I am not really sure what I am embarking on with this. What has driven me to start writing is the random epiphanies and connections that come to my head constantly like flashes of inspiration that I feel have a story to tell, but are left unexploited and dissolve in the empty vastness of the Universe. I have decided that this needs to stop and even if I don’t have a concrete plan, I will start writing. One must start from somewhere and keep going one step at a time. Sometimes big step, sometimes…small step.
I am highly encouraging you my friends to send me your feedback as well as inquires for topics you would like to read about and perhaps you are interested in my opinion for.
I am preparing you all that I may sound a bit eccentric with how I express, but bare with me and read my entire articles to understand where I come from. Don’t get stuck in specific words or sentences I use, but see the whole picture. And always, contact me if you feel that something is not well-clarified before you judge me. I will also make mistakes like all humans.
This image shows the satisfaction on my face saying “finally, I wrote my first article ever!”
Without further ado, let’s get onto today’s topic: Forrest Yoga practice vs treatments, such as massages, physiotherapy, chiropractics etc. What is the difference, what are the pros and cons and what is most important to be part of your main self-care practice toolkit?
First, let me underline that I refer specifically to Forrest Yoga and not yoga in general, as not yoga is created equal and not all yoga styles aim at healing your body with therapeutic sequencing.
Here’s a quick word about what Forrest Yoga is in a nutshell:
What makes Forrest Yoga a unique and effective healing tool among other yoga styles is that it is designed to cover the needs of today’s people in our modern society, and on top of that it is constantly evolving, as both Ana Forrest & Jose Calarco as well as the Forrest Yoga Guardians, we all strive for observing our students and assess how we need to modify the practice to tailor it to their needs and alleviate their pain, injuries and help them bring clarity on their emotional issues. Our teachings vary greatly individually even in a group class, although we have some concrete “rules” within the Forrest Yoga system we teach.
In other words, Ana Forrest did not design a successful yoga system that stays stagnant and just keeps selling because it was successful after the patenting and that’s it. She is not a guru that goes around and preaches the same old stuff just to satisfy her ego and bank account. She constantly cares and works daily on her mat on her computer and notepad to keep refining her teachings according to new discoveries, breakthroughs and experiences she gets with working with people. It is never-ending job, without ever retiring and has been taken to an even more elevated level on the Ceremony part since Jose Calarco joined forces with her.
That being said, what IS the difference between the benefits you get from your Forrest Yoga practice and receiving any kind of private treatment, like massage, physiotherapy, chiropractics etc.? Let me give it to you, my friends: In Forrest Yoga we take you in such deep levels of awareness that enables you to do big part of the therapeutic work on your own. Yes, you are receiving assistance and guidance from us - Forrest Yoga teachers - but we don’t “do you”. You are not passive during your own healing. And this is crucial, because it minimises the risk of relapsing to your old patterns that cause your pain, injuries and dysfunctional behavioural patterns that are the root causes of your addictions, depression and anxiety because of your poor decision making in life.
On the contrary, when having a mindset that somebody will “do you” by giving you a massage or telling you to mindlessly do physical exercises without cultivating deep awareness and knowing the anatomical principles behind what you do, then this leads to the fact that you pass on the responsibility of your own healing solely to somebody else. You are basically asking them to fix something that you have been responsible for creating in the first place and you are acting like an upset child that just wants things to get done by his parents. Whereas this is okay when you are a child (and actually healthy to act like this occasionally so that parents work out their issues), that is not the case when you become adult. The “do me” attitude leads to numbness, apathy and stagnancy, and although you may experience some relief during these private treatments, the results will only be short-term if you don’t do the maintenance that is necessary, which stems from deep, aware understanding and not just pure discipline and beating up your mind for not making good decisions for you. You must understand that your autopilot patterns stem from a part of your brain that changes only when you attain access to deeper layers of attention. There, you can plant seeds for transformation that can result in long-term change of behavioural and thinking patterns. You literally need to change your neurological connections.
So, bottom line: I am saying a big YES to private treatments such as massages, physiotherapy, chiropractics etc, but always in addition to a regular Forrest Yoga practice so that you can really understand deeply WHY you are doing specific exercises and what they try to trigger in you, so that you begin to catch yourself when you are giving into your old patterns in your daily life movements and decision-making. Furthermore, make sure that the person you are working privately with is somebody who can elaborate with great detail on all your questions and that you feel convinced by. If for whatever reason, deep inside you don’t feel convinced, please to do your body and your bank account a favour and change your therapist. TRUST YOURSELF, you are always right. It is not worth working with somebody and paying them only because you think they are kind people with good intentions. This is not enough, and helps them also get a wake up call so that they can ponder on their own orientation in life and how to calibrate it so that they can offer their unique gifts to the world in a more effective way. This sounds to me like a win-win situation!
I hope you enjoyed reading. Please, give me your feedback and questions as I am navigating through my new hobby of expressing myself through writing! I am looking forward to learn a lot about myself in this wonderful journey. Thank you for your time.