What is HH Yoga All About?
What is HH Yoga All About?Hands to Heart Yoga Therapy provides yoga teaching in quiet, peaceful settings. The 1:1 teacher-student ratio harkens back to how yoga was traditionally taught. HH Yoga was created to offer individualized attention to students, especially those with specific health concerns, injuries and ailments. Individualized yoga practices are developed by Carol to address each client’s needs and concerns specifically. Carol utilizes yoga’s time-honoured traditions of postures, breathwork and meditation to create unique programs for her clients. She oversees their effectiveness and provides modifications as students make progress.
HH Yoga can work with your schedule, around your specific needs, to achieve your goals. A yoga therapy program will shift you towards a more balanced state of body and mind, boost your mood and access your own inner healer.
What Should You Expect When Starting Yoga Therapy?
What Should You Expect When Starting Yoga Therapy?A referral from a health care professional provides details about your specific issues and ensures that your program is within the safety guidelines established by your medical professionals.
The intake session involves reviewing health history, discussing specific health issues, and creating goals for yoga therapy. This information is then used to create an individualized program which is presented at the second session. Postures, breathwork, meditation, chanting, visualization, relaxation, education and lifestyle management are all yoga tools that may be incorporated into individual programs.
I have taken yoga classes from Carol for three years and have benefitted from the physical, spiritual and emotional results. I am physically stronger, better balanced and calmer when consistently attending class. Carol brings grace and peace to the atmosphere of each class, is vigilant in ensuring all poses are performed properly and with adjustments if needed. I have no hesitation in recommending Carol to anyone I know who is interested in taking a yoga class.
Carol’s yoga classes have helped me to improve my balance, increase my core strength and muscle strength. As an osteoporosis patient, it is important to learn how to protect my bones. My family doctor and specialist both agree that yoga is an excellent part of my treatment. Carol is a dedicated teacher who truly cares for each and every one of her students.
Without a doubt, my core strength, flexibility, balance, joint health and overall well-being are a direct result of the yoga classes Carol designs to encompass the entire body’s well-being. I am grateful for the difference she has made in keeping me in good physical and mental health as I delve into my 7th decade of life. Carol’s deep respect for yoga’s core foundations and beliefs shines through in the well thought out practices she has led me through over the years. And of course, her hypnotic delivery on a guided shavasana is the best ever.
Yoga Background and Philosophy
Carol transitioned from veterinarian to Yoga Teacher after completing a two-year Yoga Teacher Training program at Georgian College in 2007. Carol completed an additional Vinyasa Teacher Training (2011) and an Advanced Teacher Training (2014) at Bliss Ann Green Yoga. Also in 2014 Carol completed her Cancer Exercise Specialist qualifications and a two-year Yoga Therapy certification (2013/2014). Additional certification in Pain Care Aware Yoga (2015) gave Carol the tools to work with clients with chronic pain. Carol became a Pain Care Aware Teacher Trainer in 2021. In 2022, Carol received a Yoga for Osteoporosis certification.
Carol engages in continuing education on a regular basis. A sampling of some of her most recent courses are: Awakening the Spine, Anatomy for Yoga Therapists, Yoga Therapy and the Older Adult, Anatomy and Kinesiology for the Intuitive Yoga Teacher, Yoga for Pelvic Floor Heath, Yoga Before and After Hip Replacement, Yoga for Strength Training, Your Spine/Your Yoga and Yoga as Medicine. On-going learning keeps Carol’s teachings current and applicable.
Carol uses gentle breath and body awareness practices to draw people back into their bodies and, over time, to learn to listen to their own innate wisdom. They are reminded of their essential wholeness and worth. Students are taught how the body can be a safe place for awareness and presence. Carol pays careful attention to alignment to create ease in the body and relief from pain. Students are repeatedly guided to connect with conscious breathing to experience and understand the power of the breath to improve concentration, keep the body safe, decrease anxiety, increase calm and a sense of control, and to create ease in the body, mind and emotions. Students are encouraged to notice and return to the safety of the breath during sessions as well as throughout their day. HH Yoga teaches people how to remain present in discomfort and to learn new ways to cope and respond. Ultimately, students realize and learn how to facilitate their own healing.
What Services do we Offer?
Hatha Yoga
In Carol’s hatha classes, students are encouraged to connect with and listen to their bodies through the physical yoga postures or asanas. Breathing is coordinated with movement to keep the movements safe and to encourage more energy and ease in the body. Pranayama (breathing practices) increase energy flow in the body as well as relieving stress and tension. These connections to body and breath bring comfort and ease to the body, a calmness to the mind and access to spirit. Each class ends with a guided relaxation/meditation that allows time to relax, seals in the positive benefits of the physical practice, and opens a connection with the divine spirit that resides in us all.
Ageless Yoga/Senior’s Chair Yoga
This class is helpful to older adults who want to maintain strength, flexibility and balance in their lives. Chairs are used throughout class to assist with balance and to raise the floor up for easier access to certain postures. Breath awareness is taught to help with focus and energy. Guided relaxations at the end of every practice create a sense of peace and connection to inner wisdom and guidance. Health issues of older age, such as arthritis, osteoporosis, balance issues, heart problems and general aches and pains are accommodated in every class.
Slow Flow and Still
SF&S begins with a gentle flow of yoga postures and lengthened floor postures to encourage connection with the physical body. Guided breathwork consciously moves energy/prana and focuses the mind. The meditation segment of the class begins with guided meditation that flows seamlessly into a silent meditation and soulful connection.
Private Sessions
Carol works one-on-one during private sessions to create individual programs that can be practiced both under Carol’s guidance and at home. Yoga postures, breath work and meditation are commonly included in programs, however, client’s therapy will vary depending upon the particular problems that are brought forward. Personal practice is crucial to achieving the desired results and requires an active effort on the part of the individual. Each session lasts 60 minutes. Carol currently sees private clients online through Zoom and at her Midhurst home studio.
Gentle Yoga During Cancer Treatment
This class is tailored to the needs of those currently in/undergoing active cancer treatment. With consideration of the side effects associated with treatment, this yoga class aims to renew and rejuvenate body and mind at a relaxed pace.
Forms and FAQs
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