The yoga therapy process with Phoenix Rising aims to help all people be able to live their truth. Chances are, regardless of your sex or gender, you have experienced a time in your life when you felt pressured to make yourself look or act differently than what you were really experiencing inside.
Constant external judgements and pressures can easily lead to physical and mental illnesses – depression, substance abuse, chronic pain and loneliness to name a few.
If you’re willing and in a safe space, take a moment to reflect and picture one activity that makes you happiest. Observe how that makes you feel physically, mentally and energetically. Now what if someone told you no, you can’t do that, we don’t want to see it.
While external forces can’t always be controlled, yoga therapy offers trauma-informed healing tools to work towards letting yourself show up in the fullest expression of your truth. Ways to practice your truth are:
- Trusting in yourself
- A willingness to be present, even to things that make you uncomfortable
- Noticing where you feel effort vs. ease in your body
- Knowing where to find peacefulness and support
- What just feels right, if nobody were telling you otherwise?
- Insight into how others make you feel and how to navigate that awareness
Yoga teacher, Trevor Gibbs says, “This pride month, I reflect back on my journey to where I am right now. My experience with Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy empowered me to grow more into myself. Through this work, I started to feel genuine pride for who I love by learning to see and love myself. That is something I once thought was never possible. Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy helped me develop the confidence to express myself, to step back and listen to what’s happening now, and to truly be proud of who I am.”
On this anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, we wish all beings radical self-acceptance and the ability to show their truth to the world. The LGBTQIAAP+ community is deserving of support and understanding, year-round.
Here are a few tip-of-the-iceberg resources to explore more deeply:
What were the Stonewall Riots?
5 Tips For Being an Ally (video)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kaitlyn Vittozzi of Rochester, NY is a Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapist who specializes in chronic pain, stress-reduction, and postpartum anxiety. Teaching since 2014, her classes emphasize alignment and strength paired with body-awareness. She is a firm believer that if you can move better, you can feel better. She is a member of PRYT’s Communications Team, teaches paddleboard yoga and is the Life in Balance columnist for Rochester Woman Online. She loves spending her downtime with her dog. For more info or to schedule a free phone consultation, visit TozziYoga.com.
Thank you Kaitlyn! Nice article, I found this short practice very powerful. “If you’re willing and in a safe space, take a moment to reflect and picture one activity that makes you happiest. Observe how that makes you feel physically, mentally and energetically. Now what if someone told you no, you can’t do that, we don’t want to see it.” Terry