Sandusky City Schools have partnered with Open Way Yoga (OWY) this year to bring job-embedded self-care practices to the staff and teachers.
Body awareness matters! The body communicates through sensation. When we learn to feel and listen to the sensations we are experiencing we are better able to meet our body’s needs, and when we are calmer we are more aware of physical sensation and better able to respond to our needs with appropriate and targeted self-care.
Our mission is to lead simple body-based exercises that can be practiced during our sessions and repeated anytime. These practices will empower self-regulation that can be used for pain management, calming the nervous system and self-healing. Our goal is to create shared, body-based experiences that inspire individuals to discover personal paths to well-being.
To do that we are bringing you four different types of practices:
1. Stretch, strengthen balance.
Stretching, strengthening and balancing practices minimize and eliminate structural pain, postural issues and improve strength and flexibility.
2. Eye Movement
Lessen eye strain and the impacts of too much screen time.
3. Breathing
The breath is an excellent tool for calming our nervous systems. There are a wide variety of very simple and effective exercises that can be used at any time. Even simply watching the breath can decrease anxiety.
4. Self-Awareness
Currently, most of our fight or flight systems are over-stimulated and we need to calm down. Self-Awareness practices are excellent tools for this. The simple act of paying attention to subtle sense perception will directly down regulate our nervous systems, increasing our sense of well-being.
Note: All 4 types of practice focus on addressing the wide-spread cultural trauma our population is experiencing as a result of COVID-19.
Offerings:
Weekly Monday Afternoon Class:
Stretch, Strength and Breath: Mondays 4:30 to 5:30pm. This is a full length live practice session! This class is very basic and accessible to all levels and abilities. And since the class is on Zoom, don’t worry if you can’t make it for the entire practice, come late, leave early, it’s fine! You won’t interrupt anyone. Each week’s class will be recorded and will be available for viewing at your leisure.
Weekly Wednesday Morning Class:
Stretch, Strength and Breath: Wednesdays 7-7:15am. This is a quick mini-session to start your day right! This session will also be recorded and available for you to view on your own time.
Video Library:
The library is a series of short videos (less than 5 mins each) that can be practiced in any order at any time.
How to use the OWY Video Library:
This library can be used in a variety of ways.
1. Just do one! Take a moment, watch a video, do the practice, see how you feel. If you enjoyed the practice, repeat the it throughout the day on your own time.
2. Do a series of practices one after another to create a more complete body and mind experience.
3. Use a video as a quick, calming start to a meeting, class or Zoom session.