structure and vitality of the many organs that are an essential part of our bodies’ health and well- being.
About the practice Participants in the class will be focusing primarily on the Asana and the Pranayama branches of the eight branches of Yoga.
Asana Yoga The Asana branch inspires to achieve full expression of mind-body integration, in which you become consciously aware of the flow of life energy in your body. An ancient yogic saying is, ‘Infinite flexibility is the secret to immortality.’ When people die of old age or natural causes, they typically die from organ failure. If you aspire to live a long, vital, and quality life, then visceral yoga should be an essential addition to your practice.
Pranayama Yoga Pranayama is the yoga of prana or life force. Prana yoga aims to increase vitality and the flow of vitality through conscious air breathing techniques.
Osteopathy Cranial Osteopathy acknowledges the vital force of thoracic air breathing as well as another vital force called the Primary Respiratory Mechanism (PRM). Dr. W.G. Sutherland D.O. calls the PRM the 'Breath of Life.' The PRM or 'Breath of life' is what Cranial Osteopaths and Cranial-Sacral Therapist use to diagnose and treat pain, dysfunctions, and disease in the body.
The Primary Respiratory Mechanism is different than regular thoracic air breathing. All tissues of the body have a rhythmical expansive and retractive breath like qualities that are a function of the PRM. The organs, like the cranial-sacral system, has its own PRM frequency as they go through inspire and expire movement phases of vital energy. Practitioners of visceral yoga will learn to palpate and enhance the 'breath of life' vital forces for each organ. Even though the motions and amplitude of the visceral and cranial rhythms are very small, a little training and practice will allow you to readily feel these magnificent phenomena of pure vitality moving and flowing in your body.
