How Yoga and Meditation Can Support Your Physical Health and Mental Well-Being

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The host claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the information presented herein.

SHOW NOTES:

Can yoga and meditation help me reduce stress? What is yoga? Am I flexible enough to do yoga? What is meditation? Can I meditate if I have never meditated before? How do I stop myself from constantly thinking? What can I do to stop feeling anxious and depressed? How do I relieve my panic attacks?

Imagine you could simply exist in the present moment.  Imagine you could accept things as those things truly are and not worry about the past, not chase the future, just to be? 

Hit play to hear what yoga and meditation can do for you and why you must start these practices now!

LINKS:
www.mariageller.com

EMAIL:
hello@mariageller.com

SOCIAL MEDIA:
Instagram.com/unleashyoursuperself

Instagram.com/ig.mariageller

Facebook.com/fb.mariageller

TRANSCRIPT

ABOUT UNLEASH YOUR SUPER SELF PODCAST WITH MARIA GELLER

Hi Everyone! I am excited about today because I am launching my new podcast, Unleash Your Super Self. The podcast has come to my heart while searching for a different platform than my studio to connect with clients and friends from all over the world who have asked over the years that I share my knowledge and experience with them.

I am Maria Geller, also known as Masha. My yogini name is Rukmini- this is a name that my Guru gave me during my yoga studies. I was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and later, my family moved to Dallas, TX, which is where I grew up as a teenager.  Later on, I followed my heart and moved to NY, where I’ve lived most of my life. I am also a blessed mom of a teenage boy and a teenage girl.  

My kids are pretty awesome.  They are intelligent and kind, and they make this world a better place. They teach and inspire me to be my better self and remind me that I have so much to be grateful for in this life. We have the sweetest dog, Grayson.  He loves the outdoors, running at the beach, and hiking in the forest, and he brings us lots of joy.

Aside from being a parent and a business owner, I have many hobbies that include photography, painting, playing music and singing, studying philosophy and psychology, and many more things that I love to do. 

About ten years ago, I left my fashion buying corporate job to finally follow the deep sensation of knowing that I needed to do something else for a living.  I felt that I wanted my work to bring spiritual meaning and great purpose into my life.  Although I had practiced yoga for a long time before then (since about 1999), I never thought about becoming a yoga teacher or being in the field of healing people.

When I left my corporate job, I didn’t know then that I would officially become a certified yoga teacher and later complete graduate studies to become a Yoga Acharya or a Yoga Master.  I didn’t have the desire to work with children, adults, and older adults in the capacity of a Hatha Yoga instructor or a wellness coach or even provide Ayurveda medicine advice to those who were ill or needed more holistic support.  

People began asking me to teach them yoga and teach their kids yoga. They asked for advice on being happier and healthier while transitioning careers or bettering themselves. Senior centers began to reach out to me to work with their seniors, and then an opportunity came to open up my studio, and with a lot of encouragement and support from my students and my yogi friends, I did.

When I opened Manasa Yoga studio, and students continued to come and practice yoga with me, they asked questions about our creation and our existence, such as who am I, where do I come from, and what is creation?  I never imagined that 1st, someone would ask me these questions, and 2nd, that I had answers. As I continued to teach yoga and navigate the business of running a new studio, at the very same time, I was also working through challenging experiences in my private life.  

Seeking to find information on how to heal my own body, mind, and spirit, I dove deeply into the studies of Ayurveda Medicine and Western Psychology. As I pursued my graduate degree, my yoga studio began to transform into being much more than just a studio. Over the years, I listened to people share stories of experiencing abuse at home, wondering about family trauma that seemed to pass from generation to generation, divorce, sexual assault, body image issues, or older adults experiencing fear of getting old, being afraid of death, and feelings of profound loneliness- especially when their spouse died of old age or disease. Some clients shared their lack of desire to live or simply were unable to see the purpose to exist.  Quite a few moms and dads out there, feeling burnout, depression, suffocating panic attacks that land them in a hospital, and persistent anxiety from the moment of waking up that lasts all day.

When the advice I offered worked to improve the client’s overall happiness and wellness, they returned to express their gratitude and tell me that their lives changed and how now they are in a different emotional and spiritual space in their body, mind, and heart and how they were finding new success in their career or relationship or their journey- I knew in those moments then that I could touch everyone else’s heart with my heart and that those people were receiving the help from me that they needed to move through their pain into the path of healing.

I knew that with all the yogic teachings that were passed down to me from the lineage of great Gurus and the spiritual scriptures of Vedanta, and the teachings of Ayurveda, I could offer these teachings to others, support their healing, and be in service to this world. I now know that I am here to help people transform their lives to be happier, healthier, and feel freer. I am very grateful, and I feel so very humbled to be in service to others.

So, I am so excited that I can have this podcast to connect and have a conversation on a topic that matters to you.  We will discuss topics such as having a good sleep, healthy digestion, managing stress, or processing current events and trauma acquired by simply living.  We will discuss what it means to meditate, connect to your heart, and be more present to live your best life.  You will receive the tools to restore your body, mind, and spirit and build stronger immunity and resiliency and understand the meaning of self-love and self-care truly.

This podcast will be weekly on Wednesdays, and I hope that you will be able to join every week and take away something each week that will support your well-being and self-care in a meaningful way. I also have some excellent teachers and beautiful friends who are gifted in many special and unique ways and are also as passionate as I am about the work of healing people and serving this world and I look forward to having them on my show.  So, welcome to Unleash Your Super Self podcast!

YOGA

I would love to continue this episode with what I hear frequently, such as, “I am not flexible enough to do yoga, and I can not meditate. My mind is always thinking”. Let’s discuss the topic of not being flexible. Suppose you are standing tall and try to reach down to your feet to touch your toes in a forward bend, and you cannot. In that case, your body is stiff, the muscles are tight, and the movement within the body is possibly restricted. I want you to reach your toes, and we have got to get you to reach your toes. However, it is not a problem if you cannot stand on your hands and come into an inversion.  You can do other postures and receive a similar benefit. You do not need to do a split or turn yourself into a pretzel. Yoga is not a circus. Yoga does not require you to be thin, strong, young, or whatever else.  I work with people of all sizes, of all different physical abilities, and of all ages. I consulted at a center where I believe my oldest client was 88 years old.  He had cancer, and he couldn’t reach his toes, but he showed up every week. He said that our yoga class gave him the strength to keep fighting and keep going, which shows you that there is more to this practice than doing splits and that your yoga practice can adapt according to your needs. I have so many more inspirational stories like this. Suppose you take a class and do not like yoga. In that case, I encourage you to take a class with a different teacher until you find the teacher you like and who fits your needs because we teachers and our teaching styles are unique. It is important to remember to not compete with yourself or anyone else, not to seek approval from yourself or anyone else, not from your yoga teacher, and not other yogis.  Yoga practice is only yours.  It belongs to you.  

In the book called the Sutras of Patanjali, yoga means to yolk.  It means to unite the body, mind, and spirit.  Yoga is about mindful movement, steady breath, and total conscious awareness of your present moment.

The truth is when you live your life consciously, meaning you are aware of your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. And, you take care of your breath to have a gentle rhythm and are present in every moment, meaning you aren’t stressing about the past, you aren’t chasing your future, but you simply exist in the now; you live yoga.  

So, leave the judgment “of not being flexible,” or whatever that judgment is aside. During your practice, if you notice the areas that you would like to improve, make an effort to improve them then.  The practice may not always be easy, but this is the practice.  And this practice is part of a bigger whole.  

While you are working on the mat to improve your breath or ease in the pose, you improve your overall health. You also acquire tools in dealing with challenges in the world.  The idea is that the tools you develop during your asana practice on the mat are the same tools that you’ll be able to use off the mat in the real world- where breathing steadily or existing with ease can also be a tremendous challenge.

YOGA & KIDS

Perhaps starting yoga at any age and any level is excellent.  But I’d say that having children take a yoga class is something that I feel strongly about if you have children.  It’s one of those inexpensive but huge investments that you can make into their health and future happiness.   

Yoga can provide your kids with benefits beyond their physical body, such as spiritual resiliency, introduce them to self-care practices, help them understand the meaning of self-love, and have their yoga training serve them as an anchor to lean into whenever they need support.  In other words, they will possess the tools to help them navigate the journey of life more healthily.  

Of course, my children have practiced yoga with me, and as everything changes, their desire to practice yoga changes as well. But because yoga is my work and it is a big part of my journey in life, they are always “in yoga,” so to speak. 

Let’s continue with the topic of “I can’t meditate; my mind is always thinking.” 

MEDITATION

Our minds are constantly generating thoughts.  

According to the Sutras of Patanjali, the book that spells out how to practice yoga and explains how the mind works in specific detail, it can be helpful to know that a mind is a machine that constantly generates thoughts.  It’s a thought generator.  I hope having this information brings you some relief from self-blame and judgment. 

Of course, we don’t stress when our thoughts are happy or pleasant, but we certainly care when the mind generates thoughts that cause us suffering and when these thoughts are out of control.  

When our thoughts cause us to feel depressed, sad, or stuck and lazy; when we have trouble waking up in the morning, getting out of bed, or going to work; when we have difficulty feeling motivation or passion in life in general; or when a simple task such as taking a shower takes a tremendous amount of effort is a state of a lot of pain suffering.  It takes an incredible amount of work and determination to change the mind patterns, create new habits, and create a different life.

I feel that a person who is sincerely motivated to take accountability for their health and healing can overcome this and be happy and healthy.

A mind can also generate burning or angry thoughts, agitated or anxious or fearful thoughts.  And of course, we care about these thoughts because we don’t want to be mad in life, and we don’t want to stay up at night thinking instead of sleeping and resting.  And we don’t want these thoughts to manifest in our interaction with other people.  We don’t want to snap angrily at our partner, child, or any other person or pet because that’s the state of our mind.  We don’t want our fear to hold us back from getting the job we want or leaving the job we do not want. We don’t want our anxious thoughts to hold us back from leaving a hurtful relationship or holding us back from being in a good relationship. We don’t want to be afraid to use our voice, to be who we truly are. 

In reality, every being wants to be happy.  We all want to live happy and free of pain and suffering.  We all want to experience true joy, true passion, and true love.  We all want and need our life to have meaning and purpose.  

And for this to happen, we must control, or perhaps the better word, regulate our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. To do just that, we need to understand how the mind works.  

The mind can also generate thoughts pure in nature. This mind is peaceful and awake, it is filled with lots of light and spiritual awareness, and it sees clearly beyond the ego.  This mind has the potential to know the ultimate truth.

The ultimate truth is a place of freedom and total liberation.  It’s a place of ananda which means bliss.  

MY VIEW ON MODERN PSYCHOLOGY

The rishis (sages) have known thousands of years before how the mind works and how to “fix” the mind.  Yoga and Ayurveda go beyond modern medicine to include the study of the soul; however, modern psychology is relevant and appropriate in helping us navigate the states of our minds.  

I am a supporter of psychotherapy with a licensed psychotherapist.  I have benefited from this type of therapy myself.  Certain conditions are outside of my scope of practice. Sometimes we can all benefit more by simply having additional support.

My hope, though, is that through this podcast, I can offer you additional tools to support you on your healing journey.  So, if you are here for this reason and you continue to show up, I will continue to show up for you as well.

As you see, the mind seems like a complex machine.  But, its only job is to generate thoughts that can be a combination of all three groups to different degrees of proportion. And as the science of Ayurveda dictates, the disease begins in the mind!  So, the mind must receive proper attention.

But here is another critical teaching, and I hope you take advantage of this one:

The master of the body is the mind.  The master of the mind is your breath.  So, if you can control your breath, you can control your life.

For example, let’s say that when I have fearful thoughts, I begin to feel scared and agitated, maybe angry or panicky.  As a result of these fearful thoughts and feelings related to those thoughts, my physical body becomes taut, rigid, and perhaps highly alert.  I notice that my breath follows and becomes quick, short, and shallow.  

In this example, thoughts affect emotions and the physical body. Of course, suppose these fearful thoughts persist and multiply and gain momentum. In that case, everything in the body, mind, and spirit will be affected.

My breath will continue to be shallow and fast. My heartbeat will also speed up.  As a result, I will quickly identify with the fear, and I will no longer be in charge.  My mind will take over and become in control of my thoughts and my body.

I don’t want the mind to be in the driver’s seat in this case at all.  So, I will bring my attention to my breath.  I will begin to change my breathing pattern consciously.  There are many breathing techniques available.  The go-to here for me, in this case, maybe a slow, deep, diaphragmatic breath.  

We will talk about the breathing techniques, why they work, and how they affect our nervous system in general in this podcast as well.  

 As I change the pattern of my breath, I notice my mind slowing down.  I see that I am in control again.  

That is pretty cool because I don’t need to know the physiological details of how this happens to experience relief.

The tricky part in this real example is to be aware of the psychological phenomena occurring in the mind itself at all times.  The tricky part is to remember that by changing the breath pattern, you can change the path the mind takes you on, and you can alter the state of your being.  And of course, this is useful for people who struggle with depression, anxiety, or panic attacks, including PTSD.

And this is when meditation practice becomes key.  And having a regular and consistent meditation practice is also crucial.  Because in meditation, you are observing yourself thinking, and you are training your mind to be your servant, not your master.  

Having a regular and consistent practice will trigger you to remember that we choose what we think and how we respond to our thoughts and emotions in times of despair.

This brings us back to the topic of “I can’t meditate; my mind is always thinking.”  I want to help you move beyond this thinking pattern because I want you to experience relief from thinking. 

Begin by changing your narrative, and instead of negative self-talk, say, “I can meditate; my mind is open and calm.”  And say it as you mean it.  Take it a step further and say it like you already possess this skill, and you feel it in your body.

Please remember!  Positive thoughts create a positive mind.  Negative thoughts create a negative mind.  This teaching is straightforward.  Decide to choose positive thoughts as your overall wellness is deeply affected by what you feed your mind. 

CONCLUSION

Next week I will guide you through a simple meditation practice that you will be able to do on your own, wherever you are, and whenever you desire.

I want this podcast to be a place for us to discuss topics that matter to your health, happiness, and well-being.  I want us together to navigate ways of utilizing tools that have existed for thousands of years before our time.  I want to share all this with you so that not only can you be free of disease, but so that you can find fulfillment and thrive in this lifetime.

This is my first Unleash Your Super Self episode, and it was exhilarating for me to record.  I would love to hear from you.  Please send any questions you may have or any topic you would like to be included in future episodes to hello@mariageller.com.  

I look forward to hearing from you and connecting with you next week for our meditation practice.

Om Shanti, Om Peace, Maria

POSTED BY: Maria Geller

Maria’s teaching style is described as both compassionate and powerful, and invites body awareness. Through working directly with Maria, clients feel safe enough to uncover profound sources of internal wisdom. Her techniques incorporate her extensive library of knowledge with a calm, professional, and nourishing presence.

WHAT’S YOUR DOSHA?

Ayurveda is the traditional medicine of India. It is also the oldest documented and most comprehensive, holistic medical system in the world. The ancient Ayurveda text Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, Ashtanga Samhita date back to 1,000 B.C. focusing on internal medicine, surgery, and the eight branches of Ayurveda. As a medical system, it aims to preserve good health, wellness, and wholeness, as well as be used to prevent and manage the disease.

WHICH TREATMENT IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

Living with chronic pain, or acute pain from a recent injury can deeply affect your well-being. Pain can limit activity and disturb the body’s natural ability to support you in daily life. I offer rejuvenating body treatments targeting specific areas to relieve discomfort and support the natural healing process.

HOLISTIC THERAPY

I offer wellness sessions in trauma recovery and the management of stress-related states such as anxiety, depression, or agitation to optimize your health and well-being.  The sessions will help to establish supportive self-regulation practices, build up and support resiliency, support adaptability, develop locus of control, foster integration, and practice adjustment or acceptance.

YOGA FOR YOU

A balanced Yoga practice integrates various branches of Yoga to develop the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual aspects of an individual.

The basic Yoga Hatha class is designed for a broad spectrum of students and is considered to be a good introduction to a wider field of Yogic philosophy and practices. 

YOGA FOR YOUR CHILD

Children of all ages are welcome.  I encourage children to experiment with their body and breath, mind and spirit.  My Yoga classes are discovery classes in which children move from gross body awareness to subtle spiritual experience.   They learn simple anatomy and age-appropriate breath work which translates into body awareness and mindfulness.