As many of you may know, Peg Shippert operates a blog on healing. She offers many services, including rape counseling, animal assisted therapy, EMDR therapy, and support through the legal system. Her site offers a way for you to book appointments with her and ask any questions you may have. 
Peg Shippert recently interviewed yoga instructor Bari Campbell on her Yin Yoga classes here in Boulder. “Yin yoga involves floor postures that facilitate ease, space, and deep release in the body’s connective tissues (which include fascia, ligaments and joints). Its focus is increasing pain-free range of motion, healing injuries, calming the mind and nervous system,” Bari explains, “my classes are either 60 or 75 minutes, have soothing music, are all-levels class so no yoga experience is required, and done in a non-heated room.” Peg mentions how comforting Bari’s classes are. The students are really encouraged to reconnect with their own bodies at their own pace, in a safe and soothing environment. “For a lot of people who are recovering from trauma,” Peg states, “it’s hard to feel safe in a situation — like lots of yoga classes — where instructors might touch them. I’ve noticed that you almost never give hands-on adjustments.” In response, Bari says that she can’t pretend to know what someone else’s range of motion or comfort level is, and that she hopes to give them the opportunity to understand their own unique body. Bari’s classes are very diverse; there is a large age range from older children to older adults, and both men and women attend.
With Peg’s experience in healing trauma victims, she points out that Yin Yoga can be very helpful, as it does teach students to reconnect with their body. Bari understands that people who endure traumas can become dissociated with their bodies, and that by relaxing in her classes students can heal and learn about themselves.
Yin Yoga is all about achieving a gentle pressure to stimulate circulation and bring healing and repair. The keys to this are time and gravity, as opposed to force and effort. This helps to relax the nervous system, which then creates a positive impact on the immune system, blood pressure, weight, depression and more. The concept of Yin focuses on relaxation, healing and rest. On the other hand, Yang represents our fight or flight mode. The issue with today is so many of us are pulled by our daily stresses into that fight or flight mode, and many times it is hard to release. It is import to balance these two, as they are both necessary. Our fight or flight mode comes in handy in many circumstances, but it is important that people learn to get in touch with Yin as well, so we aren’t always sitting at the edge of our seats. In Peg’s interview with Bari, we learn that these classes can help us on our journey to healing and learning to love and understand our bodies.
To contact Bari and learn more about the classes she offers, please visit:
To learn more about Peg or read her full article, please visit her site:
