What Exactly Is Myofascial Release Yoga?

Hi,

I'm Pamela and I teach a variety of classes here on Insight Timer.

Including myofascial release yoga.

Some of you may be wondering.

What is myofascial release yoga?

So I thought I'd make this short video just to explain a few things of how it differs from other yoga practices.

So myofascial release or self-myofascial release.

Involves a few components,

Compression,

Elongation,

And time.

So traditionally,

Based on the John F.

Barnes method of myofascial release,

We hold the positions for approximately five minutes,

Maybe even longer.

This is similar to yin yoga,

And yin yoga is wonderful for getting into the fascia and the joints.

With myofascial release yoga,

We use a variety of props.

Including blocks.

Blanket.

Tennis balls,

Lacrosse balls,

Foam rollers.

And there's a lot of other therapy tools that we might use as well.

So when we do myofascial release yoga,

We come into some traditional yoga poses.

As well as some positions using the props.

So we can either do both compression and elongation or maybe one pose is mostly just compression or elongation.

So when we do this myofascial release,

We're getting into the fascia,

The connective tissue.

Where you might be holding tension,

Tightness,

Long-held stresses,

Even trauma.

Our bodies hold on to emotions.

And our fascia has more neural receptors than our muscles.

So it's very important,

Especially as we age.

To keep our fashion healthy.

It's important to have movement.

And to stay hydrated.

So it's really good to drink water throughout these practices.

So I usually remind everyone to drink water even during the practice,

Whenever you have a huge relief.

Which the releases can feel amazing.

It can vary from just feeling expansive.

To feeling more open.

To have more energy flow.

You might have an emotional release that can happen or maybe you have a sound that wants to come out,

Sometimes just a soft.

.

.

Sigh or even a louder sigh can really help the release.

And afterwards you feel amazing.

Some of the positions might feel a little uncomfortable at first,

And then after holding about two minutes,

You may notice a release occurring.

So I encourage everyone to give this myofascial release yoga a try.

Whether or not you have any experience,

You can receive the benefits.

Sometimes it feels like after the practice,

Almost like you've just had a massage.

It's just that you have to work for it a little bit more.

So I hope to see you in one of the myofascial release classes that I do here on Insight Timer Live.

Or one of the recordings.

Also,

Several videos here now on Insight Timer,

So I encourage you to check those out as well.

Thank you so much for watching today.

And I look forward to seeing you soon.